Writing an Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography adds a brief summary to your sources of information.

Helpful Hints

Consider the items below when completing your annotations:

Descriptive Annotations

A descriptive annotation states what the source is, who created it, how long it is, and provides a summary of the contents.

Example:

            Fortin, Francois. Sports: The Complete Visual Reference.
Tonawanda, NY: Firefly Books, 2001.

Designed as a reference book for sports enthusiasts, coaches, players and students interested in the rules, techniques, equipment and history of 127 mainstream and extreme sports. Entries include racquet, equestrian, ball, nautical, and motor sports. Thousands of diagrams, illustrations and photographs are the backbone of this book. The detailed table of contents and accurate index facilitate access.

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Critical Annotations

A critical annotation evaluates the source, is usually longer in length, explains why the source is valuable (or not), and notes weak and strong points about the source.

Example:

            Myers, Walter Dean. The Greatest: Muhammad Ali. New York, NY: Scholastic Press, 2001.

An introduction to Ali's life from his childhood to the present day, focusing on his career and the controversies surrounding him. Myers interweaves fight sequences with the boxer's life story and the political events and issues of the day. He reports on the brutality of the sport and documents the toll it has taken on its many stars. Ample black-and-white photographs of the subject in and out of the ring illustrate the book. Covering Ali is a daunting task, especially since dozens of books and hundreds of articles have been written about him in the last 40 years. Fortunately, readers have an award-winning author, one with the perspective of being a young African American in Harlem during the height of the boxer's fame, to tell his story. Myer's writing flows while describing the boxing action and the legend's larger-than-life story.

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DCC Library Telephone Numbers

LVG Library Telephone Numbers

M. McCullough, 9/2007, http://www.monroecc.edu/go/library

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