Unlike a regular bibliography, which is simply a list of source citations, an annotated bibliography contains annotations (notes):
- What a source argues
- What kinds of evidence the source uses
- Your evaluation of how you might use the source
Annotated bibliographies are useful ways of keeping track of both primary and secondary sources, though the information you include for each kind of source may differ. In writing an annotation, you should try to put the ideas of the text you are reading into your own language, which you may then re-use in your eventual paper (with citations, of course!).
Each annotated bibliography entry is usually a half-page to a page long. It is a synthesis of the process outlined in Section 1. Your entry should include the information below. These questions will look familiar to you since they summarize the techniques you learned in Section A:
Bibliographic Citation
Make your life easier by putting this citation in whatever form you will eventually need for your bibliography (See Module II).
Brief Summary
Rather than narrating what happens in the text itself (“First the author writes about X, then Y”), you should focus on the overarching ideas in the text (“The author explores X question and comes to Y conclusion”).
Primary Sources:
A description of the text.
What does it focus on?
Who wrote it?
When was it produced/published?
Who is its audience?
Secondary Sources:
The text’s central argument and what kinds of evidence it uses to prove it.
What topics are covered?
What is the point of this book or article?
Why does its argument matter?
Analysis
Now that you’ve discussed what your source says, you need to consider how the author says it – the specific methods she uses and whether they are effective.
Primary Sources:
What do you find interesting about this text?
What makes it unique?
What does it suggest about the historical moment in which it originated or was used?
How does this source compare to other sources in your bibliography?
Secondary Sources:
How strong is the source’s argument?
How well does it prove that argument?
Is the source persuasive?
Is the use of evidence convincing?
What are the gaps in the source – what does it leave unaddressed?
How does this source compare to other sources in your bibliography?
Reflection
Discuss how this source might relate to your research.
Primary Sources:
Is this source useful to you?
Why or why not?
How does it fit into your research?
What sort of research questions can the source help you address?
Has this source shaped or changed the way you think about your topic?
If it has, how?
Secondary Sources:
Is this source useful to you?
Why or why not?
What sort of research questions can the text help you discuss?
Has this source shaped or changed the way you think about your topic?
If it has, how?
What arguments can this source serve as evidence for?
What room for further research does this source create – that is, what does it leave unaddressed that your essay could discuss?
A good annotated bibliography will help you to get to the point of the text you have read, and give you a clear reminder of how this text relates to your big research question(s).