The Annotated Bibliography
The annotated bibliography assignment is consistent across many disciplines. It can be used in the
Communication I and II courses as well as the Humanities and Social Sciences.
The purpose of the annotated bibliography is to evaluate sources that will be used in a research project.
It has two parts: (1) the bibliography (title and publication information of the source) and (2) the
annotation (the evaluation of the source). Completing an annotated bibliography calls for an application of
a variety of skills: concise exposition, succinct analysis, and informed library research.
Requirements:
Bibliographic information must include the following types of sources:
• One article from the academic database system
• One online source (credible/academic/reliable; NO wikis, About.com sites, Yahoo sites, AOL sites,
and other sites similar to these listed—Remember, with choice comes responsibility.)
• One newspaper article (can be print or online)
• One academic journal (this can also be the academic database source)
• One book source
• One audio-visual source
These are six possible sources for the essay. No more than 5 sources can be used in the essay. One of the
five sources MUST be an opposing viewpoint.
Write an annotation that:
1. Summarizes the author’s central idea (thesis) and key points used to show, prove, or explain the
thesis
2. Evaluate the credibility or authority of the author (This information is not always listed in the
author’s byline, so additional research should be done to include the required information.)
3. Compare or contrast one source to another used in the essay
4. Explain the purpose of the source: how will the source be used in the essay? (Does the source show,
prove, or explain the writer’s thesis or is it an opposing viewpoint?)
Each annotation should be at least 100 words in length.I am looking for quality writing, not quantity.
Please make sure that all four evaluation points are included in each annotation.
