Learn to formulate solid research questions, borrow textbooks, and access the Media Creation Studio and Digital Media Experience Lab. It’s all at the Library!

 

Research help

Researching for a project, essay, or assignment? Visit the Library.

Librarians can help you understand every step of the research process. Whether you are new to research or a graduate student, it’s important to know the resources, process, services, and opportunities available to help you succeed.

Research help is offered in a variety of ways: you can drop in at the Library, request an online appointment, chat in real time, or sign up for a workshop.

It’s easy. Just ask!

Check out these helpful services and resources:

• Learn to formulate effective research questions
• Get research help
• Access the Research Help Guide
• Take a workshop to sharpen your research skills

 

Access the information you need!

TMU Libraries’ academic search tool allows you to seamlessly access and search the collections, as well as 18 other Ontario university libraries—all in one place, at the same time!

Not only do you have access to hundreds of thousands of ebooks, electronic journals, magazines, professional publications, newspapers, and streaming videos through TMU Libraries, but you can also access over 25 million physical items from 18 other Ontario university libraries.

Feeling overwhelmed and wondering where to start?

Subject librarians can help you understand how to search for, access, and use resources. Find your subject librarian.

Subject guides are curated by subject librarians. These are excellent resources that contain access to research and information in specific subject areas.

Take advantage of the Media Creation Studio and Digital Media Experience Lab

These spaces and studios are for you! Regardless of what you’re studying, you have access to photography, video, sound editing, and podcasting equipment.

The Media Creation Studio is a beginner space where you can learn video editing, podcasting, or still photography.

The Digital Media Experience Lab is the Libraries’ makerspace. Here you have access to media stations, 3D modelling software, 3D printers, sewing machines, and so much more.

Staff are onsite to assist you whether you’re a beginner or an expert!

 

Borrow textbooks, laptops, camera kits, and microphones

Of course, you can check out print material at the Circulation Desk, but did you know you can also borrow textbooks, laptops, cameras, tripods, GoPros, and microphones?

Check the loan periods and the equipment borrowing and lending pages for more information.

 

Specialised collections and spaces

Material ConneXion is an onsite textile and material collection you can explore and research. With this collection, you can gain a tactile understanding of materials. Each sample also includes information about the item: the type of material, its composition, and whether it is sustainable.

While it is available to all students, it is primarily used by interior design, fashion, engineering, architecture, and business students.

The Geospatial Map and Data Centre (GMDC) provides access to specialised geospatial software, data, and statistical resources. The Centre is staffed by data, map, and GIS librarians and analysts, as well as a statistical consultant and learning specialist. Here you can get assistance with GIS information and software, locate and access statistical information and data, and learn how to analyze and present it. There is also a large print map collection!

Special Collections offers access to rare books and primary source material like Canadian World War II comic books, Late Victorian avant-garde magazines, an original chromolithographic edition of the Grammar of Ornament, a thank-you note from Winston Churchill, and so much more. Explore unique research opportunities spanning everything from the history of fashion and graphic design to women artists in the 19th century.

TMU Archives holds the historic record of the university from its origins as a polytechnic institute to its status today as a university. Explore images of campus life from the first days of nursing studies, activism, journalism, and even the construction of the Library building.

 

Study spaces, computer stations and labs

There are nine floors (2 – 10) available for work and study, each offering different types of spaces and seating options. 

There are computer stations and labs, group study rooms, open group tables, and individual carrels and soft seating. 

Learn more and find your favourite study spot!

 

 

As the Spring/Summer 2026 wraps up, please ensure any outstanding fines are paid and overdue items are returned. Students with fines more than $25 or overdues will not be able to view their grades until their accounts are cleared.

You can pay fines at the Circulation Desk (Visa, MasterCard, American Express, or OneCard) or by phone at 416-979-2149. We do not accept personal cheques.

For questions, contact us at access@torontomu.ca

Good luck with your exams!

For their Live Audio Production class, James MacLean, a support lead at the Libraries’ Digital Media Experience (DME) Lab, and his Media Production classmate needed the perfect space to record a live, instrumental performance for their major fourth-year course assignment.

The assignment required students to plan and execute a live audio event utilizing multiple sound channels. Some classmates opted for live karaoke or comedy shows, but James focused on developing an immersive live audio-visual performance.

