An Introduction to Bibliographic Citationor, How to Write an Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography assignment Choose a subject Find 3 quality resources on that subject Books, magazine & journal articles,

authoritative websites Give a bibliographic citation for each

resource Write an annotation for each resource

A bibliography is…

A list of books

A list of sources on a particular subject

A list of the sources you used to write a paper

An annotation is… Summary Explanation Commentary Evaluation Criticism

What is it about? Why is it important to your topic? Who is the author?

An annotated bibliography is… A list of sources (books, articles, web pages,

etc.) on your topic, with commentary on each source written by you. This commentary might summarize what the source is about, how it relates to your topic, which parts are particularly relevant, why the author is believable, and whether or not you agree with the information presented.

Example #1Anderson, Kyle. “Censorship in Music:

Yesterday and Today.” Musician’s Quarterly 21.1 (2006): 74-111. Print.

This lengthy article features a discussion of some of the more famous instances of operatic censorship, including Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro. It is well-researched, and the bibliography was extremely helpful in finding additional relevant material.

Example #2Zerbrowski, Alan. “Censorship in Verdi.” Research in

Music 35.6 (2004): 18-25. Print.

This article describes the many problems Verdi had with censors throughout his career, and discusses the political and social issues driving the episodes. Although not directly related to Mozart’s problems with censorship, I felt that this article was relevant to my discussion of possible social and cultural causes of censorship in the arts.

Bibliographic citation Bibliography=reference list=works cited Your list of sources needs to have a

particular format MLA (Modern Language Association) is

one of many citation styles MLA Handbook includes rules for

formatting papers and citations

Formatting rules

Use 8½ X 11 inch paper 12 point, Times New Roman,

or similar font 1 inch margins Double-space your text

Formatting rules A title page is not necessary

Your name

Instructor

Course number

Date

Title

Bibliographic citation One purpose of citation is to identify your

sources so that the original can be found.

What kind of information do you think you need to include?

Citation format Books

Lastname, Firstname. Title of book. Location: Publisher, Year. Print.

Lipson, Charles. Doing Honest Work in College. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004. Print.

Citation format Article in a MagazineLastname, Firstname. “Title of Article.” Title of

Magazine day month year: pp-pp. Print.

Weintraub, Arlene, and Laura Cohan. “A Thousand-Year Plan for Nuclear Waste.” Business Week 6 May 2002: 94-96. Print.

Paul, Annie Murphy. “Self-Help: Shattering the Myths.” Psychology Today Mar.-Apr. 2001: 60-68. Print.

Citation format Website, with authorAuthor(s). “Title.” Website. Edition or version.

Website publisher, Date. Web. Date accessed.

Stolley, Karl. “MLA Formatting and Style Guide.” The OWL at Purdue. Purdue University Writing Lab, 10 May 2006. Web. 12 May 2006. <http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/01/>.

Citation format Web site, no author“Mr. Darcy.” Jane Austen Information Page. N. p.,

6 Sept. 2000. Web. 15 June 2002. <http://pemberly.com/janeinfo/janeinfo.html>.

Web site, corporate authorFederal Bureau of Investigation. “Fingerprint

Identification: an Overview.” FBI Website. U.S. Department of Justice, n. d. Web. 17 July 2009. <http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cjisd/ident.htm>

Conclusion List sources alphabetically by author’s last

name (or title, if author not known) Use the proper citation format for that type of

resource (book, article, website) Each citation is followed by your annotation

(summary) of that resource Keep it simple!