An annotated bibliography helps you gather sources relevant to your research.
Tips!
- Be organized. As you search the databases and the Web, save pdfs and citations. Try using NoodleTools to collect citations so that you can export them into a bibliography later.
- As you collect sources, think about how the sources can support your claims and provide evidence for your arguments. Organize your thoughts in an outline, pulling out important quotations and ideas from the sources. NoodleTools allows you to make an outline and to create notecards to record quotations and paraphrasing from sources.
- Note: when you see folks get caught for plagiarism in the news, they often blame it on poor organization or a bad memory (I had forgotten where I heard that!). Keep organized to avoid unintentional plagiarism.
- Each annotation should include the following:
- Topic Summary - In general, what was this article, book chapter or book about?
- Theoretical/Conceptual Framework(s) - Which theoretical and/or conceptual frames guided their approach to the topic? (If you cannot identify a theoretical/conceptual framework, explicitly state this in the annotation)
- Methodology - How did they conduct the research? Was it a survey, ethnography, focus groups, statistical tests, archival research, oral histories, observations, etc.? (If you cannot identify a methodology, explicitly state this in the annotation)
- Results/Findings/Main Arguments - What did the researcher/researchers find in the study, what conclusions were drawn, or what were their main arguments? If an actual study is conducted, there will be specific results stated that you need to include. If the article is a conceptual/theoretical piece, there will not be any results to restate, but you still need to state the main arguments made by the scholar(s).
- Strengths & Weaknesses - Consider these questions: What do you think makes this article a critical contribution to the topic? Why is it important? What historic or present-day issue within education does it support in understanding? In what ways do you think the article could be enhanced or improved? What do you think is missing from the article? What would you have done differently? Explain why these editions or changes are important.
- Relevance - Why is this source relevant for your paper?
- Need more help? Purdue OWL is a great resource for writing an annotated bibliography - and it has some samples.
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Problem:
You wrote your annotated bibliography, but now you have to write the paper and you're overwhelmed with all you found or some of it now seems useless.
This is a very common nightmare scenario! Sometimes when you are searching for your annotated bibliography you grab things from all over the place - you aren't sure what you are arguing about yet.
Solution: These are advanced research skills! Listen up: 1) narrow down, through topic exploration, to an aspect of the broader topic early on (as in, charter schools ----> New Orleans charter schools and test scores). 2) Keep track of where you searched and what you found - you may need more sources later on - where were you happiest searching? 3) Use bibliographies in articles and books you like. By engaging in and following the conversation around a topic, you will become familiar with the narrower controversies and can stay on track more easily.