To do this, he booked the Libraries’ Media Creation Studio, which provided the ideal setup to execute a technically challenging musical and visual live recording. While James and his classmate brought in some of their own equipment, the ready-to-use Studio saved them from having to source or rent extra gear.

The partners split the production responsibilities: one took on the instrumental, and the other, James, used the Studio’s lighting set up to curate a subterranean environment. For the musical piece, they brought in a Roland sampler to create evolving synth texture tracks. James’ classmate took the sampler, a specialized instrument often used by DJs, and ran it directly into a large analog mixer he’d placed on the Studio floor. To complement the direct audio from the sampler, the pair positioned two microphones on either side of the Studio to capture the natural room tones reverberating through the room. 

To match the moody tones of the music, James transformed the room into a minimal, yet immersive atmospheric environment. Utilizing the Studio’s three-point lighting setup–equipped with Amaran 300D lights favoured by content creators and filmmakers–he completely altered the room’s colour palette. “I wanted the room to be this deep red,” says James. “We used those lights to create this amazing look in the room.”

James also borrowed a video camera and tripod from the DME to capture the whole performance, filming against the Studio’s white back wall and shooting the entire piece in a single, continuous shot.

The result was an experimental sonic live performance set in a mesmerizing atmospheric environment.

For these two, the Media Creation Studio provided the space and resources to produce a highly technical, creative performance. When asked why they chose the Media Creation Studio, James highlighted its ease of access. “The best thing about the studio is that it’s already set up for you,” says James. “The lights are mounted, the backdrops are ready, and the gear is super accessible.”

Because of that accessibility, this duo were able to walk in, perform their set efficiently, and walk out with an incredible audio-visual project.

 

 

Please note there will be a Digital Course Readings/ARES Outage due to a necessary server upgrade July 3 from 9 a.m. – 12 p.m. The course readings via the Course Readings tab in Brightspace by D2L will not be available during this time, nor will instructors be able to edit or add readings.

 

Special exhibition and collection showcase 3rd-year student work

Article by: Lindsey Craig

For most students, a class project ends when the semester does.

But for some TMU photography students, their work becomes part of the university’s permanent record — preserving not only their artistic and creative development, but also a snapshot of the issues, experiences and ideas shaping a generation of emerging artists.

A collection a decade in the making

Since 2015, TMU Libraries has teamed up with the Image Arts program and the Photographic Historical Society of Canada, as donor partner, to build a unique collection of student photobooks.

The work comes from MPS507 – The Photographic Book, a third-year course in which students conceive, design and produce original photobooks using their own photography.

Each January, the books are displayed in an exhibition at Artspace TMU. A panel of professors, artists and industry professionals then selects five or six standout works, which are purchased from the students and added to TMU Libraries Special Collections.

The initiative gives students the chance to have their work recognized, exhibited and – for the award winners, whose work is selected for the collection– preserved in a growing archive available to the TMU community and the public.

“The award provides incentive for students to achieve early recognition that will have a lasting legacy in a collection,” said Alison Skyrme, special collections librarian and The Creative School liaison librarian at TMU Libraries.

Read the full article by Lindsey Craig

 

 

Due to an upcoming planned maintenance, all listed services and websites will be temporarily unavailable from Sunday, June 28 at 10 p.m. until Tuesday, June 30 at 11 a.m. 

During this time the following services will not be available:

• Accessible Content e-Portal
• Ask a Librarian (virtual reference)
• Scholars Portal eBooks
• Borealis
• Scholars Portal GeoPortal
• Scholars Portal Journals
• Odesi
• Publishing Services

Please plan your research and coursework accordingly to avoid any disruption. We appreciate your patience and understanding as these necessary system updates are completed. 

 

TMU Libraries is excited to announce the launch of Covidence to support the TMU research community. Covidence is a web-based software platform that is designed to manage and streamline knowledge synthesis work (systematic reviews, scoping reviews, literature reviews, etc). 

