What is an annotated bibliography?an´no·tate, v.i. [L. annotatus, pp. of annotare, to put a note to, write down; ad, to, and notare, to note, mark; nota, a mark, sign.] to comment; to make notes by way of explanation; to make remarks on a writing; as, to annotate on a margin of a book.
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Source: Webster's New Universal
Unabridged Dictionary, Second Edition,
Simon & Schuster, New York, 1983.
An annotated bibliography is a collection of brief
descriptions, in the writer's own words, of what each
bibliography item/entry is about.
The notes and comments should focus on how the author(s)
of the work being criticized present their main ideas.
The writer should also explain the significance of the
criticized work relative to the paper being written.
This document is usually prepared after the writer has collected and reviewed literature related to the topic being presented in their paper.
Also check out
- Transactions References style guide
of the
IEEE Computer Society's
Style Guide
for a common format used for references and citations
in technical journals in Computer Science.
- Electronic Reference Formats
by
APA
- CGOS Bibliographic Style from the Columbia University Press (CUP) Columbia Guide to Online Style (CGOS)
NOTE: Be sure to check with your professor regarding any other specific style guides on how the completed annotated bibliography should be written.
Examples
from the Writer's Handbook,
University of Wisconsin, Madison (UWM)