An annotated bibliography is an organized list of sources (may be any variety of materials, books, documents, videos, articles, web sites, CD-ROMs, etc.) with an accompanying paragraph that describes, explains, and/or evaluates each entry in terms of quality, authority, and relevance.

What is the Purpose of an Annotated Bibliography?__________________________________

An annotated bibliography may serve a number of purposes, including but not limited to:

• a review of the literature on a particular subject
• illustrate the quality of research that you have done
• provide examples of the types of sources available
• describe other items on a topic that may be of interest to the reader
• explore the subject for further research
  

The annotated bibliography may be selective or comprehensive in its coverage. A selective annotated bibliography includes just those items that are best for the topic while an exhaustive annotated bibliography attempts to identify all that is available on a subject.

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Organization of an Annotated Bibliography_________________________________________

The organization of the annotated bibliography, if not prescribed by faculty instructions, may be one of various methods, including but not limited to:

• alphabetical
• chronological
  • date of publication
  • time period of subject matter (century, era, decade, event, year)
• by subtopic
• by format (articles, books, government documents, media, web pages, etc.)
• by language

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Annotations vs. Abstracts_______________________________________________________

Annotations in an annotated bibliography usually perform two functions, describe the source and evaluate the source. The annotation is a concise description of a particular source, including important aspects of content not evident in the title. It enables the researcher to establish the relevance of a specific journal article, book, research report, or government document, etc. and to decide whether to consult the full text of the work.

Abstracts, such as those found in various periodical databases or those accompanying scholarly journal articles are usually just descriptive summaries.

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Elements of an Annotation_______________________________________________________

Information found in an annotation may include:

1. qualifications of author(s);

"Based on 20 years of study, William A. Smith, Professor of English at XYZ University...";

2. purpose/scope:

 "...sets out to place John Turner in eighteenth century England and show the development of his philosophy in relation to contemporary social mores";

3. audience and level of reading difficulty:

"Smith addresses himself to the scholar, albeit the concluding chapters on capital punishment will be clear to any informed layman";

4. bias or standpoint of author :

"Turner gears his study more to the romantic aspects of the age than the scientific and rational developments";

5. relationship to other works in the field:

"Here Turner departs drastically from A. F. Johnson (Two will not, New York, Riposte Press, 1964) who not only has developed the rational themes of the eighteenth century but is convinced the romantic elements at best are only a skein through the major prose and poetry";

6. findings, results, and conclusions (if available); and

7. format/special features

(e.g., bibliography, glossary, index, survey instruments, testing devices, etc.).

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Structure of an Annotation______________________________________________________

• Length:
  

  Generally, annotations constitute one paragraph and are approximately 100 -150 words long, with a goal of concise and explicative annotations
  

• Person:
  

  The third person is the standard, though first person may be appropriate for certain types of annotated bibliographies.
  

• Language and Vocabulary:
  

  Use the vocabulary of the author, as much as possible, to convey the ideas and conclusions of the author.  If you use a quotation excerpted from the work set it within quotation marks.

  Vary your sentence structure and try to avoid repetivitive vacuuous phrases in your annotations, such as, "The author states," "This article concerns," or "The purpose of this report is," as well as sentences starting with "It was suggested that," "It was found that," and "It was reported that."

• Format - Sentences:
  

  Whole sentences are preferable, but single descriptive words, and simple phrases or lists may be acceptable.

• Format - Paragraphs:

  Annotations should be one paragraph long. The paragraph should contain a statement of the work's major thesis, from which the rest of the sentences can develop.

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Citation Format ________________________________________________________________

The bibliography portion of the annotated bibliography usually follows one of the standard citation formats, APA, MLA, Chicago, etc. Citation format information is available from the library's How do I...? Cite a Source web page. The most complete citation resources remain in print; copies of the APA, MLA, Chicago, Turabian, ASA and ACA style guides are available at the reference desk.

For more information ask a reference librarian.

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Examples of an Annotated Bibliography Entry _______________________________________

Example 1:

Tran, Anthony and Allan M. Tow. “America, Your Children Are Left Behind.” Journal of Paralegal Education and Practice, vol. 13, 1997: 115. Online. LEXIS-NEXIS® Academic, March 29, 2002.

A refugee of the Vietnam War writes an overview of the legal status of Amerasians, particularly those from Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam. The extensive bibliography in this law review article is especially useful for identifying relevant legislation on Amerasians.


Example 2:

Broude, Norma. Impressionism: a feminist reading. New York: Rizzoli, 1991.

