Annotated Bibliography

Name 5

Sample

Your Name

Instructor’s Name

Course Number

Date

Topic: What are some lightning safety tips?

Thesis statement: The health and safety issues related to lightning strikes are complicated, and can involve addressing structures, water, and people.

Annotated Bibliography

Cooper, Mary Ann. Lightning Injury Research Program. University of Illinois at Chicago, lightninginjury.lab.uic.edu/.

This is an educational site with research information, tables, and charts. The links on the left side lead you to related links and to research articles. Some of the research articles have been previously published in medical journals. Some of the articles contain bibliographies. The dates of the material on the site range from 1995 through 2003. The author is an MD employed by the University of Illinois at Chicago. I found no grammatical or spelling errors. The source seems credible, reliable, and objective. The layout of the site is uncluttered. There were no pop up ads or advertisements. There is a Contact Us option with an address, e-mail, and phone number.

Hill, David. "Preventing Lightning Strikes." American School & University, vol. 71, no. 11, July 1999, p. 55. Academic Search Complete.

This is an article in an educational journal. It is written by David Hill, Director of Facilities and Operations, Blue Valley School District in Kansas. Hill appears knowledgeable about developing a lightning safety plan for educational institutions. This is a concise article that concludes with a link to another comprehensive site on lightning safety for institutions. This article seems reliable and objective and is from a reputable periodical in the education field. It was written in July 1999.

Holle, Ronald L., et al. "Deaths, Injuries, and Damages from Lightning in the United States in the 1890s in Comparison with the 1990s." Journal of Applied Meteorology, vol. 44, no. 10, Oct. 2005, pp. 1563-73. Academic Search Complete.

This is a scholarly journal article with graphs and illustrations. The lead author has been a research meteorologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration since the 1960s. Because of the author's credentials and the fact that the article is published in a scholarly journal, it seems credible and reliable. The date of the article does not detract from the information presented.

Mullen, Leslie. "Human Voltage: What Happens When People and Lightning Converge." NASA Science: Science News, 18 June 1999, science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/1999/essd18jun99_1/.

This federal government Web page is from NASA Space Science News, a website that includes articles about NASA related research. The article includes statistics, and quotes experts from the National Severe Storms Laboratory, the National Weather Service, and the National Lightning Safety Institute. The graphics, pictures and occasional sounds of thunder made the site interesting. The site layout is clean and easy to navigate, and adds to the usability of the site. No dead links were found. The sources seem credible and reliable, and there is a bibliography. The article was written June 18, 1999.

“Lightning Safety.” National Weather Service. United States, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service, 2009, www.lightningsafety.noaa.gov/safety.shtml. This is a government site on the topic of lightning safety. The site is comprehensive and covers topics such as the science of lightning, indoor and outdoor safety, and the medical care of lightning victims. Photos, video clips and other graphics make the site interesting and easy to understand. No spelling or grammatical errors were found. All articles appear to be credible and objective. There is no update information on this page. This was the most comprehensive site on all aspects of lightning safety and included extensive links to other sites. There were no dead links found. There is an address provided along with links for Comments and Questions.

Here is information you need to complete this assignment:

 

1. An annotated bibliography consists of citations and annotations, so you need both.

 

The citation is the information about the source, and you should use MLA format for it. For a guide on MLA citations,  see this page from OWL Purdue.  (Links to an external site.)

The annotation is a paragraph about the citation. Here is what you should have in each annotation.

            1-3 sentences that summarize the main argument or idea of the source and how the author supports this idea.

            5-7 sentences that evaluate the credibility of the source using the CRAAP test. You should have one sentence about C,R,A,A, and P (Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy, and Purpose).  Use this handout to remind you of what to write for each element.

Actions

            1 sentence that sums up your impression of the source. Is it good quality information, or is it misinformation, or a little of both?

 

             Here is an example of an annotated bibliography.  You can delete the content of this bibliography and use this document as a template. 

 

2. The content of your annotated bibliography should follow these rules:

 

            It should include the following sources:

 

            At least 3 sources from social media (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). These sources might be written or on video. At least one must be a source of misinformation, based on your CRAAP analysis. Misinformation might include a sources that presents a conspiracy theory, is too biased to be credible, is not supported by fact, or includes misleading data. 

           

            At least 3 sources must be considered news. Locate these sources at news.google.com. One of these sources should also be a source of misinformation, based on your CRAAP analysis.

3. In total, your annotated bibliography should be a minimum of 1000 words. A successful bibliography will likely be more.