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Introduction
We admit it: the Annotated Bibliography is more of an academic exercise, one that you will probably not repeat except in the university setting. However, the skills required to complete the bibliography will transfer to other aspects of your education and to the real world. Annotated Bibliographies are very useful to you or to other authors who would like to research a similar topic. In an annotated bibliography, you are gathering secondary sources, and your purpose is to capture what the state of knowledge is on a particular topic. By submitting what you do in your bibliography, you claim that you have found and read a significant amount of relevant material that has been published on the issue. You also claim that you have chosen the best representation of that material. Not everything you read will make it to your bibliography, and not everything in your bibliography will make it to the final project! The expectation is that you have researched with enough depth that you gain a sense of–and are able to discuss–who the main voices in the discussion are, and also what the main arguments are. Annotated Bibliographies focus on the skills of summary, evaluation, and synthesis. This means that you have to read each source and give your reader a brief overview but you also have to know how sources relate to one another and to your project. Sources on an annotated bibliography are usually listed alphabetically, but if your instructor wants you to focus on how sources relate to one another, they may ask you to organize it by topic or chronologically. Warning: It’s easy to plagiarize on an annotated bibliography, especially if you haven’t read the source yet! Don’t copy and paste the abstract into your annotation. Put the summary of the article in your own words. This will not only help you avoid plagiarism, it will also help you process the information you are reading.What is an Annotated Bibliography?
So, with the theory out of the way, what does an annotated bibliography look like, and how do I write one? Again, each instructor will take a somewhat unique approach, so the specifics of what to include or how to include them will be subject to the specifics of your section of ENG 104. However, if you consider that you are compiling a Bibliography, then you are compiling a list of sources. And generally, a bibliography is formatted according to a particular style sheet (see Citation Conventions). So be prepared to list the citations of your sources, as they would (or will) appear in the Works Cited or References list at the end of your paper. Because, of course, that Works Cited or References list is a kind of Bibliography. The Annotated Bibliography is only complete, though, when you have also included the annotation. This means that for each entry you will write something. Again, pay attention to the specifics provided by your instructor, but the annotation will often include three parts: a summary, an evaluation, and a discussion.* Summary: concisely present the main points of the source, in your own words. * Evaluation: assess the reliability and validity by discussing author credentials and publication details, as well by analyzing the context clues. * Synthesis: discuss how you expect to use the information and ideas from this source; also discuss how the ideas of this source fit with those in other sources in your Bibliography.
When you have completed the Annotated Bibliography you will have set yourself up for writing the 8-12 page research-driven academic essay (which is required of all ENG 104 students). When you are able to summarize your main sources, can defend the reliability and credentials of the authors, and can discuss how the ideas of your sources fit together to support an argument, then you are well on your way to having what you need to compose a successful research-driven academic essay.Student Sample
Let’s look at a Sample Annotated Bibliography entry to see these elements take shape. [h5p id=”20″]Summary
Annotated bibliographies are primarily useful for you as you continue your project. However, like the proposal–or as a part of a proposal–they can help you communicate with your instructor about the research you are doing. Your instructor can then guide you toward missing parts of your research or sources that might not work for your final project. Annotated bibliographies are also useful to other researchers to share sources on a similar topic.NEXT: Other Common Assignments