I read the forum fairly regularily and can sometime recall seeing posts about a subject which has now become of interest to me.

Is there a recommended procedure for researching what has been dealt with previously.

The best thing to do is use the 'Forum Search' to see if you can find the thread yourself.

If you can't (and it is sometimes hard to get the correct search terms), just post a question (but mention that you've already searched yourself with no success).

People don't generally mind pointing someone to an old thread so long as they've made at least some effort to do the work themselves.