What is an Annotated Bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation

is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the

annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy,

and quality of the sources cited.

ANNOTATIONS VS. ABSTRACTS

Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly

journal articles or in periodical indexes. Annotations are descriptive and critical; they expose

the author's point of view, clarity and appropriateness of expression, and authority.

THE PROCESS

Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills:

concise exposition, succinct analysis, and informed library research.

First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful

information and ideas on your topic. Briefly examine and review the actual items. Then choose

those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.

Cite the book, article, or document using the appropriate style.

Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article.

Include one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b)

comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have

cited, or (d) explain how this work illuminates your bibliography topic.

Reprinted from http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/skill28.htm#what

Annotated Bibliography Assignment English 1001

FORMAT

As you put your materials together, remember that the purpose for this assignment is to

provide a useful starting place for anyone who wishes to develop a better understanding of the

topic your group has chosen. In your search for articles, you are tuning in to the public

conversation among experts about your topic, so you should assemble a range of resources

that will provide background, definitions of key terms, and a sense of what questions and issues

matter in any discussion of this topic.

Each group will turn in one folder with the following materials in the following order:

COVER SHEET

The first page of your project should have a header that identifies the group and your subject in

either the top left hand corner, as below, followed by a list of the first and last names of group

members.

English 1001-5

Annotated Bibliography

Group 1: Robots in the Workplace

Spring 2011

INTRODUCTION

Your introduction should

 Be approximately 500 words;

 Provide brief context for your topic (perhaps explaining why you think it’s important to

know something about this topic);

 Give an overview of your sources (perhaps by offering a rationale for the distribution of

popular and scholarly sources you’ve chosen to include); and

 Focus in more detail on the sources which you have summarized (perhaps by briefly

mentioning their main arguments and any connections you see among them),

End with suggestions for further exploration of your subject for which these sources

provide a starting place.

LIST OF ANNOTATED SOURCES

Your list should

 Be alphabetized by the last name of the author or, where there is no author to list, by

title;

 Provide a full bibliographical entry for each source, followed by a two to three sentence

description of the source;

 Contain 5 items as described above contributed by each group member

 Provide a variety of materials, at least three of which come from refereed journals.

The examples below are models of MLA and APA format for bibliographical entries.

MLA

Karlsson, Mikael. "Biosafety principles for GMOs in the context of sustainable

development." International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology 10.1

(2003): 15. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 25 Feb. 2010.

This article discusses ways to safely introduce GMO’s into general use and addresses

strategies for risk management. It also discusses European laws governing the release

of GMOs.

APA

Karlsson, M. (2003). Biosafety principles for GMOs in the context of sustainable

development. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 10(1),

15. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database on 25 Feb. 2010.

This article discusses ways to safely introduce GMO’s into general use and addresses

strategies for risk management. It also discusses European laws governing the release

of GMOs.