An annotated bibliography is a list of sources in proper citation format, each with a descriptive paragraph. The description may critique, analyze or summarize the content of the item. For this assignment, you will write an annotation for each source, critically appraising the evidence that addresses your practice problem.
A good annotated bibliography:
*Excerpted from The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
The annotated bibliography should be the final result after a thorough review of the literature on your topic. If 8-10 sources are required, you should be reviewing many more sources (20-25), in detail, before making final selections.
In an annotated bibliography, you cite your sources exactly as you would in a research paper. The citation style will vary depending on your instructor's guidelines, although Chicago style is commonly used in the arts. Your citation may require some or all of the following:
Citing images and artwork can be a little different from citing books, articles, and other text documents. For more information, see:
An annotated bibliography is like a summary and a pitch for your research. It helps you decide whether the sources you've chosen are the right ones for your project. It can also be used to show your instructor what you've found so far and how you see those sources fitting into your project.
Writing an annotation sounds intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. Here are some questions that will help shape your annotation:
Annotations are usually a paragraph of about 5-10 sentences, though sometimes a second paragraph or a list of bulleted points is acceptable as well.
Here is an example of an annotated bibliography entry for one article:
Samson, Jonah. "The Measure of Mann." Canadian Medical Association Journal 170, no. 4 (2004): 502–3. Complementary Index.
This article is a review of Sally Mann's recent exposition of landscape photographs, Last Measure. Author Jonah Samson is familiar with her previous work (she is best known as a photographer of people, with notable subjects being her three children) and mentions the contrast between that work and these landscape photos. The article is well-written but short; it does not delve very deeply into either the history of the sites that Mann photographed or the quality of the photos themselves. Samson does discuss the photography technique in detail, providing a great deal of information about the process of producing wet-plate collodion glass negatives. This article was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, which may account for some of its brevity; it may be that a medical journal is not the place to go into a lengthier discussion of Mann's artistic technique or the history of the photos. Samson does have extensive experience writing articles about art in this journal, but all the other articles are similar in length and scope. Overall, this article is helpful for giving an overview of Mann's exhibition and changing style, but should not be the only source used on this topic.
For more information on writing an annotated bibliography in the arts, try these websites and guides:
