Annotated Bibliography

Your annotated bibliography will include at minimum four sources. (each source should be roughly the equivalent of  a 5 to 15 page article or book chapter.  The sources may include multiple chapters from an anthology, but not just from one anthology.  Annotations are usually about 100 to 150 words long.  The entries are single-spaced with double-spacing between entries.

In addition to a brief description of each source's content you must include evaluative comments.

An annotation should include the following:

Descriptive Comments

Summary of the content.  What is the article, book, or chapter about?  What is its main thesis/theses?  Comments on how the source relates to the specific topic you are researching.  What contribution does it seek to make?  Methods/approaches used. Etc.

Evaluative Comments

1.  Information about Intended Audience and Author (his or her authority, professional affiliation, contributions to the field/topic, etc.) and/or Journal or Press.

2.  How the article, book, or chapter compares and contrasts to other works on the topic that are part of the bibliography.

3  Strengths or weaknesses. 

NOTE: If a work is listed in the notes or bibliography in more than one of your sources, especially reference sources, it is likely considered a key work in the field. When you read your sources, jot down books or articles that are listed in the bibliographies or notes of more than one of your sources. Another guide both to narrow research and to assist in evaluation is to read several book reviews of any book you are considering reading a chapter from or reading in toto. You can find book reviews through the Academic Premier, JSTOR, and Religion and Philosophy databases on the "Find Articles" section of the UI Library website. A key question about a journal is whether or not it is peer-reviewed. Books or journals published by well-regarded publishers are often, although not always, reliable sources. These publishers includes presses such as Blackwell, Brill, Cambridge University Press, Harvard University Press, MIT Press, Oxford University Press, Routledge, SUNY Press, T and T Clark, Temple University Press, University of Chicago Press, University of California Press, and Yale University Press.  For further help in researching and evaluating, please also check out my Research Process Page.  More information about critically evaluating sources can be found at Cornell library's discussion of critically evaluating sources at http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/evaluate.html

Annotated Bibliography Information and examples at http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill28.htm

Please turn in Photocopies or scans of all journal articles and book chapters included in your annotated bibliography, not available electronically.  You should submit the URL for any internet source used or for items from online databases.

Academic Honesty

As with all assignments, plagiarism is totally unacceptable.  You will receive at minimum a zero on the assignment. For the Dean of Students' Academic Integrity site which includes UI Policies, and Student Academic Dishonesty Resources see http://www.students.uidaho.edu/default.aspx?pid=45708