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Annotated BibliographiesMiddle School

Villanova Libraries

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What is the purpose of an Annotated Bibliography?

Review the literature on a

subject

Explores and organises sources for further

research

Demonstrates the quality and depth

of reading you have done

Highlights the scope of sources

available: journals, books,

sites …

Informs the reader of the relevance, accuracy and

quality of sources

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Parts of the annotation4 Parts to an annotation …

Provide the full bibliographic citation.

Summarise the main ideas presented that are relevant to your assignment topic.

Explain how reliable you believe the source to be.

Reflect on how you used the source in your assignment.

4 Reflection

3 Evaluation

1 Citation

2 Summary

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Bibliographic CitationList all sources in alphabetical order (according to surnames) and include the annotation under each source.

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Summary

Use the structure of the source to structure your annotation and introduce your summary.Eg. This chapter focuses on three issues which are …

Eg. This article details how …

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The Evaluation

Evaluate the source’s reliability.

Look for evidence the author may have used to support his or her ideas.

Consider the journal’s reputation, author’s resume. You may need to conduct a search of the author to determine this information.

eg. The author supports this claim with statistics from the World Health Organisation.

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The Reflection

How useful was this source in my research?Did it add to my understanding of the topic?Was it easy to read?eg. Although the information on this website was quite detailed, it was written in plain English and clearly explained how the earth’s crust is made up of numerous tectonic plates.

eg While the focus of this chapter was very broad, the authors supply some useful references for readers to pursue for more specific information.

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Example[Citation] Trevor, C. O. 2004. “Employee turnover and job performance: monitoring the influences of salary growth and promotion”. Business Review Weekly, vol. 113, no. 1. pp 56-64.

[Summary] In this article Trevor reviews the influences of pay and job opportunities in respect to job performance, turnover rates and employee motivation. [Evaluation] The Journal is a well respected Australian journal. Although some of the language was technical the structure was easy to follow. [Reflection] The article is useful to my research topic, as Trevor suggests that there are many reasons for employee turnover which helped me generate more inquiry questions to research.

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✔ used the referencing style specified.

Checklist: I’ve …

✔ provided a brief overview of main ideas, using the features such as the structure.

✔ commented on whether the source was useful.

✔ evaluated the source for its reliability.

✔ checked spelling, grammar and punctuation and my writing is set out in a logical format.

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Keep it concise. Remember this is a summary. Keep to one paragraph.

Final Points

Write in full sentences using academic vocabulary.

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ReferencesQueensland University of Technology. 2012. “Writing an Annotated Bibliography” Accessed May 29, 2012. http://www.citewrite.qut.edu.au/write/annotatedbibliography.jsp

University of New South Wales. 2010. “Annotated Bibliography’ Accessed May 29, 2012. http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/annotated_bib.html