Annotated Bibliography Samples // Purdue Writing Lab Page 1 of 3 https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/annotated_bibliographies/annotated_bibliography_samples.html This page is brought to you by the OWL at Purdue University. When printing this page, you must include the entire legal notice. Copyright ©1995-2018 by The Writing Lab & The OWL at Purdue and Purdue University. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, reproduced, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without permission. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our terms and conditions of fair use. Summary: This handout provides information about annotated bibliographies in MLA, APA, and CMS. Below you will find sample annotations from annotated bibliographies, each with a different research project. Remember that the annotations you include in your own bibliography should reflect your research project and/or the guidelines of your assignment. As mentioned elsewhere in this resource, depending on the purpose of your bibliography, some annotations may summarize, some may assess or evaluate a source, and some may reflect on the source’s possible uses for the project at hand. Some annotations may address all three of these steps. Consider the purpose of your annotated bibliography and/or your instructor’s directions when deciding how much information to include in your annotations. Please keep in mind that all your text, including the write-up beneath the citation, must be indented so that the author's last name is the only text that is flush left. Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Anchor Books, 1995. Lamott's book offers honest advice on the nature of a writing life, complete with its insecurities and failures. Taking a humorous approach to the realities of being a writer, the chapters in Lamott's book are wry and anecdotal and offer advice on everything from plot development to jealousy, from perfectionism to struggling with one's own internal critic. In the process, Lamott includes writing exercises designed to be both productive and fun. Lamott offers sane advice for those struggling with the anxieties of writing, but her main project seems to be offering the reader a reality check regarding writing, publishing, and struggling with one's own imperfect humanity in the process. Rather than a practical https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/annotated_bibli... 10/8/2018 Annotated Bibliography Samples // Purdue Writing Lab Page 2 of 3 handbook to producing and/or publishing, this text is indispensable because of its honest perspective, its down-to-earth humor, and its encouraging approach. Chapters in this text could easily be included in the curriculum for a writing class. Several of the chapters in Part 1 address the writing process and would serve to generate discussion on students' own drafting and revising processes. Some of the writing exercises would also be appropriate for generating classroom writing exercises. Students should find Lamott's style both engaging and enjoyable. In the sample annotation above, the writer includes three paragraphs: a summary, an evaluation of the text, and a reflection on its applicability to his/her own research, respectively. For information on formatting MLA citations, see our MLA 2016 Formatting and Style Guide (../../../research_and_citation/mla_style/mla_formatting_and_style_guide/mla_formatting_and_style_guide.html). Ehrenreich, B. (2001). Nickel and dimed: On (not) getting by in America. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company. In this book of nonfiction based on the journalist's experiential research, Ehrenreich attempts to ascertain whether it is currently possible for an individual to live on a minimum-wage in America. Taking jobs as a waitress, a maid in a cleaning service, and a Walmart sales employee, the author summarizes and reflects on her work, her relationships with fellow workers, and her financial struggles in each situation. An experienced journalist, Ehrenreich is aware of the limitations of her experiment and the ethical implications of her experiential research tactics and reflects on these issues in the text. The author is forthcoming about her methods and supplements her experiences with scholarly research on her places of employment, the economy, and the rising cost of living in America. Ehrenreich’s project is timely, descriptive, and well-researched. The annotation above both summarizes and assesses the book in the citation. The first paragraph provides a brief summary of the author's project in the book, covering the main points of the work. The second paragraph points out the project’s strengths and evaluates its methods and presentation. This particular annotation does not reflect on the source’s potential importance or usefulness for this person’s own research. For information on formatting APA citations, see our APA Formatting and Style Guide (../../../research_and_citation/apa_style/apa_style_introduction.html). Davidson, Hilda Ellis. Roles of the Northern Goddess. London: Routledge, 1998. Davidson's book provides a thorough examination of the major roles filled by the numerous pagan goddesses of Northern Europe in everyday life, including their roles in hunting, agriculture, domestic arts like weaving, the household, and death. The author discusses relevant archaeological evidence, patterns of symbol and ritual, and previous research. The book includes a number of black and white photographs of relevant artifacts. This annotation includes only one paragraph, a summary of the book. It provides a concise description of the project and the book's project and its major features. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/annotated_bibli... 10/8/2018 Annotated Bibliography Samples // Purdue Writing Lab Page 3 of 3 For information on formatting Chicago Style citations, see our Chicago Manual of Style resources. (../../../research_and_citation/chicago_manual_17th_edition/chicago_manual_of_style_17th_edition.html) https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/common_writing_assignments/annotated_bibli... 