Annotated Bibliographies

Your first task for this assignment sequence is to prepare an annotated bibliography. To complete this assignment, you will begin to “listen” to the conversation that is taking place among scholars in your field on the particular issue chosen within your group by finding, collecting, reading, and analyzing the recent scholarship that has been published in academic journals from your field.

In order to achieve success, you will select sources that help you learn about and engage in a critical and scholarly fashion with the problems and questions identified by scholars in your field.  You will cite each source correctly using the appropriate format for your discipline (MLA format is fine for everyone, but if you want to learn/use another, go for it!) and you will annotate each bibliographic entry by summarizing and evaluating each article’s claim (note: this is not the same as the article’s abstract, which just summarizes).

The highest order of success will clearly demonstrate a perceptive awareness of what counts as evidence in your field and a keen understanding of how the arguments are articulated and supported.

WHAT IS AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?

Annotated Bibliographies have two main parts:

  • Bibliography/Citation information in an appropriate format (MLA, APA, CSE, Chicago, etc)
  • Annotation: a summary/synthesis/evaluation of the resource.

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WHY ANNOTATE YOUR BIBLIOGRAPHY?

  • WRITING: concise exposition, succinct analysis
  • RESEARCH: effective library research, history of scholarship
  • READING: critical reading and thinking: analysis!
  • ARGUMENT: Define terms of argument

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WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OR FUNCTION OF AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?

  • SUMMARIZE: paraphrase the main argument, scope of study (AVOID QUOTING!!)
  • ASSESS: determine usefulness, evaluate reliability or objectivity of study, identify goals
  • REFLECT: How does it shape your argument? How does it fit with other sources?

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WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE ANNOTATED BIB?

  • COMPREHENSIVE: provides a sense of the history and direction of the research on your topic
  • VARIETY: demonstrates breadth of scholarship (possible interdisciplinary connections)
  • ANALYSIS AND ARGUMENT: distills shape and focus of argument

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Annotated Bibliography Examples

Example 1
Example 2
Example 3
Example 4

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Bibliography Activity