Writing Annotated Bibliographies

What is an Annotated Bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, websites, and other documents. Each citation is followed by a short paragraph (usually about 150 words) that describes and evaluates the source. The purpose of the evaluation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

Annotations vs. Abstracts

• Abstracts are descriptive summaries of a work.
• Annotations are descriptive and critical summaries of a work.

Writing Annotations

Rules to Follow:

• Take your sources one at a time.
• Answer the following questions in complete sentences.

Questions to Ask:

The First 3 Questions:

1. What is the main idea of this source?
2. What is the author trying to do (purpose)?
3. Who do you think the author is writing for? Who is his intended audience?

Combine the Answers:

Smith focuses on the dropping illiteracy levels among school children, categorizing the socioeconomic levels, racial groups, and parents' educational background. Aiming at a general audience, Smith attemps to convince his readers that most children do poorly in school because their parents don't work with them in home study sessions.

Next 2 Questions:

4. What parts of the subject does the author emphasize or de-emphasize?
5. What does the author assume about the topic or audience?

Again, Combine the Answers:

The author emphasizes that parents need to be more involved in their children's education and assumes that these parents have the time, the expertise, and the inclination to do so.

Final 3 Questions:

6. Is there any bias or slant?
7. Are there obvious omissions that seem important to the topic?
8. Does the evidence clearly support the author's main points?

Last Sentences:

White Smith's data supports his position, his solutions seem too simplistic and very general. Because he ignores the busy schedules, as well as the attitudes and expectations of some parents, his just do it advice doesn't seem likely to change the situation.

• Write short paragraphs.
• Combine answers where possible.
• Put annotations in alphabetical order.
• Double space between entries.

Choosing the Citation Format

Check with your professor to find out which style you should use for your assignment.
See Citing Print and Electronic Sources for links to online style manuals.

Information adapted from:

ASU. Writing Across the Curriculum, Writing Annotated Bibliographies. Last Modified 27 Mar 00. <http://www.asu.edu/duas/wac/annbib.html>. Accessed 10 June 2000.

Reference Services Division. How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography. <http://www.library.cornell.edu/okuref/research/skill28.htm>. Accessed 10 June 2000.

Savage Library. Guide to Research at Savage Library: How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography. Updated 9/1999. <http://www.western.edu/lib/instruction/bibliography.html>. Accessed 10 June 2000.