Sitsylts,
Scan ahead in your research tree. You will see when you will have the opportunity to research the advancements that you are looking for. The Wiki will help you to know what level you can build up to before you are stopped by needing research.
For example, the Elves get to research Advanced Workshops in the second column of Age II. By looking at the Basic Buildings in the Elvenar Wiki, you can see that you can build up to level 4 workshops before having to do that research.
The combination is a good way to plan ahead to see how long it will be before you can advance and how much space it will take once you start upgrading buildings at each level of research.