How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography



How to Prepare an Annotated Bibliography

Olin & Uris Libraries – Cornell University

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.

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ANNOTATIONS VS. ABSTRACTS

Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or in periodical indexes. Annotations are descriptive and critical; they expose the author's point of view, clarity and appropriateness of expression, and authority.

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THE PROCESS

Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills: concise exposition, succinct analysis, and informed library research.

First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic. Briefly examine and review the actual items. Then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.

Cite the book, article, or document using the appropriate style.

Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. Include one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or (d) explain how this work illuminates your research paper topic. A rhetorical précis often works well here.

Annotations take different forms, depending on the type of source and on the audience. Articles are often argumentative; in these instances, the writer should incorporate the author's position on the particular issue being addressed. The writer may choose to include quotes and/ or references to individuals or to specific experiments for emphasis.

Dembart, Lee. "Fears on DNA Studies Fade, but Won't Die," Los Angeles Times, 12 April, 2007, sec. A: 1. Dembart claims that fears of "Andromeda Strain" are unfounded. An interesting quote by James D. Watson, co-discoverer of DNA, asserts his scientific opinion about the genetic controversy: "I think the whole thing is lunacy. . . . I helped raise these issues, but within six months I was acutely embarrassed. There's no evidence that anyone has gotten sick from any of this" (3). On a more speculative note, Dembart quotes Robert Sinsheimer, who acknowledges fears are less justified than originally thought, but also suspects that genetic engineering could conceivably result in a new route for the transmission of cancer (5). This article seems to provide a fairly balanced, up-to-date overview of the whole issue.

Howard, Ted, and Jeremy Rifkin. Who Should Play God? New York: Dell, 1977. This book "lifts the cloak of secrecy from genetic experiments" and explores, among other things, "who is performing the research and who profits from it" (12). It's clearly anti-genetic engineering; its chapter titles give a good idea of the direction and flavor of the book, for example, "Eugenics," "Eliminating 'Bad' Genes," "Bio-Futures," "Scientists and Corporation." This book looks as if it is an appropriate source for the social arguments from the political left wing.

For guidance in critically appraising and analyzing the sources for your bibliography, see “How to Critically Analyze Information Sources” at

List each of your 10 sources alphabetically according to the last name of the author, using MLA style. and other on-line citation services are convenient and helpful.

Format your citations in the same manner as for a normal reference list (i.e. list each source alphabetically according to the last name of the author). Then follow these instructions for adding an annotation.

1. Hanging Indents are required for citations in the bibliography. That is, the first line of the citation starts at the left margin. Subsequent lines are indented 5-7 spaces. Set the hanging indent by using the format menu. As with every other part of an MLA formatted essay, the bibliography is double spaced, both within the citation and between them. Do not add an extra line between the citations.

2. The annotation is a continuation of the citation. Do not drop down to the next line to start the annotation.

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