Annotated Bibliographies

Session 21
 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 descriptive
and evaluative paragraph, called
the annotation.
• The purpose of the annotation is to inform
the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and
quality of the sources cited
 Why write an annotated bibliography?

•Annotated bibliographies are also used in order to organize large quantities of

information into a single document that succinctly surveys the historical
conversation around a particular academic interest.
• Scholars produce annotated bibliographies not only for other scholars, but
also for themselves, in order to get an idea of all the various information that
they’ve collected.
•By writing annotated bibliographies, a scholar can figure out how most
strategically to use the information they’ve collected throughout their
research, as well as how to situate their own work into the larger scholarly
conversation.

•For example, scholars want to produce work that offers their fields something
new. An annotated bibliography is a useful way to track what has already been
said and then figure out what still needs to be addressed.
 
 Annotated Bibliographies
An annotated bibliography should:

• Encourage you to think critically about the content of the works you are
using, their place within a field of study, and their relation to your own
research and ideas
• Prove you have read and understood your sources
• Establish your work as a valid source and you as a competent researcher
• Situate your study and topic in a continuing professional conversation
• Provide a way for others to decide whether your source will be helpful to
their research if they read it
• Help interested researchers determine whether they are interested in a
topic by providing background information and an idea of the kind of
work going on in a field
• Include concise and precise annotations
 Descriptive Annotations
Descriptive Annotations simply summarize the
contents of each work, without comment or
evaluation. They may be very short, just long
enough to capture the flavor of the work, like
the examples in the following excerpt from a
bibliography of books and articles on teen films,
published in the
Journal of Popular Film and Television(p.474).
 Evaluative annotations
Evaluative annotations offer opinions on a
source as well as describe it.

They are often helpful in assessing how useful a

source will be for your own writing.
(p.475)
Key Features / Annotated Bibliographies

A statement of scope.
Sometimes you need or are asked to provide a
brief introductory statement to explain what
you’re covering. The authors of the bibliography
on teen films introduce their bibliography with
three paragraphs establishing a context for the
bibliography and announcing their purpose for
compiling it.
 Complete bibliographic information

Provide all the information about

each source using one documentation system
(MLA, APA, or another one)
so that you, your readers, or other researchers
will be able to find the
source easily. It’s a good idea to include sources’
URLs or permalinks to
make accessing online sources easier.
A concise description of the work.
A good annotation describes each
• item as carefully and objectively as possible,
giving accurate information
• shows that you understand the source.
• These qualities will help to build authority—
for you as a writer and for your annotations.
 Relevant commentary.
If you write an evaluative bibliography, your comments
should be relevant to your purpose and audience. The
best way to achieve relevance is to consider what
questions a potential reader might have about each
source:
• What are the main points of the source?
• What is its argument?
• How current and reliable is it?
• Will the source be helpful for your project?
 Consistent presentation.
All annotations should follow a consistent
pattern:
• If one is written in complete sentences, they
should all be.
• Each annotation in the teen films bibliography,
for example, begins with a phrase (not a
complete sentence) characterizing the work.
 Decide what sources to include.
You may be tempted to include in a bibliography every source
you find or look at For an academic bibliography, you need to
consider :
• Appropriateness. Is this source relevant to your topic? Is it a primary
source or a secondary source? Is it aimed at an appropriate audience ?
General or specialized? Elementary, advanced, or somewhere in
between?
• Credibility. Is the author reputable? Is the publication, publishing
company, or sponsor of the site reputable? Do the ideas more or less
agree with those in other sources you’ve read?
• Balance. Does the source present enough evidence for its
assertions? Does it show any particular bias? Does it present
countering arguments fairly?
• Timeliness. Is the source recent enough? Does it reflect current
thinking or research about the subject?
• Variety of sources : print + Web (Very imp)
 HOW TO AVOID PLAGIARISM

Plagiarism is a serious matter, but it can be avoided if you follow these tips.

• Take careful notes. Place anything you copy directly in quotation marks and record the
source. Record the source for any information you quote, paraphrase, summarize, or even
comment on.

