Annotated Bibliography

This assignment addresses course outcomes #3 and #4:

1. Analyze the impact of the changing technological context on relationships and social lives to enhance learning, communication, decision-making, and privacy.
2. Compare the choices and decisions that different contemporary societies face concerning technological development, technological equity, economics, and the environment.

Being an informed consumer of social research is an important skill. At UMUC, we are fortunate to have access to an extensive collection of journals, periodicals and books, but what do you do when you don’t have an academic library? Google it, of course! Google Scholar is readily available to anyone with access to the Internet. Simply open www.google.com and click on the “More” tab at the top of the page, then click on “Google Scholar” and type in your search words.

For the first part of this staged assignment, you will use Google Scholar or the UMUC library databases to:

• Identify a current social issue or trend that has been shaped by technology
• Locate at least 3 peer-reviewed, scholarly resources
• Of these 3 sources, locate at least 1 article that addresses the social issue from the perspective of a different country or culture
• Of these 3 sources, located at least 1 article related to policy (i.e., what policies exist, are being considered, or are needed to address your issue?). While this source does not necessarily have to be a peer-reviewed journal article, it should come from a credible source such as a government website or research institute.

What is a credible or scholarly source? URL: http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/how_evaluate.cfm

Please select ONE topic from the following list:

• Digital divide
• Genetically engineered food
• Behavioral changes in lifestyle due to technological advancement
• Online social networks for older adults
• Identity theft
• Medical advancements
• Changes in the nature of work
• Changes in manufacturing
• Transportation
• Living spaces
• Changing nature of disease since 1900
• Lifespan changes since 1900
• Digital natives vs. Digital immigrants
• Cumulative advantage and cumulative disadvantage
• Addictions to technology
• Cyberbullying

Once you have identified your topic and found at least three (3) appropriate articles, use the attached worksheet to construct an annotated bibliography.

What is an annotated bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations, each of which is followed by a brief, critical summary (usually 100-200 words) of the work. The annotation is different from an abstract in that it does more than merely summarize, it analyzes citations for quality and relevance to the topic you are researching.

To learn more about annotated bibliographies, visit:

UMUC Online Library: http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/bibliography_tutorial.cfm

Other good resources for annotated bibliographies:

Cornell University Library: http://olinuris.library.cornell.edu/ref/research/skill28.htm

UNC Writing Center: http://writingcenter.unc.edu/resources/handouts-demos/specific-writing-assignments/annotated-bibliographies

For more information on APA format, consult the UMUC Library website for citation help at: http://www.umuc.edu/library/libhow/citationresources.cfm