Assignment #2: Annotated Bibliography

Worth 20% of Final Grade

What is an Annotated Bibliography? An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and other resources. Each citation is followed by a brief descriptive and evaluative paragraph: the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited. Annotations are usually about 150 words.

Annotations vs. Abstracts Abstracts are the descriptive summaries often found at the beginning of scholarly journal articles or in subscription databases. Annotations, on the other hand, are descriptive and critical; they discuss the author's point of view, clarity, appropriateness of expression, authority, etc.

The Process Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills: concise writing, succinct analysis, and informed library research. You will be retrieving websites, scholarly journal articles, and books relevant to a selected topic. You will create citations for these resources using the Modern Language Association (MLA) format. You will write concise annotations that summarize the central theme and scope of the websites, articles, and books. These annotations should include one or more sentences that: 1. Evaluate the authority, background, and education of the author(s) 2. Comment on the intended audience. For whom was it written (general public/any reader, subject specialists, college students)? What skill level or education level must the reader have? 3. Compare or contrast this work with another you have cited 4. Discuss how this work explains your selected topic Example of a Citation and Annotation London, Herbert. "Five Myths of the Television Age." Television Quarterly 10.1 (1982): 81-89. Academic Search Premiere. Web. 10 Oct. 2010. Herbert London, the Dean of Journalism at New York University and author of several books and articles about the television industry, explains how television contradicts five commonly believed ideas. He uses specific examples of events seen on television, such as the assassination of John Kennedy, to illustrate his points. His examples have been selected to contradict such truisms as: "seeing is believing"; "a picture is worth a thousand words"; and "satisfaction is its own reward." London uses logical arguments to support his ideas. He does not refer to any previous works on the topic. London's style and vocabulary would make the article of interest to any reader. In comparison to Smiths article, this source was easier to understand and more relevant to my specific topic. There are several examples of annotated bibliographies available online. Example: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/614/02/

You will be creating an annotated bibliography of 8 sources. This assignment is divided into multiple parts. Each part will be given back to you with suggested corrections. You will correct and compile these parts together to create a complete annotated bibliography. It is suggested that you keep all parts in one Word document. This will save you time and keep all your work together and organized and make submitting the final bibliography easier. You will be using the Modern Language Association (MLA) format for your bibliography. You must use this format consistently for each citation. IMPORTANT: Credit will not be given for descriptive/evaluative information copied from another source. In other words, if you find a book review and copy this review to serve as your annotation you will not receive credit. This is considered plagiarism and your instructor will take further action (see UNCW Academic Honor Code). You will not receive credit if citations are not in MLA format. In other words, if you copy a citation from the librarys catalog or from a database and do not attempt to format the citation in MLA format you will not receive credit. Part 1: Selecting a Topic (worth 10 points) Choose one of the following topics (below). You will be creating an annotated bibliography for this topic. Banned books The digital divide Information literacy The scholarly communication crisis

Using a web search engine (such as Google), gain a basic understanding of your topic. E-mail your instructor (pembertona@uncw.edu) the topic you have chosen and a concise summary of the topic (in your own words; minimum 150 words). E-mail must be sent before class on 9/26.

Part 2: Locating Internet Resources (worth 40 points) Using a web search engine (such as Google), locate reliable websites relevant to your selected topic. Select 2 websites that are most relevant to your topic. Examine these resources and create a citation and an annotation for each website. E-mail your instructor a Word attachment with these citations and annotations before class on 10/17.

Part 3: Locating Scholarly Journal Articles (worth 80 points) Using an appropriate subscription database and appropriate search strategies, find scholarly journal articles relevant to your selected topic. Subscription databases and search strategies will be discussed in class. Select 4 scholarly articles that are most relevant to your topic. Credit will not be given for articles that are not from scholarly journals. Scholarly is also known as peer reviewed or refereed. These can be contrasted with popular magazines. These concepts will be discussed in class. Examine these resources and create a citation and an annotation for each article. E-mail your instructor a Word attachment with these citations and annotations before class on 10/29.

Part 4: Locating Books (worth 40 points) Using the librarys online catalog (which will be discussed in class), locate books that would help you gather more information on your selected topic. Select 2 books that are most relevant to your topic. Examine these resources and create a citation and an annotation for each source. Note: You need not read an entire book. Strategies for evaluating books will be discussed in class. E-mail your instructor a Word attachment with these citations and annotations before class on 11/12.

