Annotated Bibliographies

Adapted from: “How to write an Annotated Bibliography” http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill28.htm#what

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.

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 or relevancy of the source to your research project.

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. Second, 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 APA 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, or (b) comment on the intended audience, or (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, and (d) explain how this work illuminates your topic.

SAMPLE ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY

Relevancy/Usefulness rating code: *1= very useful, *2= moderately useful, *3= slightly useful.

Waite, L. J., Goldschneider, F. K., & Witsberger, C. (1986). Nonfamily living and

the erosion of traditional family orientations among young adults. American Sociological Review, 51, 541-554.

(*1) The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. This source is relevant to my topic because it shows that increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.

Bibliographies in Public Administration: Bibliographies are compilations of publications relating to given subjects. Bibliographies in specific fields offer an overview of this field or certain topics, which can be utilized as a starting point for researchers in examining their topics of interest and developing/honing research questions. The following is a list of bibliographies relevant to public administration and public affairs that have been edited by librarians and scholars. (446 pages of topics with full bibliographies) http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/aspa/unpan020143.pdf