• Be sure to separate your own ideas from ideas expressed in the sources you are
using. Use different colors, different font sizes, different sections of a notebook, or different
computer files to distinguish your ideas from those of others. Or take notes in two columns, with
ideas and information from sources in one column and your own comments in another.
• Never copy and paste directly from an online source into your paper.
Instead, cut and paste information you want to save into a separate file . Enclose the
material you pasted in quotation marks to remind yourself that it is someone else’s wording, so
record the source information.

• Paraphrase information from sources carefully. Paraphrasing is a great way to test your
understanding of sources and to avoid over quoting, but be careful that when you paraphrase, you
restate the author’s ideas in your own words and sentences.
• Record all the information you will need to access and cite the source . Include the
name of the site, the URL, your date of access, and so on.
 Starting the process
• Your Annotated Bibliography is the starting
point for your research. As you look for
information, make a list of the sources
you find and evaluate each one.
 Annotated Bibliography
• You should begin exploring in search of
sources for your Annotated Bibliography /
paper.
• You should begin collecting sources and taking
notes.
• You will need to find the number of sources
your teacher identifies for your Annotated
Bibliography
 The Annotation
A sample:
Jim Rasenberger, an author and journalist for the New York Times, asserts that
the events as described by Gansberg in “38 Who Saw Murder” could not have
happened the way Gansberg described them. Rasenberger states that although
38 people may have heard or seen the initial attack, Genovese was attacked
three times. The most serious attack occurred in the back foyer of her apartment
building which could have been witnessed by five or six people at most.
He concludes his article by saying that if Gansberg’s account had been
accurate, countless articles and books would never have been written about the
incident and Americans’ apathy would not have been studied as thoroughly. He
seems pleased that the initial and most famous account was flawed.
Rasenberger’s article is interesting but contains few facts and little research to
support his assertions. The article is helpful as a starting point for a critical view
of Gansberg’s article.
 • On the next slide, you will see the same
paragraphs color-coded by specific
criteria…

Background & credibility of author Possible Audience

Main idea Contents Usefulness to my topic/research
 The Annotation
Jim Rasenberger, an author and journalist for the New York Times, asserts that the
events as described by Gansberg in “38 Who Saw Murder” could not have happened
the way Gansberg described them. Rasenberger’s assumes his audience is familiar
with Gansberg’s famous and widely published article. Rasenberger states that
although 38 people may have heard or seen the initial attack, Genovese was attacked
three times. The most serious attack occurred in the back foyer of her apartment
building, which could have been witnessed by five or six people at most.
He concludes his article by saying that if Gansberg’s account had been accurate,
countless articles and books would never have been written about the incident and
Americans’ apathy would not have been studied as thoroughly. He seems pleased
that the initial and most famous account was flawed. Rasenberger’s article is
interesting but contains few facts and little research to support his assertions. The
article is helpful as a starting point for a critical view of Gansberg’s account of events.

Background & credibility of author Possible Audience

Main idea Contents Usefulness to my topic/research
 Completed Example Annotated Bibliography entry
Rasenberger, Jim. “Nightmare on Austin Street.” American Heritage. 57.5 (2006): 65-66. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. TCC

Library, Portsmouth, VA. 12 Nov. 2008. <http://search.ebscohost.com>.

Jim Rasenberger, an author and journalist for the New York Times, asserts that the events as

described by Gansberg in “38 Who Saw Murder” could not have happened the way Gansberg

described them. Rasenberger states that although 38 people may have heard or seen the initial

attack, Genovese was attacked three times. The most serious attack occurred in the back foyer of

her apartment building which could have been witnessed by five or six people at most.

He concludes his article by saying that if Gansberg’s account had been accurate, countless articles

and books would never have been written about the incident and Americans’ apathy would not

have been studied as thoroughly. He seems pleased that the initial and most famous account was

flawed. Rasenberger’s article is interesting but contains few facts and little research to

support his assertions. The article is helpful as a starting point for a critical view of

Gansberg’s article.
 Submission of annotated bibliography

• On 29th of November (hard copy in class) Soft

copy on LMS same day

• Annotations of 5 sources as described in the

sample in the previous slide.