 When you look at a results list in a database, it can be easy to focus only on the number of results, rather than on other information available at a glance. This video will show you how to recognize the content of a database results list and how to evaluate this content based on your research project. When you're doing research for a project, it's important to keep in mind the parameters of your assignment when you're searching in databases. Let's say that my assignment requires that I use scholarly sources published within the last 10 years and my topic is group therapy as a treatment for depression in teenagers. Since my research focuses on a mental health issue, I'll choose psychology and behavioral sciences collection from EBSCO host because of its broad coverage of issues related to psychology. This isn't the only database that will have information about my topic, but it's a good place to start. I'll start by adding my search terms. Check out our other video from Keywords to Database for tips and tricks on creating great search statements. Once I've run my search and have a results list, I can use the context of my research as well as the information in the results list to evaluate what I'm seeing. Let's start with the stated source requirements from my assignment. For this research assignment, I have to have sources published within the last 10 years, but I can see that my results list includes items dating from long before that. I can use the publication date feature on the left to limit my results. I can also consider what type of sources I'm required to have for the assignment. If I'm required to have scholarly information, that usually means peer-reviewed journals. While I could just scroll through the results list and ignore anything that doesn't seem to be peer-reviewed, there's a better way. Going back to the left-hand side of the results, I can click on peer-reviewed journals. I do have to remember that scholarly journals published more than just original research. They've published opinion pieces and book reviews as well, and this kind of source may be included in these results. I still have to be the ultimate judge of whether or not something fits my assignment. I can also ask a librarian or my professor for help if I can't decide whether something is appropriate for my assignment. Now that I've limited my results to items that fit the requirements of my assignment, I can start thinking about whether the resources in my results list are the kind of resources I'm looking for. The title of each article is a good place to start. Titles, especially in academic journals, tend to represent the content of the article. I can scroll through the list and see if what I have is what I'm looking for. In addition to the title, I can look at the subject terms. These are labels applied to each item that tell what it's about. When I see an item that looks relevant, I can click on the title to view more information. Now I can see the abstract, which will give me a summary of the article so that I can see whether it's something I'm interested in reading from my research. One thing you'll notice as you're looking through a results list is that some items have a PDF for linked full text, while others have an icon that says, Get V Text. Don't ignore an item that doesn't have a PDF next to it. The library may still have it. Just click on Get V Text and you'll either be taken to the item or to a place where you can request the article through interlibrary loan. Not all databases look the same, but when you look closely, you'll notice that the same principles apply no matter which database you're using. This process of going through my results takes time. I'll probably need to tweak my search terms for the limiters that I use, and that's okay. There are plenty of ways to help with the library. For additional help with figuring out what's in a reference list and whether it's suitable for your research, ask a librarian.