In addition to the other databases you've already tried (LIS dbs on Wilson Web and sociology dbs on ProQuest; major newspapers, Research Library), it looks like you have access to Alt-PressWatch via U.Washington. Give that a try.
Here are some other subject headings, in addition to variants of activist and activism, that you might find useful:
Social movements
Political activists
Protest movements
Social change
I'm sure you could come up with more via your OPAC or the LOC Subject Headings.
Try searching your library's online catalog for books under these subject headings and if anything looks relevant, check its bibliography/references cited list. If there hasn't been much written on your topic and you are able to find one decent article, do a citation search on Web of Knowledge (another database you may have access to); if not, search the title of the article on several general web search engines to see if someone else has cited it in a paper.
Your search strategies ("in each db I looked to see what subject headings they used that were close to what I was looking for so I could target my search better") are good. Your search terms for information seeking behavior are right on! ("information seeking" "information behavior" "information" "information retrieval" etc.). Also, consider variants of "search."
One more suggestion on subject headings. Try using "non-governmental organizations" or "NGOs" as your user group. As you know, many activists work for or collaborate with NGO's. At the very least, they often work on the same issues. I did a search of Library and Information Science Abstracts and came up with this article that could be relevant.
TI: Title
Link, search, interact: the co-evolution of NGOs and interactive technology
AU: Author
Bach, Jonathan; Stark, David
SO: Source
Theory, Culture and Society; 21 (3) Jun 2004, pp.101-117
AB: Abstract
International institutions are being transformed by the twinned appearance of new non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and new technologies. How do these processes co-evolve? If we were limited to three words to describe the new interactive technologies of the Web, we would highlight the following logics: link, search, interact. Whereas in other systems these logics are additive, on the Web they can be recombinatory. Search, for example, can be conducted based on the structure of links, leading to new patterns of interaction, new links and new methods of search. Of greatest interest are the kinds of search where you don't know what you're looking for but will recognize it when you find it. In short, innovation is promoted by networked organizational forms. New technologies do not determine these innovative outcomes, but they can facilitate them. The article explores the prospect of shifts among NGOs from autarky to collaboration, and from information transmission to knowledge networks in the virtual public sphere. (Original abstract)
DE: Descriptors
Information technology; Searching; Links; Organ
Finally, I looked at the tables of contents for several years worth of two progressive library publications - Progressive Librarians Guild and Counterpoise on the off-chance that someone had published an article on your topic. No luck though. I also looked through a directory of alternative resources but didn't find anything that looked promising.
Good Luck in library school, Michele
