WHAT IS AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?
An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and other documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150-300 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.
WHY SHOULD I WRITE AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?
From the Purdue OWL:
To learn about your topic: Writing an annotated bibliography is excellent preparation for a research project. Just collecting sources for a bibliography is useful, but when you have to write annotations for each source, you’re forced to read each source more carefully. You begin to read more critically instead of just collecting information. At the professional level, annotated bibliographies allow you to see what has been done in the literature and where your own research or scholarship can fit. The annotated bibliography also you formulate a thesis: Every good research paper is an argument. The purpose of research is to state and support a thesis. So a very important part of research is developing a thesis that is debatable, interesting, and current. Writing an annotated bibliography can help you gain a good perspective on what is being said about your topic. By reading and responding to a variety of sources on a topic, you’ll start to see what the issues are, what people are arguing about, and you’ll then be able to develop your own point of view.
To help other researchers: Extensive and scholarly annotated bibliographies are sometimes published. They provide a comprehensive overview of everything important that has been and is being said about that topic. You may not ever get your annotated bibliography published, but as a researcher, you might want to look for one that has been published about your topic.
WHAT IS THE PROCESS
Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills: concise exposition, succinct analysis, and informed library research.
First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic. Briefly examine and review the actual items. Then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.
Cite the book, article, or document using the appropriate style.
Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. Include one or more sentences for each of the following that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, and (d) explain how this work illuminates your Final Research Paper topic. You may also want to comment about any special features of the work, if necessary or relevant (graphs, charts, appendices, etc.).
WHAT INFORMATION DO I INCLUDE IN MY ANNOTATIONS
Comments about the work’s usefulness or quality, usually including attention to the following:
scope or relevance of the work
intended audience
author’s credibility or expertise
work’s relationship to other works in the area of study
comments on any special features of the work, if necessary or relevant, (graphs, charts, appendices, etc.)
WHAT ARE THE ASSIGNMENT REQUIREMENTS
For this assignment, annotations should be between 150-300 words.
You need at least ten sources/annotations that relate to your Final Research Paper topic.
You must use MLA format for bibliographic entries or Works Cited entries, alphabetized. See your St. Martin’s Handbook.
RESOURCES
This example uses the MLA format for the journal citation. NOTE: Standard MLA practice requires double spacing within citations.
Waite, Linda J., Frances KobrinGoldscheider, and Christina Witsberger. “Nonfamily Living and the Erosion of Traditional Family Orientations Among Young Adults.” American Sociological Review 51.4 (1986): 541-554. Print.
The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. It was found that increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.
Purdue OWL on Annotated Bibliographies:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/01/
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