ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY English IV Research

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
English IV
Research
What is an ANNOTATED
BIBLIOGRAPY?
brief summary of an article, book, web site or other type
of publication
should give enough information to make a reader decide
whether to read the complete work
In other words, if the reader were exploring the same
topic as you, is this material useful and if so, why?
Depending on the assignment, an annotated bibliography
might have different purposes:
Provide a literature review on a particular subject
Help to formulate a thesis on a subject
Demonstrate the research you have performed on a
particular subject
Provide examples of major sources of information
available on a topic
Describe items that other researchers may find of interest
on a topic
Two major types:
Descriptive or informative
Analytical or critical
Analytical or critical
not only summarizes the material, it analyzes what
is being said.
It examines the strengths and weaknesses of what
is presented
as well as describing the applicability of the
author's conclusions to the research being conducted.
For example:
Breeding evil. (2005, August 6). Economist, 376(8438), 9. Retrieved from
http://www.economist.com
This editorial from the Economist describes the controversy surrounding video games and
the effect they have on people who use them. The article points out that most critics of
gaming are people over 40 and it is an issue of age not of the games themselves. While
the author briefly mentions studies done around the issue of violence and gaming, he does
not go into enough depth for the reader to truly know the range of studies that have
actually been done in this area, other than to take his word that the research is
unsatisfactory. The author of this article stresses the age factor over violence as the real
reason for opposition to video games and stresses the good gaming has done in most
areas of human life. This article is a good resource for those wanting to begin to explore
the controversy surrounding video games, however for anyone doing serious research, one
should actually examine some of the research studies that have been done in this area
rather than simply take the author's word that opposition to video games is simply due to
an issue of generational divide.
LAST SENTENCE = criticism of
author’s research
To get started:
Choose your sources Before writing your annotated bibliography, you
must choose your sources. Locate records to materials that may apply to
your topic.
Review the items Then review the actual items and choose those that
provide a wide variety of perspectives on your topic. Article abstracts are
helpful in this process.
Write the citation and annotation When writing your annotation, the
complete citation should always come first and the annotation follows.
Depending on the type of annotated bibliography you are writing, you will
want to include:
Your Annotated Bibliography
will include:
MLA citation first
The purpose of the work
A summary of its content
For what type of audience the work is written
Its relevance to the topic
Any special or unique features about the material
The strengths, weaknesses or biases in the material
Elizabeth Thompson
Professor Stacks
English 102
20 August 2001
Stem Cell Research: An Annotated Bibliography
Holland, Suzanne. The Human Embryonic Stem Cell Debate: Science, Ethics, and Public Policy. Boston: MIT Press, 2001. Print.
This is the annotation of the above source, which is formatted according to MLA 2009 (7th ed.) guidelines for the bibliographic information listed above.
If one were really writing an annotation for this source, one would offer a brief summary of what this book says about stem cell research. After a brief
summary, it would be appropriate to assess this source and offer some criticisms of it. Does it seem like a reliable and current source? Why? Is the
research biased or objective? Are the facts well documented? Who is the author? Is she qualified in this subject? Is this source scholarly, popular, some of
both?
Senior, K. "Extending the Ethical Boundaries of Stem Cell Research." Trends in Molecular Medicine 7 (2001): 5-6. Print.
Not all annotations have to be the same length. For example, this source is a very short scholarly article. It may only take a sentence or two to
summarize. Even if you are using a book, you should only focus on the sections that relate to your topic. Not all annotated bibliographies assess and
reflect; some merely summarize. That may not be the most helpful for you, but, if this is an assignment, you should always ask your instructor for specific
guidelines.
Wallace, Kelly. "Bush Stands Pat on Stem Cell Policy." CNN. 13 August 2001. 17 August 2001. Television.
Using a variety of sources can help give you a broader picture of what is being said about your topic. You may want to investigate how scholarly
sources are treating this topic differently than more popular sources. But again, if your assignment is to only use scholarly sources, then you will
probably want to avoid magazines and popular web sites. The bibliographic information above is proper MLA format (use whatever style is
appropriate in your field) and the annotations are in paragraph form. Note also that the entries are alphabetized by the first word in the bibliographic
entry. If you are writing an annotated bibliography with many sources, it may be helpful to divide the sources into categories. For example, if putting
together an extensive annotated bibliography for stem cell research, it might be best to divide the sources into categories such as ethical concerns,
scholarly analyses, and political ramifications.
Additional resource video http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/bibliography_tutorial.cfm
Works Cited:
“How to Write an Annotated Bibliography.” University of Maryland University
College, 2015. Web. 17 November 2015.
<http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/bibliography_tutorial.cfm>.