Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is an extension of the basic bibliographical information required at the end of any research paper.  The annotation provides highlights about what makes each source relevant to your text.  For this research project, your annotated bibliography should have a minimum of three sources from academic journals and/or texts.  As with the MLA Works Cited format requirements, the Annotated Bibliography should be double spaced and arranged alphabetically by author's last name.  Try to stay in the present tense throughout the annotation.

The requirements for this annotation go beyond traditional annotation directives and should include not only the appropriate MLA citation, but also the search strategy you used in finding the source.  For example:

I found this source by combining these terms, "alcohol" and "violence," and using the “and”

          Boolean Operator in the Academic Search Premier database.

The rest of the descriptive passage for each source should

highlight the author’s main idea/thesis, and

include at least two more sentences describing why this source is a good one for your topic

Here are three examples of annotated bibliographies—one poorly done, one acceptable, and one well done:

Guess which one this is?

Culbreth, Judsen.  “Family Bonding.”  Working Mother June 1995: 3. Academic Search

            Premier. EBSCO. Web.  30 Oct. 2008.

This was the first source that I found.  It was pretty easy.  I went on Academic Search Premier and just typed in "family bonding" as the title.  The author of this journal focuses on family

relationships.  I feel that this can focus on my topic and help me state what I am trying to say in my paper.

I’m looking for at least this level of quality.

Rozga, Margaret.  “When Civil Rights Were on the Rise.”  Humanist 66.6 (2006): 18-21.

            Academic Search Premier. Web. 30 Oct 2009.

This article gives examples of a woman’s struggles for the right to vote in Alabama and explains some of the things she did in the community to try and help with civil rights. [Could add a

specific example here.] I found this source by using the words "suffrage" and "voting rights" using the “and” Boolean operator in Academic Search Premier.  This source is good because

I can compare the women in this article to Phoenix Jackson in “A Worn Path.”  This article also gives some important facts about the civil rights movement like .....

This level is even better.

Davis, Eroll, B.  Letter to the Honorable Seth Harp and the Honorable Earl Ehrhart.  The Board of Regents

            University System. GA. 1 March 2010.  Web.  19 March 2010.

In this letter to the House and the Senate, Chancellor Eroll Davis explains what an "additional $300 million in budget cuts" added to the already heavily trimmed budget will do to higher

education in Georgia.  I selected this letter because it not only explains how students will be affected, but also how faculty and staff and the surrounding communities will be affected.  It

certainly supports my thesis that the cuts will be immediately devastating to current college students, and it is also quite timely since it has been written this month. Chancellor Davis

argues that $300 million in budget cuts is unacceptable because this will be in addition to the $265 million cut proposed by the Governor.  I found this source by doing a Google search on

the University System of Georgia.  Once I was there, I typed "budget and universities" in the search box.  Then I clicked on "Chancellor Provides Budget Reduction Information" and

found this letter.