What is it?
An annotated bibliography is a list of relevant scholarly research sources such as books, journal articles, websites, magazine articles etc. It is a reference list of sources which includes a concise description and evaluation of each item in the bibliography.
Why use it?
- Allows students to familiarise themselves with the various resources available.
- Encourages students to be selective when evaluating the research.
- Enhances the quality and depth of the students’ reading.
- Promotes critical thinking and analytical skills.
- Promotes and improves skills in summarising concepts.
How do I do it?
An annotated bibliography consists of two parts – reference or citation and annotation.
- Start by citing the source in the required referencing style (APA, Chicago, Vancouver etc.) followed by the annotation. The annotation should be concise and limited to one paragraph.
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As part of the annotation ask the students to:
- Write a brief summary detailing the aim, scope, methodologies and the key findings of the source.
- Critically analyse and write an evaluation considering the strengths and weaknesses of the study.
- Reflect on the effectiveness of the argument and reliability of the source.
- Collate and arrange the list of all the sources (references) in an alphabetical order along with the summaries to produce the final annotated bibliography.
Considerations
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The “
5WH
” approach might be useful for your students as a guide for developing their bibliographies:
- Who performed the study?
- When , Where , Why and How was the study conducted?
- What were the key findings?
- You can provide students with a worked example of an annotated bibliography or encourage your students to work in a group to create one.