To support this launch, we have the following options to help onboard (or welcome) TMU to using Covidence:

• A Covidence 101 webinar for the TMU community is scheduled on Thursday, June 25, at 10 a.m. – 11 a.m. Please register to attend. This live session will be delivered by Covidence. If this date doesn’t work for you, register, and they will send you the recording.
• To begin learning about Covidence at any time, please use:
• • TMU Libraries’ Covidence libguide, which includes instructions on how to register for a Covidence account, link an existing account with TMU’s Covidence subscription, and more. 
  • Covidence’s extensive collection of Webinars on Demand
  • Covidence’s extensive Knowledge Base, featuring searchable, step-by-step instructions on all features of the software

If you are new to Covidence, please use the resources above to learn how to use the software and to set up an account connected to TMU. 

For further assistance linking your Covidence account to TMU’s institutional subscription, please email refdesk@torontomu.ca

 

We are thrilled to share that preparations are officially underway for the grand opening of the rest of the Bikram S. Dhillon and Family Medical Library space in September 2026!

To get everything ready for the next phase, the Medical Library will be undergoing construction over the summer months. Because of this work, it will operate with limited physical hours during the summer.

Please note that the Medical Library team is committed to supporting your research, teaching, and ensuring study needs remains uninterrupted. The team is fully set up to assist you across both physical and digital environments:

• When our physical space is closed for construction: The team is completely available to support you virtually! You can reach them online for reference assistance, research questions, and resource access.
• When our physical space is open: They are available to help you both in person and online.

To view the updated summer schedule and plan your visits, please check the Medical Library Hours and Updates page.

If you need to return books to the Medical library and it is closed,  there is a book return box in the School of Medicine atrium. You can also return your books to any of the OMNI libraries in Ontario and they will return them to the Library. 

Thank you for your patience and flexibility as we build an incredible new space for the TMU School of Medicine community. If you have any questions or need research support, don’t hesitate to reach out at medlibrary@torontomu.ca

TMU Libraries recently became the sole Canadian university library to acquire a rare copy of Carnival: the Complete Edition, the groundbreaking 1973 work by sound poet Steve McCaffery. To celebrate this significant gift, McCaffery joined the TMU Libraries for a special event, where he shared a fascinating talk on the history and impact of the work. 

“We are deeply honored that Steve McCaffery has entrusted TMU Libraries with this seminal work. Decades after its inception, Carnival continues to captivate and challenge audiences with its visionary spirit,” says Mark Robertson, dean of TMU Libraries. 

Begun in the 1960s and completed in 2022, Carnival consists of four massive panels of visual poetry. In it, McCaffery rejects the idea of linear reading, asking the audience to instead engage with the visual, three-dimensional word structures as ‘maps’ of language.

Carnival is now included in TMU Libraries’ expanding collection of books, art, and ephemera relating to the 1970s avant-garde, sound, and concrete poetry movement. This poetry movement was spearheaded in Toronto by a quartet of poets called The Four Horsemen. The group–composed of Steve McCaffery, bpNichol, Rafael Barreto-Rivera and Paul Dutton–pushed the boundaries of traditional poetry with their explorations of ‘concrete’ (visual) and ‘sound’ dimension in performance. 

In the fall of 2025, TMU Libraries celebrated a large-scale donation of bpNichol’s work. The collection, donated by Brian Dedora and Donald Irving, features close to 200 items and provides a window into the Toronto avant-garde literary scene at the time. It includes: a rare and complete series of GrOnk magazines (published by Nichol’s own Ganglia Press); The Adventures of Milt the Morph in Colour, a collaboration between Nichol and artist Barbara Caruso, featuring limited-edition serigraphs; as well as personal ephemera such as handmade Christmas cards and personal notes. The personal items provide a unique glimpse into the literary community and the friendships that fueled this creative revolution.

Together, these donations have put the Libraries’ Special Collections on the map as housing a deep and expanding collection of Canadian avant-garde concrete poetry, offering an insightful look at a 1970s literary movement that broke language away from syntax to create emotional, sonic and three-dimensional experiences with words.

“The addition of Carnival strengthens the bpNichol collection, helping to make TMU a destination for researchers in Canadian avant-garde literary history, concrete poetry, and typography & visual art. We look forward to continuing to grow the collection,” says Alison Skyme, special collections librarian.

This collection provides a multidisciplinary point of entry and many research opportunities for anyone interested in the Canadian avant-garde scene–ranging from the 1970s experimental literary scene, typographical innovation and the use of letters as visual art, to the study of language, performance and visual media.