Annotated Bibliographies
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 (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited."*
THE PROCESS
"First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic. Briefly examine and review the actual items. Then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic."
Cite the book, article, or document using American Psychological Association (APA) style.
Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. Include one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) explain how this work illuminates your bibliographic topic (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited."*
For more information about how to critically evaluate an article for inclusion into your bibliography see How to Critically Analyze Information Sources
Sample Bibliographic Citation a Journal Article in an Annotated Bibliography
McGregor, K. K., & Bean, A. (2012). How children with autism
extend new words. Journal of Speech, Language, and
Hearing Research, 55(1), 70-83.
doi:10.1044/1092-4388(2011/11-0024)
The authors, researchers at the University of Iowa and Ohio State University compare school-age autistic children to children with normal development to test their hypothesis that children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) often fail to use the social context of language to support inferences about word extension. They find that some children with ASD readily extend a given noun to multiple exemplars, thereby demonstrating that they do understand the nuances of language in social context. In contrast, an earlier study by Johnson, cited above, shows that some children with ASD have very little ability to use social context when choosing the words that they want to use to express themselves.
Useful links for bibliographic style:
- APA Manual Online - Owl, Purdue
- APA Style Guide for Electronic References
- APA Style Guide (Print copies are in the General Collection and the Reference Collection at BF 76.7 P83 2010)
Bibliographic Style Managers
Zotero: Getting Started
- TruSearch: How to put information sources into Zotero from TruSearch
- Google Scholar: How to put information sources into Zotero from Google Scholar
- Microsoft Word: How to use Zotero in Microsoft Word
- Google Docs: How to use Zotero in Google Docs
- EndNote: How t convert EndNote bibliographies into Zotero
*Many thanks to Michael Engle, Reference Librarian at Cornell University for his excellent website: How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography: the Annotated Bibliography.
Research & Learning Services
Olin Library
Cornell University Library
Ithaca, NY, USA