What to Expect

A scheduled 30-60 minute meeting with a librarian. Depending on availability, librarians may not be able to accommodate tight deadlines. Book early!

All research consultations will be conducted online using Zoom. The librarian will provide you with an online meeting invitation for your consultation once you agree on a mutually convenient time.

A Librarian Can…

• Critically review your search strategy
• Advise on database selection
• Provide guidance on searching grey literature
• Recommend methods for documenting your search strategy and managing your citations
• Refer you to other resources to support your research (e.g. quality assessment tools)
• Provide advice on publishing
• Help measure your research impact through author identifiers and research metrics

A Librarian Cannot….

• Conduct your search for you
• Accomodate users who have not adequately prepared for their consultation

Preparing for Your Consultation

In order to book a consultation, you will need to have the following prepared:

• Your research question or research protocol
• Full citations for 2-3 articles relevant to your research (if available)
• A table of your key concepts with potential search terms
• A personal account in the database you plan on searching
• An initial search conducted in the database with your search history saved

For help preparing these items, please view our Database Fundamentals tutorials, or visit the Information Services Desk.