In this publication Broude has taken full advantage of her feminist lens to scrutinize modern French science. Her text is accessible and reader-friendly and uses poststructuralism without becoming a slave to its theories. Her systematic examination of the field, particularly in "The Gendering of Art, Science, and Nature in the Nineteenth Century," reveals underlying patterns of gender discrimination inherent in traditional French philosophy, which upholds Descartes' "I think, therefore I am." Her examination of the social relations between art and science compels readers to take a harder more skeptical look at the sexual politics of postmodernism, whise theory seems to be rooted within the French Cartesian tradition. Her book should be require reading for anyone interest in art, the feminine principle, and how it is treated in a male-oriented universe.

(From Feminist Art Criticism; an annotated bibliography. New York, G.K. Hall, 1993)

Example 3:

Dorival, Bernard. "Ukiyo-e and European Painting." pp. 27-71. In Dialogue in Art; Japan and the West. Tokyo: Kodansha, 1976.

Known in France around 1860, Ukiyo-e prints had an immediate influence on the vision and the craft of painters. First, Theodore Rousseau and Millet and then Whistler, Manet, and mainly Degas were profoundly affected. Asymmetrical compositions, scenes and landscapes represented from above or below, figures shown in close-up, pale palette, flat areas of color, the replacement of Albertian perspective with the system of opposed diagonals: all these innovations were taken up by the Impressionists, particularly Monet, who learned moreover not to reduce the scene he was painting to the limits of the canvas, and absorbed a pantheistic feeling for nature contrary to traditional Western humanism. Japanese graphic art had a continuing influence on French painting from the Post-Impressionists to the Nabis and the Fauves, as well as on the work of Ensor, Munch, Klimt and others. After the Renaissance rediscovery of ancient art, nothing had so influenced European painting as Japanese prints.

(From Les Fauves; a sourcebook. Westport, Greenwood Press, 1994)

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Links to Annotated Bibliographies on the Web______________________________________

• Annotated Bibliography of Government Documents Related to the Threat of Terrorism and the Attacks of September 11, 2001
  Example of an annotated bibliography arranged alphabetically by document title within broad subject areas, such as Weapons of Mass Destruction, Afghanistan, and Organizing the Government to Combat Terrorism.
  
• Annotated Bibliography and Guide to Archival Resources on the History of Jewish Women in America
  Example of an annotated bibliography organized by format, i.e., categories of books, articles, collections of memoirs, oral histories and creative writings, as well as archival resources.
  
• Avian Collision and Electrocution: An Annotated Bibliography
  Example of an alphabetically arranged annotated bibliography that also provides indexing for various subject, taxonomic, and geographic categories of information.
  
• Scientific Misconduct: An Annotated Bibliography
  Example of a simple, alphabetically arranged, selective annotated bibliography.

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Some Book Length Annotated Bibliographies at Scribner LIbrary_______________________

• African American women : an annotated bibliography / compiled by Veronica G. Thomas, Kisha Braithwaite, and Paula Mitchell. 2001
  Location: Reference Collection -- 1st floor Call Number: E185.86 T46 2001
  
• Animal rights movement in the United States, 1975-1990 : an annotated bibliography / Bettina Manzo.
  Location: Reference Collection -- 1st floor Call Number: HV4764 .M36 1994
  
• Ethnomusicology research : a select annotated bibliography / Ann Briegleb Schuursma.
  Location: Reference Collection -- 1st floor Call Number: ML128.E8 S4 1992
  
• Peyotism and the Native American church : an annotated bibliography / Phillip M. White. 2000
  Location: Reference Collection -- 1st floor Call Number: E99.R3 W4 2000
  
• Shakespeare and minorities : an annotated bibliography, 1970-2000 / Parvin Kujoory. 2001
  Location: Reference Collection -- 1st floor Call Number: PR2992 .K8 2001
  

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Adapted from:

Katz, W.A., "Annotations" in Encyclopedia of Library and Information Science (Vol. 1; New York: Marcel Dekker, 1968)

Owen Willams, "Writing an Annotated Bibliography," University of Minnesota, Crookson Library.  Retrieved November 17,2004  <http://www.crk.umn.edu/library/links/annotate.htm>

"Writing Annotations," University of Toledo Libraries            
Retrieved November 17, 2004 <http://library.utoledo.edu/help/guides/annotations.pdf>

"Writing an annotated bibliography," Lawrence University, Seeley G. Mudd Library
Retrieved November 17, 2004 <http://www.lawrence.edu/library/guides/annotated.shtml>

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