Writing an Annotated Bibliography
An annotated bibliography may be written as a guide for future researchers or as an aid to organizing your thoughts about a topic you are learning about. It typically includes:
Complete bibliographic information in a format such as MLA, APA or Turabian
Summarizing information:
- Audience for whom the source was written (general public, people with some knowledge about ______, historians, anthropologists?)
- Breadth/depth of topics included
- Main arguments and conclusions
- Any significant "extras" such as interactive maps, photos, reprints of source documents, annotated bibliography
Evaluative and comparative information:
- The author's background, experience and authority (See Checking Authors for help with this part)
- The author's purpose/goals in writing/creating this source
- The author's viewpoint or school of thought
- Sources: Does the author cite other sources? Is it based on the author's own research? Is it personal opinion?
- Does this item agree/disagree with another author or viewpoint?
- Is it an example or counterexample of a theory or phenomenon you've seen elsewhere?
- Does it overlap with something else but impute more/less importance to some factor?
Reflective information:
- How might this source helped your research on your topic?
- How might this source shape your argument?
- How might this source force you to adjust your thinking about your topic?
- If the source looks interesting but you are waiting to get the full text of it via interlibrary loan, note this as well.