Annotated Bibliography Assignment

[Due 29 March 2006]
 

What Is An Annotated Bibliography?  |   Annotations vs. Abstracts  |  The Process

Evaluation Criteria   |   Writing Tips  |  Sample Annotated Bibliography Entry |  Grading Rubric

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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.
 

Abstracts are descriptive summaries.  They are often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or in periodical indexes (electronic databases).  Abstracts summarize the contents of an information resource.

Annotations are descriptive and critical.  They expose the author's point of view, discuss his/her clarity and appropriateness of expression and evaluate the author's authority.
 

Important:  If you use an electronic database to locate materials for an annotated bibliography, remember that copying and pasting or even rephrasing the abstracts provided by a database is plagiarism.  Electronic databases are covered under copyright law and therefore, using a database to create annotations without actually READING the article is unethical.

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, periodical articles and Internet sites that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic.
	Briefly examine and review the actual items and then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.
	Cite each book, article or document using correct American Psychological Association (APA) guidelines.
	Write a concise annotation following each citation, summarizing the central theme and scope of the book, article or document.

Each annotation should include as many of the following criteria as possible:
      

	Evaluate the authority or background of the author.  [Who is this person? Why do you think they qualified to write about their topic?]
	Comment on the intended audience.  [What is the the writing style of the author?  Is the language used by this author easy to understand or is it filled with technical jargon, acronyms and other terminology?]
	Compare or contrast this work with another you have cited.  [How does what this author have to say about the topic compare with the other authors you have read?]
	Explain how this work illuminates your research topic.  [How will you use this source in your project?  Is it basic background information, scholarly research or one person's opinion about your topic?  Do you agree or disagree with the author?
	Mention bibliographies, charts, graphs, statistics or illustrations if they are important to your project.
	Comment on any bias or point of view shown in the work. [Is the author objective or subjective?  Is the author trying to persuade you to think a certain way about an issue?  Is the author trying to sell you something? ]

For additional guidance in evaluating your sources see Critically Analyzing Information Sources.

The following example uses the APA format for a journal article.

Goldschneider, F. K., Waite, L. J., & 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 non-family 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 non-family living.