Writing an annotated bibliography
What is an annotated bibliography?
An annotated bibliography is a list or collection of sources in which each item is summarised and commented on.
It has two functions:
- It provides people in a particular field with access to significant and current information about relevant sources
- It also provides you with the opportunity to become familiar with a particular topic or area of study.
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Getting Started
- Check any specific instructions that your lecturer has given you for writing an annotated bibliography. In some cases you will be given detailed guidelines about what is required.
- Identify journal articles, electronic sources, books or chapters of books that are relevant to your topic. The number of sources you select will depend on the requirements of your assignment. You may be required to select a certain number of sources or write to a certain word limit.
- Skim the sources to gain an overview of the main issues, debates and points of view relating to the topic (See
Getting the most from your academic reading). Then read for more detail, starting with the easiest and most general sources.
- Record full bibliographic details, including author’s name, title of publication, publisher’s name, year and place of publication, and if appropriate, page numbers. Use a consistent
referencing style, such as Harvard or APA.
- Write the annotation as a short summary of the contents of each text followed by a brief critique. The summary and critique are usually about the same length.
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Writing the summary
To write an effective summary for an annotation you need to read for the main ideas and write them clearly and concisely in your own words. To avoid unnecessary detail, ask yourself the following questions to focus on the main ideas:
- What point is the author actually making?
- What ideas and evidence are used to support this point?
Follow the way in which each of your readings is organised to write your summary. For example, use the chapter headings of a book or the subheadings of an article as a framework. When you are writing the summary, you do not need to
include the author of the material as you would normally do when summarising or paraphrasing for an essay (See the example below).
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Writing the critique
The critique is your critical response to the item you have read and comes after the summary. To write an effective critique you need to draw on all your extended reading of the topic by asking yourself questions like:
- What does it contribute to my understanding of the topic?
- What does it add to the existing field of knowledge?
- How does this item 'fit in' with other works on the topic?
- Would I recommend it to someone interested in the course? Why? Why not?
The answers to these questions will form the basis of your critique.
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Preparing your final copy of the annotated bibliography
- Revise your drafts of the annotations. Firstly, reconsider the summary and the critique for each item in relation to the others and make any changes. Secondly, proof read and edit your work. For example, you may have thought that the first article you read contained some unusual or original ideas. After reading a number of other
sources, you realise that this article 'fits in' with the other research in the field
so you need to change your comments.
- Arrange your collection in the order specified by your lecturer or the order you decide on. Unless told otherwise, arrange the sources in alphabetical order according to the authors’ family names.
- In some annotated bibliographies, you often add an introductory
and/or concluding paragraph that identifies important themes or issues,
and you can also indicate which ones were particularly useful and those that you wouldn’t recommend.
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Example of one item (book) in an annotated bibliography:
Radloff, A, Hermann, A & Fox, R 1999, Successful Learning Skills: Your guide to tertiary studies through open, distance and flexible learning, Bobby Graham Publishers, Wagga Wagga.
This book contains strategies to help students studying in the distance mode to become more effective learners and covers areas such as: taking charge of your learning process, achieving your learning goals, becoming a more effective learner and developing your reading and writing skills. Radloff et al.'s book covers a similar range of topics to many other study skills books. It does, however, focus particularly on the needs of students studying at a distance who will find this a valuable resource for getting started and developing tertiary learning skills. In particular, students returning to study after a long break will find working through the checklists and key questions a useful strategy to identify their strengths as learners.
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Sources:
Hay, I, Bochner, D & Dungey, C 1997, Making the grade, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, Victoria.
Olin & Uris Libraries 2002, ‘How to prepare an annotated bibliography’, viewed 12 March 2004.
Online Writing Lab 2001, ‘Annotated Bibliographies, Purdue University, viewed 12 March 2004.
The Writing Centre 2004, ‘Annotated Bibliographies’, University of Wisconsin-Madison, viewed 12 March 2004.
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