In order to evaluate the relevance of an item to your topic, you need to know how to read citations and bibliographic records. A great deal of information about an item is embedded in these brief descriptions. For example, the title or name of an item may tell you what its content is. The subject headings or descriptors tell you exactly what subjects it addresses. And the abstract, if available, provides you with a summary of the content.
If all you have is a citation, you have to evaluate an item's relevance based on the information contained in the subject heading or headings under which it was listed, the title, and the publication source.
If you also have an abstract, then you will have a summary of the item. This makes it much easier to determine an item's relevance for your project.
Strategies for analyzing the relevance of items retrieved
Think about your thesis statement, the concepts you listed in your Concept Table, and what you want to accomplish with your project. Then look at the citations and bibliographic records you have retrieved.
Ask yourself the following questions:
