How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography
WHAT IS AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?
An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. 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 sources cited.
ANNOTATIONS VS. ABSTRACTS- Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles
or in periodical indexes. Annotations are descriptive and critical; they expose the author's point of view, clarity and appropriateness of
expression, and authority.
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.
Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. Include one or more sentences 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, or
(d) explain how this work illuminates your bibliography topic.
CRITICALLY APPRAISING THE BOOK, ARTICLE, OR DOCUMENT
For guidance in critically appraising and analyzing the sources for your bibliography, see the Critically Analyzing Information Sources.
Six Steps of the Research Process
The following seven steps outline a simple and effective strategy for finding information for a research paper and documenting the sources you
find. Depending on your topic and your familiarity with the library, you may need to rearrange or recycle these steps. Adapt this outline to your
needs.
STEP 1: IDENTIFY AND DEVELOP YOUR TOPIC
Done. This is your research paper thesis.
STEP 2: FIND BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Look up your keywords in the indexes to subject encyclopedias. Read articles in these encyclopedias to set the context for your research. Note
any relevant items in the bibliographies at the end of the encyclopedia articles. Additional background information may be found in your lecture
notes, textbooks, and reserve readings.
STEP 3: USE CATALOGS TO FIND BOOKS
Use keyword searching for a narrow or complex search topic. Use subject searching for a broad subject. Print or write down the citation (author,
title, etc.) and the location information (call number and library). Note the circulation status. When you pull the book from the shelf, scan the
bibliography for additional sources.
STEP 4: FIND INTERNET RESOURCES
Use SIRS, OSLIS, and Gale to find sources. Use search engines with caution.
STEP 5: EVALUATE WHAT YOU FIND
See the packet on distinguishing scholarly articles from non for suggestions on evaluating the authority and quality of the books and articles you
located. If you have found too many or too few sources, you may need to narrow or broaden your topic. Check with a reference librarian or your
instructor.
STEP 6: CITE WHAT YOU FIND Give credit where credit is due; knowingly representing the work of others as your own is plagiarism.
SAMPLE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY FOR A JOURNAL ARTICLE
This example uses the MLA format for the journal citation:
Author(s). “Title of Article.” Title of journal or publication Volume # ( Year of publication): page numbers.
Annotation.
Waite, Linda J., Frances Kobrin Goldscheider, and Christina Witsberger. "Nonfamily Living and the Erosion of Traditional Family
Orientations Among Young Adults." American Sociological Review 51 (1986): 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.
RESEARCH TIPS:
WORK FROM THE GENERAL TO THE SPECIFIC. Find background information first, then use more specific and recent sources.
RECORD WHAT YOU FIND. Write out a complete citation for each source; you may need it again later.
TRANSLATE YOUR TOPIC INTO THE SUBJECT LANGUAGE OF THE INDEXES AND CATALOGS YOU USE.
Check your topic words against a thesaurus. If you aren’t finding information, you might not be calling it the right thing.
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Finding Periodicals and Periodical Articles
WHAT ARE PERIODICALS? Periodicals are continuous publications such as journals, newspapers, or magazines. They are issued regularly
(daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly). WHEN YOU DON'T HAVE INFORMATION ON A SPECIFIC ARTICLE, USE PERIODICAL
INDEXES
ONLINE: The Internet is an excellent resource for tracking down sources, except often the major pitfall is trusting the credibility of a particular
source. Here are a few online resources to help you track down sources, and assist you with questions you may have.
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http://ars.sirs.com/denied?sks.sirs.com/
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www.loc.gov/rr/askalib/
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http://secondary.oslis.org/
IN THE LIBRARY: When in a library, you need to use one or more periodical indexes. But how do you know which periodical index to use?
What kind of periodicals are you looking for?
Distinguishing Scholarly Journals from Other Periodicals
Journals and magazines are important sources for up-to-date information in all disciplines. In this guide we have divided the
criteria for periodical literature into four categories:
• Scholarly: Concerned with academic study, especially research, exhibiting the methods and attitudes of a scholar,
and having the manner and appearance of a scholar.
• Substantive News/General Interest: defined as having a solid base, being substantial.
• Popular: fit for, or reflecting the taste and intelligence of, the people at large
• Sensational: or intending to arouse strong curiosity, interest or reaction.
SCHOLARLY:
•
Scholarly journals generally have a sober, serious look. They often contain many graphs and charts but
few glossy pages or exciting pictures.
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Scholarly journals always cite their sources in the form of footnotes or bibliographies.
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Articles are written by a scholar in the field or by someone who has done research in the field.
•
The main purpose of a scholarly journal is to report on original research or experimentation in order to
make such information available to the rest of the scholarly world.
EXAMPLES OF SCHOLARLY JOURNALS: American Economic Review, JAMA: The Journal of the
American Medical Association, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Modern Fiction Studies
SUBSTANTIVE NEWS OR GENERAL INTEREST:
•
These periodicals may be quite attractive in appearance, although some are in newspaper format. Articles
are often heavily illustrated, generally with photographs.
•
News and general interest periodicals sometimes cite sources, though more often do not.
•
Articles may be written by a member of the editorial staff, a scholar or a free lance writer.
•
The language of these publications is geared to any educated audience. There is no specialty assumed,
only interest and a certain level of intelligence.
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They are generally published by commercial enterprises or individuals, although some emanate from
specific professional organizations.
•
The main purpose of periodicals in this category is to provide information, in a general manner, to a
broad audience of concerned citizens.
•
EXAMPLES OF SUBSTANTIVE NEWS OR GENERAL INTEREST PERIODICALS: National
Geographic, Economist, New York Times, Vital Speeches of the Day
POPULAR:
•
Popular periodicals come in many formats, although often somewhat slick and attractive in appearance.
Lots of graphics (photographs, drawings, etc.).
•
These publications rarely, if ever, cite sources. Information published in such journals is often second or
third hand and the original source is sometimes obscure.
•
Articles are usually very short, written in simple language and are designed to meet a minimal education
level. There is generally little depth to the content of these articles.
•
The main purpose of popular periodicals is to entertain the reader, to sell products (their own or their
advertisers), and/or to promote a viewpoint.
EXAMPLES OF POPULAR PERIODICALS: Ebony, Time, Vogue, Parents
SENSATIONAL:
•
Sensational periodicals come in a variety of styles, but often use a newspaper format.
•
TheirThe main purpose of sensational magazines seems to be to arouse curiosity and to cater to popular
superstitions. They often do so with flashy headlines designed to astonish (e.g. Half-man Half-woman
Makes Self Pregnant ).
EXAMPLES OF SENSATIONAL PERIODICALS: Globe, Star, Weekly World News, National Examiner
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