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The next step we will be taking is creating an annotated bibliography. You can read about annotated bibliographies by going to this link on annotated bibliographies and reading through that page and the next two (see the navigation bar on the left.) Here is another good link to help you and it also has a video: Annotated Bibliographies. As you can see, an annotated bibliography has 2 parts: a bibliographic entry and the annotation. The bibliography part gives all the information on the article: the author, the title, where it was published and when. We will be using MLA 8 style. The annotation part allows you to summarize the content of the article and note any special features it has. Each annotation should be a well developed paragraph in length. In the annotation, you will summarize the content of the article. Also, you might note any biases that are present as well as useful visuals it might contain such as time lines or graphs. This assignment will take a lot of time: you are warned! You have to read each article in order to annotate it and you are going to have to have to write the annotation. This is not an assignment that can be put off until the night before. It sets up the foundation you need to start writing about your topic, so the articles should be annotated and words you do not know looked up.
Your assignment is to create an annotated bibliography with at least 10 sources organized in alphabetical order by the first word in the bibliographic entry.
Too many students these days rely solely on Google to do research. I get it. It is easy to put something int eh search engine and get lots of results back. The problem is that not everything you get back is worth your time, many article online plagiarize other articles, and the Internet is full of lies and conspiracy theories mixed in with good information. So how does a academic student find good information to use?
1) Do not rely on Google or other search engines. As someone who is also an entrepreneur, I can tell you that they put paid advertisers first even if that webpage doesn’t exactly match what you are searching for. Anyone can become a paid advertiser; they do not require a business license, so anyone who wants to spread an idea and has some money can do so. There is good information to be found, but we must be very selective.
One of the things I do when I am researching something is look at the about page. Who is sponsoring this page? Do they have biases? Do they have an economic interest in whatever they are talking about? Do they lean to the right or left? Look at what they say about who they are and what they do not say.
Why is this important? I have had students cite blogs and other student’s papers without even realizing that the person they are citing has no expertise in the area they were researching. I have had students cite paid advertisements that were made to look like articles. You must think critically and sometimes do some research about the organization because when you use these pages as sources in your essays, then they become part of your ethos, and your credibility will be questioned if the source you are using is questionable. When approached correctly, it is clear that using Google well is still a lot of work and not a shortcut.
2) Start with academic databases. What is a database? It is a curated collection of articles, often from scholarly journals, often grouped by a particular topic or academic discipline. Scholarly journals are often peer reviewed. What this means is that other people who have degrees and experience in the area the writer is talking about have looked at the information and believe that it presented accurately. In science areas, that can mean that someone duplicates an experiment or survey to see if they get similar results. You can see why these articles have more authority and power to convince than other articles.
There are databases that are broader and more like Google and other search engines, but with better articles. Academic Search Complete is one of these and Proquest is another. If you do not know much about a topic, they can be good places to start. I also like CQResearcher because it contains broad but well documented articles on a topic and it provides helpful things like time lines, images, and often a pro/con section.
For more on this topic, read p.286-294 in your text. You will find helpful information and examples.
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