Standardized lit review or meta-analysis design, etc.
If you're looking for general resources that cover the process from start-to-finish, I recommend checking the catalogue, LibrarySearch, for resources on these topics. Here is a very quick sample search I did, filtered to books; similar to database searching, you can also check the book record for any relevant results to see what "Subject" terms they include, which may help you find additional resources:
UTSC Writing Support also has lots of great resources that might be helpful for the writing piece as well!
I just wonder if I am searching the correct topics and phrases / I am concerned about not finding the correct articles to match my chosen topic, or if my topic is too broad and I do not know how to simplify it for literature searching.
This is a very relatable concern! Our due diligence as researchers is to a) build a comprehensive search (which as we saw in class, is an iterative process and usually take a few "passes" via adjusting your search string and reviewing sample abstracts and/or full-text -- i.e. lots of reading!) and b) searching across multiple sources to reduce the chance of missing anything important (e.g. databases, search engines, grey literature, etc.). From there, check the reference lists of relevant articles of interest to find older literature and also look for "cited by" features within databases and search engines to locate newer, potentially-related literature. I also recommend looking to see if any "Review" articles exist on your topic, as that can be a great way to double-check what existing literature has already been cited by other researchers in this area.
You should get to a point in your research where either the literature runs out, or is no longer generating "new" information relevant to your topic. If the literature base just perpetually grows and grows, that might indicate that you either need to add some restrictions/additional parameters to your search, or revisit the scope of your research question as a whole.
How do I narrow down a topic/what do I do if I get too many results?
There's a few things you can try to decrease your number of results:
How do I broaden my topic/what do I do if I get too few results?
There's a few things you can try to increase your number of results:
How to save or document the search?
Most databases have "save" and "alert" features that you can apply to your search after creating a free account within the platform (using your U of T email address is recommended). These are helpful to a) record and quickly re-run searches at a late date and b) receive email alerts when any literature gets added that meets your search parameters. Check out the Web of Science: Core Collection's page on saving search history for an example of how to do this.
Is there a tool that I can use to check the credibility of a grey literature source?
There isn't one particular tool I point to, but I do recommend checking the Evaluating Sources page as well as the AACODS checklist in the "Evaluating Grey Literature" section of the Searching Google page for general advice on this topic.
Learning more about Zotero?
I've now added a link that points to our Zotero guide, also happy to follow up if there's any specific questions on this software or citation managers in general!
Do you have office hours where we could drop in with library/search questions?
I don't offer any formal office hours, but I do have an open door policy! If you pass by my office and see the door's open, feel free to pop in :) I'm located at EV368, directly across from the kitchenette at the end of the hall. My contact info is also on the Get Additional Help page for days when I'm either working remotely or if there's a specific date/time you'd like to arrange a chat.