Messenger/Corey
Assignments
Annotated Bibliography/Scrapbook Assignment
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Beginning the second week of class, you will begin to submit resource articles to me each
week. Your first article is due
. Once you have collected ten sources –
and completed the 5-step directions below for each of them, you will create an
“annotated scrapbook” on issues and events related to a topic in your field that occurred
during this semester.
These directions apply to the individual sources – you will receive additional instructions
about the scrapbook at a later date. Remember to keep all articles in a safe place. You
will not want to reproduce them at the end of the semester.
At the end of the term, you will meet in small groups for a presentation of the material
you researched. You should have all your material with you for your presentation. You
may NOT collect all articles from Internet sources such as EBSCO or any
other online database source, you must have print sources as well (yes, that
means you may have to go to the library).
What’s an annotated bibliography?
Annotated Bibliography Information (University of Wisconsin-Madison Writing Center):
There are four common ways to write annotations:
1. Informative (summary) – tell us what the main findings or arguments are in the
source
2. Evaluative – tell us what you think of the source
3. Indicative (description) – tell us what is included in the source
4. Combination – tell us all sorts of stuff!
Step 1: Find an article of your choice from one of the following types of sources:
 Newspaper articles
 Professional journals
 Books
 Interviews with experts in your field
 Other publications (such as a brochure) – pending my prior approval! I MUST
approve publications other than those above.
Step 2: Prepare an APA citation for each resource collected. Be sure to include the
author’s name; the title of the article; source of article (publication where article was
printed); date published; page number of article; URL address if taken from an on-line
publication. This information can be found in your handbook or web sites provided.
This information must be included on the page where you write your summary and
analysis paragraphs – examples will be provided.
Step 3: Paste the article – or print article – onto a sheet of white paper. One article per
page. Include any visuals, which were included with the article.
Step 4: On a separate sheet of paper, you will word process a 50-75 word summary of
the article (Be sure to look over the information on summarizing available on the class
website). After that, you will also write a brief analysis of the article and include such
things as, the effect or impact of the event/topic on your field. This analysis will be
longer than the summary and you MUST quote, briefly, from the article.
Step 5: Articles will be collected each Friday starting
. I will scan them,
suggest additional discussion to include, and evaluate them for completeness and
correctness. I will then return them so you may make any necessary corrections. You will
need to have clean copies in your scrapbook.
Step 6: The final steps will be to:
 include a 2-page synthesis of the articles/topic (sample provided in class)
 include a table of contents
 design a cover
 have the scrapbook bound (see examples)
Additional notes:
 Vary the publications from which you collect articles
 Vary the length of the articles – they should not all be very short or very long.
 Keep these articles and your discussion paragraphs safe – I’d suggest a file folder
designated just for them.
 Keep a separate list of bibliographic information. This is extremely important –
especially for the final project.
 Ask questions as needed.
 Do not hesitate to suggest other publications to me. I’m open to your ideas.
 Periodically, I will ask students to share an article with the class. You will not
know of this date in advance so be prepared.
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill28.htm
The Annotation:
Below is an example of the type of annotated bibliography you should write for this assignment.
When using the combination form of annotation, you must write a full, coherent paragraph.
Sometimes this can be similar to the form of a bibliographic essay. It goes without saying that
you need to use complete sentences. You might want to make them clear and concise too – just a
thought!
Voeltz, L.M. (1980). Children's attitudes toward handicapped peers. American Journal
of Mental Deficiency, 84, 455-464.
As services for severely handicapped children become increasingly available within
neighborhood public schools, children's attitudes toward handicapped peers in integrated
settings warrant attention. Factor analysis of attitude survey responses of 2,392 children revealed
four factors underlying attitudes toward handicapped peers: social-contact willingness, deviance
consequation, and two actual contact dimensions. Upper elementary-age children, girls, and
children in schools with most contact with severely handicapped peers expressed the most
accepting attitudes. Results of this study suggest the modifiability of children's attitudes and the
need to develop interventions to facilitate social acceptance of individual differences in integrated
school settings.
(example from Sternlicht and Windholz, 1984, p. 79)
The cover synthesis
In the cover synthesis, highlight the main information contained in the annotated bibliography.
The following information may be included:
 The topic being discussed in the sources.
 The basic arguments being made about the topic.
 Any interesting similarities among the sources.
 Any interesting differences among the sources.
Cover Synthesis Sample: (Not complete)
This annotated bibliography contains summaries of articles on the issue of Title IX
as it relates to the issue of collegiate sports. Title IX is designed to provide gender
equality in all areas of collegiate life, but the largest controversy has arisen in
athletics. The authors included here fall into two main categories: (1) those who
believe that Title IX should be enforced because it offers increased opportunities to
women athletes and future women athletes, and (2) those who believe that Title IX
should be abandoned because it hinders the progress of male athletes or to the
money-earning potential of college athletic departments. Interestingly, five of the
six authors invoke the issue of fairness, even though they do not all have the same
opinions on Title IX. In addition, most of the authors include personal stories of
actual athletes in order to make the issue seem more real for readers…
Obviously, this synthesis is not complete. Your synthesis will be somewhat longer and may or
may not include specific references to any of the articles contained in the bibliography. Your
synthesis should be a page to a page and a half in length. Below is another example submitted by
a student (font size reduced to save space).
Annotated Bibliography
By: Former Student
This annotated bibliography is about the pros and cons of the Endangered Species Act of
1973. The Endangered Species Act lists the plants and animals that are in danger of extinction
and gives guidelines for the species recovery. Recently the Act has come up for revision in
Congress and it has been replaced by the Threatened and Endangered Species Act of 2005. This
new law reforms the original act by giving the NAR back up provisions to enhance conservation
programs, it uses peer-reviewed scientific data to make listing decisions, it improves notification
and participation of property owners, and it strengthens the role of state and local governments.
All of the authors agree that The Endangered Species Act is important. The more environmentally
conscious, such as the World Wildlife Foundation, refuse to believe that a new law could ever
replace the original act, while those who are economically conscious believe that there could be a
middle ground between property owners rights and endangered species. The original Endangered
Species Act has been facing serious problems ever since Clinton was in office. Clinton relied on a
No-Surprise policy to help landowners maneuver around the Endangered Species Act. These NoSurprise polices allowed developers to destroy critical habitats and kill off endangered species as
long as they promised to move so the species as a whole was no worse off. Since that time the
effectiveness and cost of the Endangered Species Act has been called into question. All of the
authors agree that the Act should be changed in some way they just disagree on what way to
change it. Liberal minded authors think that the old act just needs more money while conservative
minds believe in creating a new law. This Act has been around for three decades and has kept 227
species from extinction, both internationally and in the United States. The Act is considered one
of the most powerful environmental laws by all of the authors. In 1973 when it was passed it went
threw Congress unanimously with little debate or discussion. Since then it has been amended 15
times, each time gaining strength. The Act is so strong it is even able to help endangered species
outside of U.S. borders. Because of the Endangered Species Act a ban has been places on beluga
caviar from Caspian which has saved the species from almost inevitable extinction. All of the
authors agree that saving endangered species is beneficial to everyone, they just don’t agree on
what way to do it.