6-maintaining-an-annotated-bibliography.

MaintaininganAnnotatedBibliographyWhatIsAnnotatedBibliography?Anannotatedbibliographyisalistofcitationstobooks,articles,anddocuments.Eachcitationisfollowedbyabrief(usuallyabout150words)descriptiveandevaluativeparagraph,theannotation.Thepurposeoftheannotationistoinformthereaderoftherelevance,accuracy,andqualityofthesourcescited.ANNOTATIONSVS.ABSTRACTSAbstractsarethepurelydescriptivesummariesoftenfoundatthebeginningofscholarlyjournalarticlesorinperiodicalindexes.Annotationsaredescriptiveandcritical;theyexposetheauthor'spointofview,clarityandappropriatenessofexpression,andauthority.THEPROCESSCreatinganannotatedbibliographycallsfortheapplicationofavarietyofintellectualskills:conciseexposition,succinctanalysis,andinformedlibraryresearch.First,locateandrecordcitationstobooks,periodicals,anddocumentsthatmaycontainusefulinformationandideasonyourtopic.Brieflyexamineandreviewtheactualitems.Thenchoosethoseworksthatprovideavarietyofperspectivesonyourtopic.Citethebook,article,ordocumentusingtheappropriatestyle.Writeaconciseannotationthatsummarizesthecentralthemeandscopeofthebookorarticle.Includeoneormoresentencesthat(a)evaluatetheauthorityorbackgroundoftheauthor,(b)commentontheintendedaudience,(c)compareorcontrastthisworkwithanotheryouhavecited,or(d)explainhowthisworkilluminatesyourbibliographytopic.QuestionstothinkaboutAfterabriefsummary,itwouldbeappropriatetoassessthissourceandoffersomecriticismsofit.Doesitseemlikeareliableandcurrentsource?Why?Istheresearchbiasedorobjective?Arethefactswelldocumented?Whoistheauthor?Isshequalifiedinthissubject?Isthissourcescholarly,popular,someofboth?Thelengthofyourannotationwilldependontheassignmentoronthepurposeofyourannotatedbibliography.Aftersummarizingandassessing,youcannowreflectonthissource.Howdoesitfitintoyourresearch?Isthisahelpfulresource?Tooscholarly?Notscholarlyenough?Toogeneral/specific?Sincestemcellresearchisaverybroadtopic,hasthissourcehelpedyoutonarrowyourtopic?Howtorespondtomaterials?Formaterialsdownloadedorphotocopied,manyresearchersusehighlightingpenstotagimportantpassages.Butthisisonlypartoftheeffectiveannotationprocess.Eachhighlightedsectionshouldbeaccompaniedbyamarginalcommentthatexplainstheimportanceofthepassageorstatesyourreactionstoit.Besuretohighlightanypassageworthyofdirectquotation.TokeepanannotatedbibliographyStillRememberAWorkingBibliography?Alistofpossiblesources(e.g.books,articles,websites,andotherpossibilities)foryourresearchprojectwithalltheneededbibliographicinformation.Preparedinyourpreliminarysearch:•Foryoutoretrievethesourceswhenyoustartreadingtheminyourresearchingstage.•Foryoutosortoutthesourcesyouhavegotbycategorizingthem,andforyoutolearnyourresearchdevelopment.•Foryoutoprepareyourin-textcitationandreferencesinyourpaper.TheFormatofanAnnotatedBibliographyThebibliographicinformation:Itvaries.Generallyinhumanities,itiswritteninMLA(thetitle,author,publisher,date,etc.)format.Theannotations:•Theannotationsforeachsourcearewritteninparagraphform.•Thelengthsoftheannotationscanvarysignificantlyfromacoupleofsentencestoacoupleofpages.Itdependsonthepurpose.Ifyou'rejustwritingsummariesofyoursources,theannotationsmaynotbeverylong.However,ifyouarewritinganextensiveanalysisofeachsource,you'llneedmorespace.•Youcanfocusyourannotationsforyourownneeds.(summaryorassessmentorreflectionorallofthem)AssessmentinYourAnnotationAftersummarizing/paraphrasingasource,itmaybehelpfultoevaluateit.•Isitausefulsource?•Howdoesitcomparewithothersourcesinyourbibliography?•Istheinformationreliable?•Isthissourcebiasedorobjective?•Whatisthegoalofthissource?ReflectioninYourAnnotationOnceyou'vesummarized/paraphrasedandassessedasource,youneedtoaskhowitfitsintoyourresearch.•Wasthissourcehelpfultoyou?•Howdoesithelpyoushapeyourargument?•Howcanyouusethissourceinyourresearchproject?•Hasitchangedhowyouthinkaboutyourtopic?WhyanAnnotatedBibliographies?(1)Toomuchmaterialavailableforabiggerproject.Annotatedbibliographycanhelpyoukeepthemingoodorder.Theseannotationscanlaterbeincorporatedintoyourpaperorprojectitselfiftheyarethoughtfulandentirelyinyourownwords.WhyanAnnotatedBibliographies?(2)1.Tolearnmoreaboutyourtopic:Writinganannotatedbibliographyisanexcellentpreparationforaresearchproject.Justcollectingsourcesforabibliographyisuseful,butwhenyouhavetowriteannotationsforeachsource,you'reforcedtoreadeachsourcemorecarefullyandcritically.Attheprofessionallevel,annotatedbibliographiesallowyoutoseewhathasbeendoneintheliteratureandwhereyourownresearchcanfit.WhyanAnnotatedBibliographies?(3)2.Tohelpyouformulateathesis:Everygoodresearchpaperisanargument.Thepurposeofresearchistostateandsupportathesis.Soaveryimportantpartofresearchisdevelopingathesisthatisdebatable,interesting,andcurrent.Writinganannotatedbibliographycanhelpyougainagoodperspectiveonwhatisbeingsaidaboutyourtopic.Byreadingandrespondingtoavarietyofsourcesonatopic,you'llstarttoseewhattheissuesare,whatpeoplearearguingabout,andyou'llthenbeabletodevelopyourownpointofview.WhyanAnnotatedBibliographies?(4)Tohelpyoutakegoodnotesofthe