UTL SUBJECT & RESEARCH GUIDES can provide subject-specific library resources to help you get started.
They include lists of REFERNCE SOURCES, ARTICLE DATABASES, and ways to search for BOOKS, for example:
History Research - Robarts Library
History of Science & Medicine - Gerstein Library
HIS 357 UTM - The Rennaissance
HIS 109 - The Development of European Civilization from 1350-1945
HPS 318: History of Medicine from Antiquity to the Renaissance (Winter 2016)
KEEP ASKING THE 5W's: Where? When? Who? What? Why?
Gather possible ideas to refine your research topic
FIND some background information on your topic, concept, framework, etc.
USE an online, general or subject-specific reference source