What Is an Annotated Bibliography?
An annotated bibliography is an organized list of sources (may be any variety of materials, books, documents, videos, articles, web sites, CD-ROMs, etc.) with an accompanying paragraph that describes, explains, and/or evaluates each entry in terms of quality, authority, and relevance.
What Is the Purpose of an Annotated Bibliography?
An annotated bibliography may serve a number of purposes, including but not limited to:
- A review of the literature on a particular subject
- Illustrate the quality of research that you have done
- Provide examples of the types of sources available
- Describe other items on a topic that may be of interest to the reader
- Explore the subject for further research
The annotated bibliography may be selective or comprehensive in its coverage. A selective annotated bibliography includes just those items that are best for the topic while an exhaustive annotated bibliography attempts to identify all that is available on a subject.
Annotations vs. Abstracts
Annotations in an annotated bibliography usually perform two functions, describe the source and evaluate the source. The annotation is a concise description of a particular source, including important aspects of content not evident in the title. It enables the researcher to establish the relevance of a specific journal article, book, research report, or government document, etc. and to decide whether to consult the full text of the work. Abstracts, such as those found in various periodical databases or those accompanying scholarly journal articles are usually just descriptive summaries.
Organization of an Annotated Bibliography
The organization of the annotated bibliography, if not prescribed by faculty instructions, may be one of the various methods, including but not limited to:
- Alphabetical
- Chronological: either by date of publication or by period of subject matter (century, era, decade, event, year)
- By subtopic
- By format (articles, books, government documents, media, web pages, etc.)
- By language
Structure of an Annotation
- Length: Generally, annotations constitute one paragraph and are approximately 100 -150 words long, with a goal of concise and explicative annotations
- Person: The third person is the standard, though first person may be appropriate for certain types of annotated bibliographies.
- Language and Vocabulary: Use the vocabulary of the author, as much as possible, to convey the ideas and conclusions of the author. If you use a quotation excerpted from the work, set it within quotation marks. Vary your sentence structure and try to avoid repetitive vacuous phrases in your annotations, such as, "The author states," "This article concerns," or "The purpose of this report is," as well as sentences starting with "It was suggested that," "It was found that," and "It was reported that."
- Format - Sentences: Whole sentences are preferable, but single descriptive words and simple phrases, or lists may be acceptable.
- Format - Paragraphs: Annotations should be one paragraph long. The paragraph should contain a statement of the work's major thesis, from which the rest of the sentences can develop.
- Generally, annotations should be no more than 150 words (or 4-6 sentences long). They should be concise and well-written. Depending on your assignment, annotations may include some or all of the following information:
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- Main focus or purpose of the work
- Intended audience for the work
- Usefulness or relevance to your research topic (or why it did not meet your expectations)
- Special features of the work that were unique or helpful
- Background and credibility of the author
- Conclusions or observations reached by the author
- Conclusions or observations reached by you
Adapted from:
- Katz, William A., "Annotations" in Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science (Vol. 1; New York: Marcel Dekker, 1968)
- Willams, Owen, "Writing an Annotated Bibliography," University of Minnesota, Crookson Library. Retrieved November 17, 2004 "Writing Annotations," University of Toledo Libraries Retrieved November 17, 2004
- "Writing an annotated bibliography," Lawrence University, Seeley G. Mudd Library Retrieved November 17, 2004
Source: http://lib.skidmore.edu/library/index.php/li371-annotated-bib
