Annotated Bibliography

Why an Annotated Bibliography?

Serves as a thinking tool in defining a topic and developing a thesis
Allows youto develop yourown ideas in conversation with others’ ideas
Helps yougain dominion over a topic prior to a paper, discussion, or project
Encourages curiosity and an intuitive search process (not closed-ended)
Promotes learning through active and critical reading
Helps prevent plagiarism because youmust summarize, synthesize, and restructure the material before presenting it

Goals

Learn to consider sources in the context of each other and a specific research question
Generate accurate citations
Become accountable to your readers in a world of information sharing
Experience the pace of a college-level research project
Be able to organize and keep track of multiple sources and perspectives
More easily understand the big picture and recognize patterns
Get a reality check: what has been done, and what hasn’t?
Experience the freedom to change directions within a topic as your research and thinking develop