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Fair-Use Policy What is an annotated bibliography? An
annotated bibliography gives an account of the research that has been
done on a given topic. Like any bibliography, an annotated bibliography
is an alphabetical list of research sources. In addition to
bibliographic data, an annotated bibliography provides a concise
summary of each source and some assessment of its value or relevance.
Depending on your assignment, an annotated bibliography may be one
stage in a larger research project, or it may be an independent project
standing on its own. Selecting the sources: The
quality and usefulness of your bibliography will depend on your
selection of sources. Define the scope of your research carefully so
that you can make good judgments about what to include and exclude.
Your research should attempt to be reasonably comprehensive within
well-defined boundaries. Consider these questions to help you find
appropriate limits for your research: - What problem am I investigating? What question(s)
am I trying to pursue? If your bibliography is part of a research
project, this project will probably be governed by a research question.
If your bibliography is an independent project on a general topic (e.g.
aboriginal women and Canadian law), try formulating your topic as a
question or a series of questions in order to define your search more
precisely ( e.g. How has Canadian law affecting aboriginal women
changed as a result of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms? How have
these changes affected aboriginal women? How have aboriginal women
influenced and responded to these legal developments?).
- What kind of material
am I looking for? (academic books and journal articles? government
reports or policy statements? articles from the popular press? primary
historical sources? etc.)
- Am I finding essential studies
on my topic? (Read footnotes in useful articles carefully to see what
sources they use and why. Keep an eye out for studies that are referred
to by several of your sources.)
Summarizing the argument of a source: An
annotation briefly restates the main argument of a source. An
annotation of an academic source, for example, typically identifies its
thesis (or research question, or hypothesis), its major methods of
investigation, and its main conclusions. Keep in mind that identifying
the argument of a source is a different task than describing or listing
its contents. Rather than listing contents (see Example 1 below), an
annotation should account for why the contents are there (see Example 2 below). Example 1: Only lists contents: McIvor, S. D. (1995). Aboriginal women's rights as "existing rights." Canadian Woman Studies/Les Cahiers de la Femme 2/3, 34-38. This article discusses recent constitutional legislation as it affects the human rights of aboriginal women in Canada: the Constitution Act (1982), its amendment in 1983, and amendments to the Indian Act
(1985). It also discusses the implications for aboriginal women of the
Supreme Court of Canada's interpretation of the Constitution Act in R. v. Sparrow (1991). Example 2: Identifies the argument: McIvor, S. D. (1995). Aboriginal women's rights as "existing rights." Canadian Woman Studies/Les Cahiers de la Femme 2/3, 34-38. This article seeks to define the extent of the civil and political rights returned to aboriginal women in the Constitution Act (1982), in its amendment in 1983, and in amendments to the Indian Act (1985).* This legislation reverses prior laws that denied Indian status to aboriginal women who married non-aboriginal men. On the basis of the Supreme Court of Canada's interpretation of the Constitution Act in R. v. Sparrow
(1991), McIvor argues that the Act recognizes fundamental human rights
and existing aboriginal rights, granting to aboriginal women full
participation in the aboriginal right to self-government.** *research question
**method & main conclusions The following reading strategies can help you identify the argument of your source: - Identify the author's thesis (central claim or purpose) or research question. Both the introduction and the conclusion can help you with this task.
- Look
for repetition of key terms or ideas. Follow them through the text and
see what the author does with them. Note especially the key terms that
occur in the thesis or research question that governs the text.
- Notice
how the text is laid out and organized. What are the main divisions or
sections? What is emphasized? Why? Accounting for why will help you to
move beyond listing contents and toward giving an account of the
argument.
- Notice whether and how a theory is used to
interpret evidence or data. Identify the method used to investigate the
problem/s addressed in the text.
- Pay attention to the opening
sentence(s) of each paragraph, where authors often state concisely
their main point in the paragraph.
- Look for paragraphs that summarize the argument. A section may sometimes begin or conclude with such a paragraph.
Assessing the relevance and value of sources: Your
annotation should now go on to briefly assess the value of the source
to an investigation of your research question or problem. If your
bibliography is part of a research project, briefly identify how you
intend to use the source and why. If your bibliography is an
independent project, try to assess the source's contribution to the
research on your topic. - Are you interested in the way the
source frames its research question or in the way it goes about
answering it (its method)? Does it make new connections or open up new
ways of seeing a problem? (e.g. bringing the Sparrow decision
concerning aboriginal fishing rights to bear on the scope of women's
rights)
- Are you interested in the way the source uses a
theoretical framework or a key concept? (e.g. analysis of existing,
extinguished, and other kinds of rights)
- Does the source
gather and analyze a particular body of evidence that you want to use?
(e.g. the historical development of a body of legislation)
- How do the source's conclusions bear on your own investigation?
In
order to determine how you will use the source or define its
contribution, you will need to assess the quality of the argument: why
is it of value? what are its limitations? how well defined is its
research problem? how effective is its method of investigation? how
good is the evidence? would you draw the same conclusions from the
evidence? Keep the context of your project in mind. How is
material assessed in your course or discipline? What models for
assessing arguments are available in course materials? Various kinds of annotated bibliographies: Annotated
bibliographies do come in many variations. Pay close attention to the
requirements of your assignment. Here are some possible variations: - Some assignments may require you to summarize only and not to evaluate.
- Some
assignments may want you to notice and comment on patterns of
similarity and dissimilarity between sources; other assignments may
want you to treat each source independently.
- If the
bibliography is long, consider organizing it in sections. Your
categories of organization should help clarify your research question.
- Some
assignments may require or allow you to preface the bibliography (or
its sections) with a paragraph explaining the scope of your
investigation and providing a rationale for your selection of sources.
Some language for talking about texts and arguments: It
is sometimes challenging to find the vocabulary in which to summarize
and discuss a text. Here is a list of some verbs for referring to texts
and ideas that you might find useful: | account for | clarify | describe | exemplify | indicate | question | | analyze | compare | depict | exhibit | investigate | recognize | | argue | conclude | determine | explain | judge | reflect | | assess | criticize | distinguish | frame | justify | refer to | | assert | defend | evaluate | identify | narrate | report | | assume | define | emphasize | illustrate | persuade | review | | claim | demonstrate | examine | imply | propose | suggest | | The evidence indicates that . . . | The article assesses the effect of . . . | | The author identifies three reasons for . . . | The article questions the view that . . . | To learn more on referring to texts and ideas, visit our file on reporting verbs. This handout and many others are available in Writing in the Health Sciences: a comprehensive guide. Based on materials originally developed for the Equity Studies Program, New College.
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