What is an Annotated Bibliography?

1
What is an Annotated Bibliography?

• A list of citations for books, articles, and
  documents.
• Each citation is followed by a brief descriptive
  and evaluative paragraph (the annotation).

2
Why am I creating an annotated bibliography?

• Annotated bibliographies assist writers in the
  early stages of research gathering. By taking the
  time to write a brief summary and evaluation of
  each source you locate on your topic, you create
  building materials that you can use when it comes
  time to narrow your focus and start outlining and
  drafting.

3
What are the requirements of annotations?

• Descriptive and critical
• Expose the author's point of view
• Provide a concise summary of each source and some
  assessment of its value or relevance for your
  project

4
How do I write an annotation?

• 1. Cite the book, article, or document using the
  appropriate style in this case, MLA. You may
  refer to the materials in your Senior Project
  packet for the correct format, or you may use a
  site such as easybib.com.

5
2. Summarize the Sourcein three or more sentences

• What are the main arguments?
• What is the point of this book or article?
• What topics are covered?
• If someone asked what this article/book is about,
  what would you say?

6
3. Evaluate the Sourcein three or more sentences

• What are the author's credentials--institutional
  affiliation?
• When was the source published?
• Is the source current or out-of-date for your
  topic?
• Is this a popular magazine or scholarly journal?
• Hint if the source is published by a university
  press, it is likely to be scholarly

• Is the publication aimed at a specialized or a
  general audience?
• Is this source biased or objective?
• How does this source provide information that
  other sources do not?
• What is the goal of this source?
• Do you find the text easy to read, or is it
  stilted or choppy?

7
4. Value of the Source to Your Research (in three
or more sentences)

• Was this source helpful?
• How does this source help shape your argument or
  provide information about your topic?
• How do you plan to use this source in your
  research project?
• Has this source changed how you think about the
  topic?

8
Summary How to write an annotation

• Give the citation information for the source.
• Summarize the source (3 or more sentences)
• Pay attention to the opening sentence(s) of each
  paragraph, where authors often state concisely
  their main point in the paragraph
• Evaluate the source for credibility (3 or more
  sentences)
• Describe the value of this source to your
  research, how you plan to use this source in your
  paper, and what new information or opinions you
  have learned from this source. (3 or more
  sentences)

9
Examples of Good and Bad Annotations (With thanks
to Phyllis Usina)

• Good
• "FIRE DEPARTMENTS." The Reader's Companion to
  American History. 1991. eLibrary. Web. 10 Sep.
  2014.
•  
• The main points of this article were about the
  basics of fire fighting in the modern world. It
  discusses how fire fighters are dispatched to a
  call and how they execute the steps for
  extinguishing the fire. The basics of
  firefighting can be broken down into four
  categories. The four steps are protection,
  confinement, ventilation, and extinguishment. The
  firefighting is a systematic process which
  involves responding, accessing and executing a
  call for a fire.
•  
• The Readers Companion to American History is
  published by Houghton Mifflin, which is a
  reputable press. The article was published in
  1991, so I will need to do more research to
  confirm that the information is still valid. This
  book seems to be mainly a reference book, and it
  has a bibliography of three sources.
•  
• This article will be very useful in writing my
  paper. It helps me discuss the basics of
  firefighting today and how the basics of
  firefighting have stayed the same since the
  beginning of the 20th century. I plan to use this
  source when I write the second subtopic of my
  paper, which will cover how fires are dealt with
  today. Before I read this article, I didnt
  realize that the process of fighting fires was so
  structured.

Bad I used this book to get the basic
information about firefighting, it was very
informative.
10

• Good
• Boeree, C. George. "An Introduction to
  Buddhism." An Introduction to Buddhism. N.p.,
  2000. Web. 10 Sept. 2014.
•  
• This web site has various links that provide such
  things as the history of Buddhism and the values
  and beliefs in the Buddhist religion. The
  information is historical. It has simple
  explanations to complex ideas. The great thing
  about the information provided in this web site
  is that it is compiled by a professor and the
  information is geared toward someone with little
  or no knowledge of the Buddhist Culture and
  Religion.
•  
• The information is from a professor at
  Shippensburg University. Professor Boeree also
  provides citations for his information. The
  material is listed as being copywritten by the
  author each year from 1997-2000. Boeree writes in
  a note at the bottom of his webpage that the
  information is written for a class he teaches
  about Buddhist Psychology, but that he believes
  that this is good introductory material for
  anyone interested in learning about Buddhism.
•  
• This website provides a very helpful introduction
  to Buddhism, which is the focus of my senior
  research paper. I will definitely use the
  information throughout my paper. I think this
  information will help me organize the information
  in a logical way. Boeree writes that someone
  doesnt need to be interested in becoming a
  Buddhist in order to learn about the ideas of
  Buddhism, which is great because although Im
  interested in Buddhism, Im not interested in
  changing my religion.

• Bad
• I got all the facts I needed about Buddhism and
  the different beliefs.

11
FHS Senior Project Guidelines for the Annotated
Bibliography

• You must have a minimum of five sources. These
  sources must include the following
• Print source (can be from an online database but
  must have been originally published in print)
• Internet source
• Reference or professional book/journal
• Online database
• Interview
• The following are NOT legitimate sources and will
  not be given credit
• Basic/general encyclopedias, Dictionaries,
  Wikipedia

12
Works Cited

• Engle, Michael. How to Prepare an Annotated
  Bibliography. Olin Uris Libraries. Cornell
  University Library. 6 Mar. 2007. 1 Nov. 2007.
  http//www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/resear
  ch/permission.html
• Patterson, Joy. Annotated Bibliographies.
  Prairie View AM University.
• REMEMBER There is an example of a Senior Project
  Annotated Bibliography on your teachers website!