home: Citation Tools: Annotated BIbliographies

Strut your Critical Stuff

What will an annotated bibliography demonstrate?

that you understand what a source means by distilling a complex argument into a succinct summary
that you can articulate the scope & purpose of a source
that you can put the information into context by relating it to other sources
that you can evaluate material for quality and determine its potential relevance to your topic
that you have investigated the author's credentials & potential bias to determine if they are qualified
that you have selected experts in their field or people with direct experience to inform you
that you can analyze evidence to evaluate the success of the author's reasoning & argument
that you can articulate & apply what you've learned
that you get the point & can get to the point

Annotate Sources in Noodletools

NoodleTools makes it easy to add an annotation to your bibliography. It is one of the fields built right into the citation generator.

NoodleTools recommends this Annotated Bibliography Writing LibGuide from Shoreline Community College.

Student Tutorial: My teacher has asked me to include annotations. What does that mean?

Annotate Sources in EasyBib

Instructions

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. (Cornell)

What is the difference between an annotation and an abstract?

Abstract
Annotation

brief summary of a resource
often found in database citations, periodical indexes, or at the beginning of a peer reviewed article.
descriptive rather than judgmental - they usually do not include an evaluation of the work.

What databases feature abstracts?
Academic Search Premier and Project Muse both provide excellent abstracts in their citation records. Jstor incorporates the abstract only if the peer reviewed journal includes one as part of the publication.

Why are abstracts so helpful?
Abstracts provide a concise window into the thesis and objective of the work, aiding you in deciding whether the resource will work for your research. It can also model how to begin crafting your argument. Learning how to succinctly state your objectives is a skill that takes practice. Abstracts are good examples for you to emulate.

A. Owens

critical as well as descriptive
provides scope and content of the resource, and analyzes the success of the argument
evaluates the author's point of view, authority, or clarity
may comment on questions of credibility or bias, the quality of the evidence, and the originality of the research

Why consult an annotated bibliography?
A well written annotation is extremely valuable when deciding whether or not to commit to reading the full text article (which can be VERY lengthy). You are seeking an informed opinion from another researcher. Bottom line - it will help you decide whether a source should be useful or not.

Why do teachers assign annotated bibliographies?
Your teachers want you engage the source content and reflect on the quality of the resource. Summarizing - i.e. distilling - takes a lot of thought and skill. Understanding the potential use and relevance of a source is an essential element of the research process.

A. Owens

Process

critical as well as descriptive
provides scope and content of the resource, and analyzes the success of the argument
evaluates the author's point of view, authority, or clarity
may comment on questions of credibility or bias, the quality of the evidence, and the originality of the research

A. Owens

Create an annotated bibliography in a few easy steps:

You are creating a paragraph that others may read to get a general idea of what your sources are about. The hardest part is being concise with your information. Annotations take practice but once you get the hang of it they are easy. Here are the steps to follow:

Talk about the author. (1 sentence)
Is this a professor? Maybe this is a professional in the field? Or is this person a hobbyist? Tell the audience about the author in the first part of the annotation.
Explain what the article is about. (1-3 sentences)
Tell the audience what is in the article. This is the most difficult part of the annotation because it requires you to be very succinct. Don’t rewrite the article; just write the base facts and important notes about the article here.
Explain how this article illuminates your bibliography topic. (1-2 sentences)
What about this article makes it relevant to your topic? Why did you select it? What pertinent bit of information makes this article stand out among the others?
Compare or contrast this work with another you have cited. (1-2 sentences)
How does this specific article relate to another article in your annotated bibliography? Do they agree or not? Why not? What makes them unique?

Aaron Wimer
Columbia State Community College Columbia, TN

Additional Resources

Purdue Online Writing Lab
Check out the detailed description of how to craft superb annotations. See rubric.

Credits

Much of the material on this page references the Annotated Bibliography LibGuide was developed by

Olin Library Reference
Research & Learning Services
Cornell University Library
Ithaca, NY, USA

They have stated their permission for us to reuse, adapt and repost their material in their Fair Use Guide. Permission to use this work is based on the conditions of the Creative Commons Commons Deed 2.0. Thank you to Michael Engle and his team at Cornell for their excellent scholarship and for generously sharing their work with the academic community!

Additional material was written by and is used with permission from:

Aaron Wimer,
Columbia State Community College
Columbia, TN

Andrea Owens
December 2016