Searching Using Keywords
How to find books
How to find articles
How to Critically Evaluate Sources
WHY MAKE AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?
The act of research involves taking a very close look at a topic of interest.
Creating an annotated bibliography involves gathering the most important sources of information about one's topic. These sources can be used later as evidence to support an argument or analysis in a larger research project, like a research essay.
SO, WHAT IS AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?
An annotated bibliography is a list of high-quality sources that you have found about your topic. The list contains sources such as books, articles, and documents that you have found about your research topic.
ANNOTATIONS are not ABSTRACTS
Annotations are descriptive and critical; they expose the author's point of view, clarity and appropriateness of expression, and authority. Abstracts are the purely descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or in periodical indexes.
THE PROCESS in a few easy steps
Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills: concise exposition, succinct analysis, and informed library research.
CRITICALLY APPRAISING THE BOOK, ARTICLE, OR DOCUMENT
For guidance in critically appraising and analyzing the sources for your bibliography, see How to Critically Analyze Information Sources. For information on an author's background and views, ask at the reference desk for help finding appropriate biographical and book review sources.
CHOOSING THE CORRECT FORMAT FOR THE CITATIONS
Don't forget - for this class you are citing things just like the journal 'Nature' does!
This guide was adapted by SU Libraries with permission from
Research & Learning Services, Olin Library, Cornell University Library, Ithaca, NY, USA. Thanks library folks!