Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

The purpose of this assignment is to get you to the full range of academic and general secondary research tools available to you, and get you some experience searching them.

An annotated works cited provides a brief summary of the contents of each book, article, interview, Internet document, film, or video included in the list. The annotation (placed below each citation) describes the essential details of the work so that future researchers referring to an entry will be able to make an informed decision about using the text.

For this assignment, you must collect and read 6 academic sources related to your argument topic. You will be expected to check out sources from the library and to consult online sources. Be sure to find sources you will have access to throughout the rest of the semester. If you find a journal article, make sure you have a paper copy or can save and access a copy on your computer.

Type of Source	Minimum Number of Sources	Comments:
Academic Journal or Periodical articles	2	These articles must be from a peer-reviewed or referenced journal (i.e. an “Academic Journal”). [Note: if you are using a scanned electronic copy (i.e. there exists a print versionsomewhere and this is a copy), you can treat it as a “print” source. If, however, the article comesfrom an online-only publication, there is often a specific method of citing this material that isdifferent from the “print” version.
Books/Volumes	1	Can be paper, electronic, or microform [Note: if you are using an e-book, there is often a specific method of citing this material that is different from the “print” version.
Popular News Source	1	Print Newspapers, Internet News Sites (e.g. CNN Online, The New York Times Online, The Wall Street Journal Online, etc.) [Note: If a news source has both print content and online content, be sure you are using the correct citation for the version of the source you are using], Television or Radio news program transcripts, News Magazines (e.g. Time, NewsWeek, etc.).
Online Database/Internet Website	2	The Internet source you choose should be considered a scholarly resource, if at all possible [note: if you wish to use web-sites that are not considered “scholarly” sources (e.g. WikiPedia or various manufacture/organization web-sites comes to mind), you must clearly indicate that this source is of a dubious/questionable/potentially biased nature].

Keep in mind that acceptable sources DO NOT include:

• Encyclopedia entries (including Wikipedia)-good for a quick search to get up to speed, but never to be cited or used in academic papers.
• Internet only sources that are not notably scholarly or expert (i.e. Joe Bob’s House of Home Remedies).

Good online sources include those that you find using the Steen Library’s online databases and journals. Remember that the library staff is there to help you. If you go to the library and ask to speak with a librarian in your subject area, the desk staff will find a librarian to come and assist you.

Each entry will contain the following:

• A complete, correct MLA citation for the work, including inclusive page ranges for journal articles. An annotation of a paragraph or two in length double-spaced.

Annotations should do all of the following, in a standard order you develop and keep consistent:

• Briefly summarize the text and its purpose, including the thesis and main argument. Your summary will be a body paragraph right below the works cited entry. Remember that direct quoting is not summary. Use paraphrases instead of direct quoting if you must.
• Briefly mention the author’s credentials. (Google is your friend). If you can’t find anything, let me know how you looked.
• Analyze the text in terms of general quality; mention/analyze any supplements (charts, illustrations, appendices, etc.); critique the author’s argument if necessary. Identify any weaknesses or problems.
• Finally, in your last sentence, indicate how you will use this source as evidence in your essay. What claim will it support? If after reading through the source, you feel that you won’t be directly citing it, but it provided you with background knowledge, let me know.

There is no minimum or maximum word count for this assignment, but a complete annotated bibliography with 6 sources is expected to be more than two pages in length. Double space the entire paper, use Times New Roman, 12 point font, and one-inch margins. In MLA, entries should be in alphabetical order, organized by the last name of your source. Be sure to include your last name and the page number in the upper right hand corner of each page after the first. Please refer to sample on D2L.

Because of the nature of the assignment, MLA will be worth 50% of the grade. Refer to the rubric to see the grading standards.

 

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