Research Exercise: Brief Annotated Bibliography (30 points)
(From the Purdue University Online Writing Lab)
A bibliography is a list of sources (books, journals, websites, periodicals, etc.) one has
used for researching a topic. A bibliography usually just includes the bibliographic
information (i.e., the author, title, publisher, etc.).
An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation. Therefore, an annotated bibliography
includes a summary and/or evaluation of each of the sources. Depending on your project
or the assignment, your annotations may do one or more of the following:
Summarize: Some annotations merely summarize the source. What are the main
arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? If
someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say? The length of your
annotations will determine how detailed your summary is.
Assess: After summarizing a source, it may be helpful to evaluate it. Is it a useful source?
How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is the information
reliable? Is it this source biased or objective? What is the goal of this source?
Reflect: Once you've summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into
your research. Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your
argument? How can you use this source in your research project? Has it changed how
you think about your topic?
Your assignment:
You must find at least two sources from the Chaffey College Databases (Opposing
Viewpoints, Expanded Academic ASAP, etc.) that you think you might use for your
essay. Provide the bibliographic information in MLA format and then summarize,
assess, AND reflect on each entry.
Sarah Student
Professor Cardinale
English 1A
6 October 2015
Global Warming: An Annotated Bibliography
“Conservation.” Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online.
Web. 6 Oct. 2015. This entry contains definitions and examples of natural
resources, both renewable and nonrenewable. It goes into detail about fossil fuels
and solar energy. I consider this source to be completely unbiased and reliable.
The goal is simply to inform. I intend to use it in my essay to provide a general
definition of some of the things I will be discussing.
Gore, Al. An Inconvenient Truth. Emmaus: Rodale, 2006. Print. This is a book by
former Vice President Al Gore, outlining the causes and dangers of global
warming, and what should be done to help stop it. The information in this book
contains reliable scientific evidence to prove his point. This book will be useful in
my essay regarding human-caused CO2 emissions and their negative effect on our
planet.
Romm, Joseph and Andrew Frank. “Hybrid Vehicles Gain Traction.” Scientific
American 294.4 (2006): 72-79. Academic Search Premier. Web. 6 Oct. 2006.
This is a magazine article that discusses the history of the automobile, the various
types of hybrid vehicles on the market today, and the possible future of hybrids:
plug-in hybrids. This is different from the other sources I have looked at, as none
of them have to do with hybrids. I’m not sure how or if it will fit into my
argument at this point. I may introduce it as one of the possible solutions to the
CO2 emissions problem I am addressing in my essay.