Annotated Bibliography

Challenge:

Create an annotated bibliography.

Solution:

An annotated bibliography is an alphabetical list of resources. Each entry includes the standard bibliographic citation - author, title, publisher, etc. - found in any bibliography, plus a concise (about 150 words) description of the resource and some comment on its value or relevance. When creating an annotated bibliography for class, be sure to read your assignment carefully and completely. Make sure you include all the information your professor requires.

An annotation is generally more than just a summary of a reference. A summary describes the main points of a source. Usually, an annotation both describes and analyzes a resource. Points to consider when making your analysis are:

content of the resource
usefulness and/or scope of the resource
limitations of the resource
reliability and/or credentials of the author(s)
intended audience
significant or special features of the work
your reaction to the resource

Annotated bibliographies not only provide a list of the resources you used on a project, but also

give the reader a glimpse of what each work contains
illustrate the level and quality of your research
provide examples of resources available on a topic
serve as a literature review
describe other items on a topic in which the reader might be interested.

There are four main types of annotation used in bibliographies. The requirements and purpose of your assignment or project will determine which form you use.

Type	Description and use
Indicative	defines the source scope, lists significant topics, and tells what the source is about; shorter than an informative annotation because it gives no actual information from the source (hypotheses, proofs)
Informative	summarizes the source: beginning with the thesis, including the main arguements and proofs, ending with the conclusion
Evaluative	assesses the value of the source, outlining its strengths and weaknesses
Combination	The most commonly used annotation form. One or two sentences summarizing the content and one or two sentences evaluating the source.

Annotations can be made for any citation format - APA, MLA, AMA,etc. Records in an annotated bibliography should look something like this:

Author. (publication date). Title. Place published: publisher.

Annotation

Resources:

Examples of the 4 Annotation Forms
University of Wisconsin - Madison's Writing Center has put together an online guide to annotation forms.
Citation Style Guides
The UGLi guide to commonly used citation formats.
Purdue University Online Writing Lab
An academic website on creating annotated bibliographies.
University of Toronto - Ontartio
Another website on annotated bibliographics which includes a list of verbs you may find useful when writing annotations.

Books in the UGLi collection, including:
Gibaldi, Joseph, ed. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. 6th ed. New York: MLA, 2003.
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. 5th ed. Washington: APA, 2001.
Anson, Chris and Schwegler, Robert. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers. 2nd ed. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.
Harner, James. On Compiling an Annotated Bibliography. New York: MLA, 2000.

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