ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ASSIGNMENT
In the second stage of your project you are required to complete an Annotated
Bibliography of the sources you intend to use. This will be evaluated and count as a part
of the project as a whole. Before we begin however you need to know what an annotated
bibliography is.
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; this is the “annotation.” The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader
of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.
THE PROCESS
Creating an annotated bibliography calls for a concise explanation while examining the
books for information that would help you in your research. An annotated bibliography
involves a few steps:
1. 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.
2. Cite the book, article, or document in MLA bibliographic format.
3. 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 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.
SAMPLE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY FOR A JOURNAL ARTICLE
The following example uses the MLA format for the journal citation:
Holland, Suzanne. The Human Embryonic Stem Cell Debate : Science,
Ethics, and Public Policy. Boston: MIT Press, 2001.
This is the annotation of the above source. In this example, I am following MLA
guidelines for the bibliographic information listed above. If I was really writing an
annotation for this source, I would now be offering 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?
The length of your annotation will depend on the assignment or on the purpose of
your annotated bibliography. After summarizing and assessing, you can now reflect on
this source. How does it fit into your research? Is this a helpful resource? Too scholarly?
Not scholarly enough? Too general/specific? Since "stem cell research" is a very broad
topic, has this source helped you to narrow your topic?
Your job is to look through the resources available to you both in the library and through
the online databases. Remember when you are examining potential sources that you must
examine them for content and quality. Is the information related to the topic you have
chosen? Does the information help you when researching your topic? Try to look for
different points of view in order to look at both sides of an issue.
After you have looked through a minimum of ten sources decide which ones will be able
to help you in your research paper. You will be responsible for a minimum of six
sources for your paper which must be represented in the annotated bibliography.