LibGuides: Lowther Hall Nora Collisson Centre (Library): Writing an Annotated Bibliography

What is an annotated bibliography?

The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited. An annotated bibliography is usually descriptive, informative or evaluates the texts listed in a bibliography. Your teacher will guide you as to which one.

Annotations help your teacher to see your thinking, but they also help you too. Since your annotations include a summary of the source, you start to think critically about the source and its value to your research. .This helps you better understand the topic.

The Process

Annotations are typically three to four sentences long. Begin with broad comments about the focus of the source then moves to more details. Your comments should move from the details of the text to your evaluation of the source.

- Create a bibliography as you normally would. If you need help with this, then go to Our Guide to Writing Bibliographies / Reference lists

- Following each citation you write your annotation. It generally consists of three points:

1. Summary

2. Evaluation

This is how it connects to my research
This is what is not included

3. Reflection

This is what I still need to find out

Example of Annotated Bibliography

University of NSW
Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see a sample of an annotated bibliography. It has more than three points in its annotations but will give you an idea.

What is an annotated bibliography?

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Hsnx0l1q4 Accessed 27 July 2021 Production date: 2013 Duration: 1:42 min

Writing a Bibliography or Reference List

Writing a Bibliography or Reference List
You avoid plagiarism by writing a Bibliography or Reference List which acknowledges and cites all the sources you have used to produce your work. Click through to find out everything you need to know about writing a regular (non-annotated) Bibliography or Reference List.