Annotated Bibliography
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RPAnnotatedBibliographyCompII.docxEnglish 1302 -- Research Paper
Annotated Bibliography
First, be sure that you understand the following vocabulary:
Bibliography Works Cited In-text Citation
Full MLA citation Annotated Bibliography
These words can be found on the Purdue OWL site as well as in the dictionary. A full understanding of these words means that you know they relate to each other. For example: how are the In-text citation and the Works Cited page related? (hint: this reappears in the exam …)
The annotated bibliography is an evaluation of sources. This evaluation begins with the full citation and is followed by a paragraph in which you discuss the following elements:
1. Authenticity: a discussion of the author’s authority to speak as an expert on the subject. Ask yourself: does this person have experience and/or education that qualifies him?
2. Accuracy: is the work biased? Remember, bias isn’t bad; in fact, it can be useful. The most important thing about bias is that you, the researcher, know the bias exists. Bias is the omission of relevant points/evidence which support the opposite argument.
3. Organization: how is the work organized? Is it an essay in a journal? a chapter in a book? Is it a case study or an observation paper?
4. Publication date: when was it published? Is the information outdated? Is the information still relevant. For example, a work written about airport security pre-2001 is probably too dated because that industry has changed so very much in the last decade.
5. Content 1: This is a brief (2-3) sentence summary of what the source contains. What is the source about? Reading the work in full is not necessary -- just a “flip-through” or “skim” of the work is usually sufficient to complete this portion of the assignment.
6. Content 2: This is a brief (2-3) sentence summary of how this source helps your paper. How will you use this source.
Each annotation must address all six elements. Typically, each annotation is about 125-150 words; much depends on how much discussion is required (for example, articles published in scholarly journals are peer reviewed prior to publication and are, therefore, authentic by publication; other sources that are not evaluated prior to publishing require extensive proof that the author has the street credentials necessary to be an “expert” on the issue).
The first annotation you complete takes a while; the second is shorter; you will find that by the end of this exercise that you have learned a TON about your topic and that some of your sources were not as useful as you initially thought.
· Entries will appear with the full citation, followed by the annotation in paragraph form below the full citation for the work being annotated.
· The works must be in alphabetical order according to first element of the full citation.
