students should treat the annotated bibliography as if it were an early step in a major paper they were writing on the topic.
Begin working on this project during the first week of class. A competent annotated bibliography cannot be produced in a day or two, as it takes time to get familiar with the literature related to a topic. Efficient students will research sources and write annotations every week of the 6-week semester to reduce the stress associated with last-minute cramming.
Specifications
Begin by selecting a topic from the pre-approved list, ideally choosing the topic that most interests you.
1-inch margins on all sides using 12-point Times New Roman font (double-spaced).
Use a hanging indent for the list of annotations, and alphabetize sources by last names of authors.
Follow the Chicago Manual of Style for formatting.
Minimum of ten (10) total annotations with citation information. Stronger projects will likely exceed the ten-source minimum.
All sources will be scholarly in nature. Follow this link to learn more about what constitutes a scholarly source.
Minimum of three books and a maximum of two scholarly Internet sources. Note: the instructor discourages the use of websites as sources, given their unreliable quality and the challenges students have in accurately assessing the academic quality of websites.
Use sources produced within the last 30 years. Older sources are less likely to be up-to-date.
Begin with the SUMMON search engine at the Jerome LibraryLinks to an external site.. Note: be sure to set filters to return results that are journal articles and scholarly books. Some of the unfiltered SUMMON results can include items like children’s books (used by the Education College) or non-scholarly sources such as popular magazines.
Do not create annotations for encyclopedias, popular literature, videos, games, or non-scholarly websites.
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 (150-200 words) paragraph that is descriptive and evaluative: this is called the annotation. The annotation informs the reader of the relevance, accuracy, arguments, and quality of the sources cited.
Determining Source Quality
The following link provides a more in-depth overview of determining the scholarly value of sources, but the following quick test is effective in weeding out less-than-scholarly sources. All five questions should be answered with a “yes” for every source:
Is the source written by a subject matter expert?
Is the source published by an academic publisher?
Is the source peer-reviewed?
Is the source a work of original research?
Is the source up-to-date (less than 30 years old)?
Do I Have to Read Every Page of These Sources?
No, you are not reading cover-to-cover. You need to read for certain components (see below). You are not reading to master content, but you are reading to understand what a source is really all about. If you are reading every page, you are not being strategic in your reading. Be sure to read the introductions to books: often the author spells out in this section the book’s major arguments and themes. Introductory and concluding paragraphs of articles also are useful in finding main arguments. In short: plan on spending 30-60 minutes evaluating each source.
Components of Annotated Bibliographical Entries
Source Citation: Provide the correct Chicago Manual of Style citation information for each source.
Source Summary: Concisely summarize the source. Briefly state the topic and main arguments of the source. Also provide information about how the source is organized, the main types of evidence the author uses, and how the author makes his or her argument.
Source Evaluation: Explain how the source contributes to a particular topic. Is it one of the key pieces of evidence supporting your research? Does it offer crucial background information? Does it present a counterpoint to your argument that you need to address? Does the source present an alternate viewpoint that is important? Be sure to discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the source. Was the argument persuasive? If so, explain what made the argument work well. Were you unconvinced by some of the author’s claims? If so, explain why. Put the source into the context of the field as a whole. How does this source compare with other sources in the field? Does this source refute long-held assumptions? Does it break new ground?
Steps in Writing the Annotated Bibliography
Decide what sources are most important and relevant. Think about the potential research questions that interested you in your topic in the first place and then think about which sources would best help you answer those questions. A major benefit of writing an annotated bibliography is that, by the end of it, you will have a far better idea of what your potential research project looks like, what you are arguing, and the evidence you have to support your argument.
Identify main arguments of each source. What problem(s) is this author trying to address? What gaps in knowledge does the writer intend to fill? If you have trouble capturing the main idea, reread the author’s introduction and conclusion. In those sections, the author is likely to lay out in detail the larger arguments.
Examine how successfully the author supports arguments. Review the source and see what evidence the author used. Is there sufficient evidence, and what kinds of evidence were used? Were the interpretations of the evidence logical? How does this source fit in with the others you examined? Did you find some sources more convincing than others?
Determine how this source would be most useful for researchers. What did you learn from the source? How would this source be particularly helpful to you?
If you are especially interested in a narrow aspect of the chosen topic, you may focus on sources that highlight this narrow aspect.
Sample Annotated Bibliography Entry
Borstelmann, Thomas. The Cold War and the Color Line: American Race Relations in the Global Arena. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2001.
Borstelmann explores the role of race in the domestic and international politics of the American Cold War. He provides an international context for the American civil rights movement, arguing that the American Civil Rights Movement was tied to the rise of postwar anti-colonialism and the emergence of anticommunist culture. Borstelmann, who draws heavily on archival and manuscript sources, also argues that the American civil rights movement evolved into an international human rights movement that continues into the present day. Because Borstelmann focuses the research on American policymakers and civil rights leaders, the author is successful at identifying the ways in which Cold War politics served to expose America’s racial injustices, and the book would be appropriate for specialists in the field as well as informed general readers. He reveals the dichotomies and conflicts of American domestic and foreign policy with the realities faced by Blacks in America during the time period in question. This book establishes the mounting tensions that eventually culminated in the riots of 1967. However, this text provides little insight into why racial tension continued to increase despite major policy changes by the government.
