What is a bibliography? A bibliography is a list
of sources (books, journals, periodicals, databases, websites, etc.) used for
researching a topic. Bibliographies are sometimes called "references"
or "works cited," depending on the style format you are using. A
bibliography usually just includes the bibliographic information (i.e., author
or editor, title, publisher, publication location, copyright date, etc.). 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. Annotations should: • Summarize: What are the
main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are
covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say?
The length of your annotations will determine how detailed your summary is.
• Assess: Is it a
useful source? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is
the information reliable? Is this source biased or objective? What is the goal
of this source?
Writing an annotated bibliography is excellent preparation for a research project and helps you learn more about your topic. While collecting sources for a bibliography is useful, writing annotations for each source requires you to slow down and learn more about the sources you may end up using in your research paper. When working on your annotated bibligraphy, you begin to read more critically, instead of just collecting information. At the professional level, annotated bibliographies help you to understand the scope of literature on your topic and where your own research or scholarship may fit.
Wrting an annotated bibliography can also help you to formulate your thesis. The purpose of research is to state and support a thesis. So a very important aspect of research is developing a thesis that is debatable, interesting, and current. Working on an annotated bibliography can help you gain a good perspective on what is being said about your topic. By reading and responding to a variety of sources on a topic, you'll begin to understand what the issues are, what people are arguing about them, and how you can develop your own point of view to contribute to the discussion.
Extensive and scholarly annotated bibliographies are sometimes published. They provide a comprehensive overview of everything important that has been and is being said about that topic. You may not ever get your annotated bibliography published, but as a researcher, you might want to look for one that has been published about your topic.
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