Part 5: The Complete Annotated Bibliography (worth 30 points) Correct all citations and annotations and compile all parts (previously submitted to instructor) into one annotated bibliography. Use 1 inch margins for entire document and Arial font (12 point). Follow the formatting suggestions below. E-mail your instructor a Word attachment with the completed bibliography before class on 11/21.

Part 5: The Complete Annotated Bibliography Your complete annotated bibliography should look like this: ____________________________________________________________________________________

Your Name LIB 103 November 21, 2013 Your Topic: Annotated Bibliography

Citation Annotation (annotation is single spaced)

Citation Annotation (annotation is single spaced)

Citation Annotation (annotation is single spaced)

Citations with annotations should be alphabetized by authors last name. If no author is given, consider the first letter of the first word of your citation when alphabetizing.

Do not include section headings such as books or websites

The annotated bibliography should be 1 cohesive document

Use 1 inch margins

Use Arial, 12 pt. font

MLA Format Examples

Website:

Editor, author, or compiler name (if available). Name of Site. Version number. Name of institution/organization affiliated with the site (sponsor or publisher), date of resource creation (if available). Medium of publication. Date of access. Felluga, Dino. Guide to Literary and Critical Theory. Purdue U, 28 Nov. 2003. Web. 10 May 2006.

Scholarly Journal Article:

Author(s). "Title of Article." Title of Journal Volume.Issue (Year): pages. Medium of publication.

Bagchi, Alaknanda. "Conflicting Nationalisms: The Voice of the Subaltern in Mahasweta Devi's Bashai Tudu." Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature 15.1 (1996): 41-50. Academic Search Premiere. Web. 10 Oct. 2010.

Book: Lastname, Firstname. Title of Book. Place of Publication: Publisher, Year of Publication. Medium of Publication.

Gillespie, Paula, and Neal Lerner. The Allyn and Bacon Guide to Peer Tutoring. Boston: Allyn, 2000. Print.

_______________________________________________________________________

There are many copies of the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers available in Randall Library. These are located in our classroom (RL #1039), at the Reference Desk, and in the General Collection. They all have the same call number: LB2369 .G53 2009

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Grading Checklist for Annotated Bibliography Part 1: Selecting a Topic (worth 1 point): Due before class on 9/26 Selected one of four topics given Well written summary in students own words At least 150 words Score

____/10

Part 2: Locating Internet Resources (worth 2 points): Due before class on 10/17 Included 2 websites in MLA format Included 2 annotations that: Evaluates the authority, background, or education of the author(s) Comments on the intended audience Compares or contrasts the work with another cited Explains how the work explains the selected topic

____/20

____/20

Part 3: Locating Scholarly Journal Articles (worth 4 points): Due before class on 10/29 Included 4 citations for scholarly journal articles in MLA format Included 4 annotations that: Evaluates the authority, background, or education of the author(s) Comments on the intended audience Compares or contrasts the work with another cited Explains how the work explains the selected topic

____/40

____/40

Part 4: Locating Books (worth 2 points): Due before class on 11/12 Included 2 citations for books in MLA format Included 2 annotations that: Evaluates the authority, background, or education of the author(s) Comments on the intended audience Compares or contrasts the work with another cited Explains how the work explains the selected topic

____/20

____/20

Part 5: The Complete Annotated Bibliography (worth 6 points): Due before class on 11/21 Name, date, heading, etc. at top as given in example above (page 3 of assignment) Citations with annotations alphabetized by authors last name One cohesive document (No section headings such as books or websites) 1 inch margins with Arial, 12 pt. font 8 citations: All must be corrected 8 annotations: All must be corrected

____/2 ____/2 ____/2 ____/2 ____/10 ____/12

Final Score for Assignment: ________/200

IMPORTANT: Credit will not be given for descriptive/evaluative information copied from another source. In other words, if you find a book review and copy this review to serve as your annotation you will not receive credit. This is considered plagiarism and your instructor will take further action (see UNCW Academic Honor Code). You will not receive credit if citations are not in MLA format. In other words, if you copy a citation from the librarys catalog or from a database and do not attempt to format the citation in MLA format you will not receive credit.