Annotated Bibliographies
FINDING AND EVALUATING YOUR SOURCES
LIZ GAGNON
MAY 25, 2015
What is an Annotated Bibliography?
 An annotated bibliography is an alphabetical list of
relevant sources on a given topic.
 Each citation is followed by a concise summary of the
source and an assessment of its value or relevance to
your paper.
Purpose
 Presents a comprehensive but focused selection of
scholarly sources on a topic
 Encourages you to identify the source’s thesis and
main themes
 Gives you an opportunity to think about how the
source fits into your own research and argument
Your Assignment
 Compile an annotated bibliography for your major
historiographic essay for HIST 2027: Canadian PostConfederation History.
 The bibliography should include at least 5 scholarly
articles and 5 books on the topic of your choice.
Getting Started
FINDING YOUR SOURCES
Develop your Search Strategy
 Define your topic
 Brainstorm related terms and synonyms
 Consider the topic from a variety of angles
Topic: Women and consumer culture in 20th
century Canada
 Keywords: (consumer OR consumption) AND
(women OR femininity OR gender) AND 20th century
AND Canada
Starting your Search at Wishart Library
http://library.algomau.ca
Refine your results
 Select full text or peer-reviewed
titles
 Filter by subject
 Choose your source type
 You may also limit by publication
date, geography, language, etc.
Search Tips and Tricks
 Check the subject terms and abstract for new
keyword ideas
 Try these keywords in other databases
Search Tips and Tricks Continued…
 Build your knowledge of the literature

Read the source’s historiography section

Always check the footnotes or bibliography of the
resource for further sources
What’s next?
CREATING YOUR ANNOTATIONS
Components of an Annotation
1.
Focus or scope of the work
2. Thesis or main argument
3. Intended audience
4. Author’s methodology: sources used, how is it
organized, historical methodology used
5. Relevance to your topic: how it fits into the
historiography, source’s scholarly contribution
Fahrni, Magda. “Counting the Costs of Living”
Annotation
Fahrni’s article explores how women’s
heightened consumer consciousness during
the war transitioned into organized activism
over consumer issues in Montreal in the 1940s.
Consumer concern developed over issues such
as price, availability, and food standards and
selection following the war. Fahrni’s emphasis
on women’s consumer activism and their claim
to economic citizenship rights is crucial to my
examination of gender and consumption in
Canadian historiography. Fahrni’s article was
building on the works of previous feminist
historians such as Ruth Frager and Joan
Sangster who had previously examined
women’s involvement in political activism from
their position as consumers.
Abstract
In the 1940's, Montreal women drew on a sense
of economic citizenship cultivated over the war
years to organize around consumer issues. The
federal government had encouraged a wartime
consumer consciousness as part of its efforts on
the home front. After the war, continued
government controls, consumers' groups, and
labor newspapers encouraged both middle- and
working-class families to maintain their interest
in prices, standards, and consumer choice. In
cities across the country, women especially used
their intimate knowledge of household finance to
demand better social welfare measures and a
reasonable cost of living. This article explores the
grocer and butcher boycotts of 1947-48 and the
battle to secure the legalization of margarine as a
cheaper substitute for butter as two examples of a
gendered politics of prices in 1940's Montreal.
Example Annotation
Complete
citation in
Chicago Style
Briefly
summarize
main thrust of
article
Relevance to
your own
research
Critical
assessment of
source,
situated in
historiography
We’re here to help!
 Visit us in person at the reference desk
 Send us an email at reference@algomau.ca
 Call us at (705) 949-2100
 And don’t forget to check out our Citation Guides @
http://library.algomau.ca/main/?q=node/303
Image Sources
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http://libguides.fau.edu/content.php?pid=125811&sid=3474195
http://www.readcwbooks.com/books.jpg
http://library.algomau.ca
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.libproxy.auc.ca/eds/results
https://s-media-cacheak0.pinimg.com/736x/05/0f/09/050f097ca2f7d26bbb96faaed712d65b.jpg
http://data2.collectionscanada.gc.ca/ap/c/c003340.jpg
http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cmc/patins/images/montreal_lrg.jpg
http://whytoread.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/Books-That-Will-Broaden-YourLife-Perspective.jpg
Components of an Annotation
Citation for resource in Chicago Style
1.
1.
Bibliography is organized alphabetically by author
2. Critical annotation of the source
1.
Main thesis or argument of the source
2.
Historical research method used
3.
How this source is relevant to your paper topic
Primary Sources
Secondary Sources
A document or object that
was written or created during
the time under study. They
were present during an
experience or time period
and offer an inside view into
that event. Examples include:
A secondary source interprets
and analyzes primary
sources. These sources are
one or more steps removed
from the event. Examples
include:
 Original documents:
diaries, speeches,
manuscripts, letters,
articles, advertisements
 Creative works: poetry,
drama, novels, art, music
 Publications: textbooks,
encyclopedias, magazine
articles, scholarly articles,
news reports
What to consider
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is the focus or scope of the book or article?
What is the thesis or argument of the work?
Who is the intended audience of this source?
What is the author's methodology: What kinds of
sources are used? Is it a case study or an overview
of scholarship on the subject? How is the
book/article organized?
How is this source is relevant to your paper topic?
How does it support or influence your topic?
Writing A Good Evaluative Annotation
 Be critical – You must go beyond summarizing the
article. The value lies in your assessment of each source.
 Be brief - Keep your annotation to a limit of 10
sentences.
 Be honest – Only include works that you will use and
that are important to the historiography of your topic.1
Source: http://help.library.ubc.ca/planning-your-research/how-to-write-an-annotated-bibliography/