Annotated Bibliographies

1
Annotated Bibliographies

• Summarize
• Assess (Evaluate Sources)
• Reflect

2
What is an annotated bibliography?

• A list of citations to books, articles, and
  documents used for a project.
• Each citation is followed by a brief (usually
  about 150 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 credible sources you chose for the project.

3
What should be in an annotated bibliography?

• Brief description/summary of the work cited (The
  Basics)
• An analysis of the source for Credibility and
  Reliability
• A reflection on its value and contribution to
  your work

4
The basics Good quality sources

• What was the specific format of the source?
• (print or electronic encyclopedia, interview,
  video, etc.)
• Where did you find this source?
• (public library, school media center, home,
  etc.)
• How did you find this source? (using iPac,
  Database, Directory, Metasearch engine, Search
  engine, Invisible Web, using a Search string)
• Generally, what kind of information could be
• found in the source? (introductory,
  academic-level, summarized scientific papers
  scholarly journal article) primary vs. secondary

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What did you get from it?

• Indicate the main contribution of each source.
• Background info
• Specific examples of studies backing up your
  thoughts
• Opinions for or against something
• Quotes

6
Reliability of Web-based resources
Peer-reviewed Scholarly Database article
Authored database article (magazine, journal,
newspaper)
Increased quality
Authored Invisible web article from Search engine
Authored websites
Authorless websites
7
Analyze, Assess and Evaluate

• Why was the source seen to be more valuable,
  credible, and reliable than other sources?
• Not a hoax or fake websitewe all get taken in

8
Hoaxes or not?

• Pregnancy test
• http//thepregnancytester.com/
• Genochoice
• http//genochoice.com/
• Boilerplate
• http//bigredhair.com/boilerplate/
• Bonsai Kitten
• http//www.bonsaikitten.com/
• Foot detox
• http//www.footbathdetox.com/
• Aluminum foil detector
• http//zapatopi.net/afdb/
• Pets or Food
• http//petsorfood.com/
• Clones
• http//www.d-b.net/dti/

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You are the Investigator

• You must investigate to evaluate each source.
• Make a case for each source and its credibility,
  reliability and value to your work.
• How??

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Continuum of belief

• Hopefully you are moving to the right!!!

Believes everything
Total Skeptic
But it is time consuming. It is why we avoid
Wikipedia. It is why we seek out good sources.
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Testing Credibility

• Credibility is composed of two primary
  dimensions trustworthiness (reliability) and
  expertise
• Expertise can be demonstrated by
• Authors credentials, body of work
• Organizations quality, background, reputation
• Quality author/sponsor/publishing/host
• Quality domain .gov/.edugt.orggt.com/.net
• Do they cite sources?

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Checking for credibility

• Check the authors credibility or expertise (do a
  Google search look at book jacket bio)
• Discuss the authors background, credentials,
  body of work
• Be careful of authorless sites and articles.
  Evaluate the organization or host that produced
  it.

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Which is real?

• http//www.preparingforemergencies.co.uk/index.htm
  or
• http//www.preparingforemergencies.gov.uk/
• http//www.gatt.org or http//www.wto.org
• (for WTO)

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Evaluating an organizations credibility

• Look at the URL for clues about the organization
  (if it seems to be a UN site, is UN in the URL?)
• Look at the home page for the organization
• Use Domain tools to see the background of the
  producing or hosting group.

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URLs

• http hypertext transfer protocol//
• www world wide web(insertwebnamehere) just
  what it says...it directs the computer to the
  specific domain on the Internet. example Google.
  www.google.com.com, .gov, .net, .org, .edu,
  .whatever, the domain TYPE. .com business, like
  Wal-Mart or Sears. .org, usually a non-profit
  organization. .gov, that's the government .edu,
  that's for schools and such. .net, I think it's
  like a catch-all..
• COUNTRY CODE (two letter country code tells you
  where it was from)
• Any gibberish you see after the .com, that's
  directing the computer to the specific page
  within the domain. Think of it like an
  upside-down tree. The domain is the top, with all
  of the webpages housed within/below, and you can
  either link your way to them or direct type, if
  you have the actual page.
• The filetype .doc .pdf .ppt

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Is it or isnt it?

• http//www.freerice.com/
• Google (use links__URL____)
• www.alexa.com
• Domain Tools http//www.domaintools.com/

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Are these seemingly scientific papers
legitimate?

• Earthquakes
• http//nujournal.net/EarthquakeEnergyRise.pdf
• Feline reactions
• http//improbable.com/airchives/classical/cat/cat.
  html
• Velcro Crop
• http//home.inreach.com/kumbach/velcro.html
• SETI Protocol
• http//www.atnf.csiro.au/people/rnorris/papers/n18
  8.pdf
• Journal of Geoclimatic Studies
• http//openwetware.org/images/2/2b/Journal_of_Geoc
  limatic_Studies.pdf

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Testing Reliability

• Suitable or fit to be relied on worthy of
  dependance or reliance trustworthy
• How do you test this?

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Comments about the works Reliability

• If it is a study or experimental summary
  evaluate the methods (research) used in the item
• Verify the accuracy of important facts by seeking
  a second opinion
• Check the date uploaded and updated has
  something occurred since that changes anything.
• Check that links work

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Example

• Consider the topic of the Laocoon sculpture.
  (Classical sculpture discovered in 1506).
• The Best Artists
• iDC ROME
• World Science
• Ultimate Art History

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Valuable resources

• Useful Good quality Written at an appropriate
  level
• Gives you what you want Fact or opinion, clearly
  stated in a balanced, bias-free manner. It
  provides a depth of information to suit your
  audience and comes itself from other good
  sources.
• Adequate depth of information
• No one source has everything you need!

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Comments about the works Value

• the scope, clarity or relevance of the works
  content
• identify any bias in the work (pro, con, slanted)
• identify the purpose of the work the intended
  audience
• the works relationship to other works in the
  area of study
• describe the usefulness of the item for your
  purpose
• What information did I find in/with it that was
  important to me?
• How did the info I found move my work forward?
• discuss any limitations that the item may have,
  e.g. grade level, depth, etc.

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What does that mean you have to do?

• Check, check and check your facts.
• Get more sources.
• Read until you start to hear the same thing over
  and over.
• NOW YOU SEE WHY IT IS TIME-CONSUMING!!!

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The Reflection

• Why did you use this source as opposed to
  another?
• What did it contribute to your project, paper,
  essay, or report that other sources could not?
• What did it do better than other sources?

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Other info to add

• Comments about any special features of the work,
  if necessary or relevant (graphs, charts,
  appendices, etc.)
• Describe your reaction to the item
• What did I really like about this source?
• What did I find difficult about this source?

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Length

• The length and style of each annotation varies
  according to the purpose and audience for the
  annotated bibliography, but most annotations are
  written in complete sentences and fallbetween
  50-150 words.

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Example of APA Annotated Style

• Waite, L. J., Goldschneider, F. K., Witsberger,
  C. (1986). Nonfamily living and the erosion of
  traditional family orientations among young
  adults. American Sociological Review, 51,
  541-554.
• 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. 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.

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Using Google Notebook

• http//www.google.com/notebook
• Opening through Firefox gives you one added
  feature that makes moving between the web and
  your notebook easier.
• Can use colour and comments to add a annotation
  and your citation.