10/8/2018 How to Write an Annotated Bibliography - UMUC Library Prospective Students Current Students Administration Partners More + Page 1 of 4 Events News Locations Transcripts Log In MyUMUC My Classes ASK A LIBRARIAN RESOURCES SERVICES GET HELP ARCHIVES ABOUT THE LIBRARY Library > Get Help > How to Write an Annotated Bibliography Print Page How to Write an Annotated Bibliography Run time: 5:34 | Transcript Chat with a Librarian E-Mail Us | 240-684-2020 855-655-8682, opt. 6, x22020 Chat Hours (ET) Transcript Mon-Thurs: 9am-9:30pm Fri: 9am-4pm Sat: 11am-4pm Sun: 11am-9pm Tell us how we're doing You have just been given an assignment to write an annotated bibliography. Before you begin, you need to know what exactly an annotated bibliography is and how to get started. First, what is an annotation? An annotation is more than just a brief summary of an article, book, Web site or other type of publication. An annotation should give enough information to make a reader decide whether to read the complete work. In other words, if the reader were exploring the same topic as you, is this material useful and if so, why? How is an annotation different from an abstract? While an abstract also summarizes an article, book, Web site or other type of publication, it is purely descriptive. Although annotations can be descriptive, they also include distinctive features about an item. Annotations can be evaluative and critical as we will see when we look at the two major types of annotations. What is an annotated bibliography? http://sites.umuc.edu/library/libhow/bibliography_tutorial.cfm 10/8/2018 How to Write an Annotated Bibliography - UMUC Library Page 2 of 4 An annotated bibliography is an organized list of sources (like a reference list). It differs from a straightforward bibliography in that each reference is followed by a paragraph length annotation, usually 100–200 words in length. Depending on the assignment, an annotated bibliography might have different purposes: • Provide a literature review on a particular subject • Help to formulate a thesis on a subject • Demonstrate the research you have performed on a particular subject • Provide examples of major sources of information available on a topic • Describe items that other researchers may find of interest on a topic Types of annotated bibliographies There are two major types of annotated bibliographies: 1. Descriptive or informative 2. Analytical or critical Descriptive or informative A descriptive or informative annotated bibliography describes or summarizes a source as does an abstract, it describes why the source is useful for researching a particular topic or question, its distinctive features. In addition, it describes the author's main arguments and conclusions without evaluating what the author says or concludes. For example: Breeding evil. (2005, August 6). Economist, 376(8438), 9. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com This editorial from the Economist describes the controversy surrounding video games and the effect they have on people who use them. The author points out that skepticism of new media have gone back to the time of the ancient Greeks, so this controversy surrounding video games is nothing new. The article also points out that most critics of gaming are people over 40 and it is an issue of generations not understanding one another, rather than of the games themselves. As the youth of today grow older, the controversy will die out, according to the author. The author of this article stresses the age factor over violence as the real reason for opposition to video games and stresses the good gaming has done in most areas of human life. This article is distinctive in exploring the controversy surrounding video games from a generational standpoint and is written for a general audience. Please pay attention to the last sentence. While it points out distinctive features about the item it does not analyze the author's conclusions. Analytical or critical An analytical or critical annotation not only summarizes the material, it analyzes what is being said. It examines the strengths and weaknesses of what is presented as well as describing the applicability of the author's conclusions to the research being conducted. For most of your annotated bibliographies, however, you will be writing analytical or critical annotations. http://sites.umuc.edu/library/libhow/bibliography_tutorial.cfm 10/8/2018 How to Write an Annotated Bibliography - UMUC Library Page 3 of 4 For example: Breeding evil. (2005, August 6). Economist, 376(8438), 9. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com This editorial from the Economist describes the controversy surrounding video games and the effect they have on people who use them. The article points out that most critics of gaming are people over 40 and it is an issue of age not of the games themselves. While the author briefly mentions studies done around the issue of violence and gaming, he does not go into enough depth for the reader to truly know the range of studies that have actually been done in this area, other than to take his word that the research is unsatisfactory. The author of this article stresses the age factor over violence as the real reason for opposition to video games and stresses the good gaming has done in most areas of human life. This article is a good resource for those wanting to begin to explore the controversy surrounding video games, however for anyone doing serious research, one should actually examine some of the research studies that have been done in this area rather than simply take the author's word that opposition to video games is simply due to an issue of generational divide. Please pay attention to the last sentence. It criticizes the authors research. Please note that in these samples, the citations follow the APA format. Your instructor may require you to use another citation format, such as MLA, so check first. To get started Now you are ready to begin writing your own annotated bibliography. • Choose your sources Before writing your annotated bibliography, you must choose your sources. This involves doing research much like for any other project. Locate records to materials that may apply to your topic. • Review the items Then review the actual items and choose those that provide a wide variety of perspectives on your topic. Article abstracts are helpful in this process. • Write the citation and annotation When writing your annotation, the complete citation should always come first and the annotation follows. Depending on the type of annotated bibliography you are writing, you will want to include: 1. The purpose of the work 2. A summary of its content 3. For what type of audience the work is written 4. Its relevance to the topic 5. Any special or unique features about the material 6. The strengths, weaknesses or biases in the material Annotated bibliographies may be arranged alphabetically or chronologically, check with your instructor to see what he or she prefers. Guidelines for formatting the citations Remember, the citations themselves must be formatted properly. UMUC has prepared these guides to help you correctly format citations according to APA, MLA or Chicago Style. Remember to check with your instructor if you are unsure which style to use. http://sites.umuc.edu/library/libhow/bibliography_tutorial.cfm 10/8/2018 How to Write an Annotated Bibliography - UMUC Library Page 4 of 4 Thank you for watching this presentation, please be sure to visit us for all your information needs. 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