Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use this source in your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic? Reflect: Once you've summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into your research.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?įor more help, see our handouts on evaluating resources. Assess: After summarizing a source, it may be helpful to evaluate it.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.įor more help, see our handout on paraphrasing sources. Summarize: Some annotations merely summarize the source.Depending on your project or the assignment, your annotations may do one or more of the following. Therefore, an annotated bibliography includes a summary and/or evaluation of each of the sources. A bibliography usually just includes the bibliographic information (i.e., the author, title, publisher, etc.).Īn annotation is a summary and/or evaluation. Bibliographies are sometimes called "References" or "Works Cited" depending on the style format you are using. DefinitionsĪ bibliography is a list of sources (books, journals, Web sites, periodicals, etc.) one has used for researching a topic. "How to Write Annotated Bibliographies." Memorial University Libraries, Accessed 29 June 2016.This handout provides information about annotated bibliographies in MLA, APA, and CMS. The article clearly illustrates London’s points, but does not explore their implications leaving the reader with many unanswered questions. London’s style and vocabulary would make the article of interest to any reader. His examples have been selected to contradict such truisms as: “seeing is believing” “a picture is worth a thousand words” and “satisfaction is its own reward.” London uses logical arguments to support his ideas which are his personal opinion. He does not refer to any previous works on the topic. Herbert London, the Dean of Journalism at New York University and author of several books and articles, explains how television contradicts five commonly believed ideas. He uses specific examples of events seen on television, such as the assassination of John Kennedy, to illustrate his points.
“Five Myths of the Television Age.” Television Quarterly, vol. The focus is on description and evaluation.
Evaluative annotations can help you learn about your topic, develop a thesis statement, decide if a specific source will be useful for your assignment, and determine if there is enough valid information available to complete your project. The focus is on description.Īn evaluative annotation includes a summary as listed above but also critically assesses the work for accuracy, relevance, and quality. Annotated bibliographies can be part of a larger research project, or can be a stand-alone report in itself.Ī summary annotation describes the source by answering the following questions: who wrote the document, what the document discusses, when and where was the document written, why was the document produced, and how was it provided to the public. An annotation is a short summary and/or critical evaluation of a source.
The annotated bibliography looks like a Works Cited page but includes an annotation after each source cited. An annotated bibliography is a list of citations for various books, articles, and other sources on a topic.