What is an annotated bibliography?

An annotated bibliography is an organized list of sources (like a reference list). It differs from a
straightforward bibliography in that the citation for each source is followed by a short paragraph
of helpful information about that source. For this assignment, your annotated bibliography
should include:

--Books (at least 2)

--Articles from journals (at least 2)

--Authoritative web sites (at least 2)

This may mean finding more than 2 of each kind of source and choosing the best or most
unique items. You may also want to make sure your 6 items represent a variety of viewpoints
on the topic.

Writing Annotations

An annotation should give enough information to make a reader decide whether to read the
complete work. In other words, if the reader were exploring the same topic as you, is this
material useful and if so, why? Annotations briefly summarize the content or the main
argument of a source. Beyond that, they highlight distinctive features of an item and critically
evaluate its strengths and weaknesses (sometimes a source might be criticized for not being
CURRENT enough, for example). Bottom line: why did this item “win” a place in your
bibliography at the expense of another one?

Example of a mostly DESCRIPTIVE annotation:

Breeding evil. (2005, August 6). Economist, 376(8438), 9. Retrieved from

http://www.economist.com

This editorial from the Economist describes the controversy surrounding video games and the
effect they have on people who use them. The author points out that skepticism of new media
have gone back to the time of the ancient Greeks, so this controversy surrounding video games is
nothing new. The article also points out that most critics of gaming are people over 40 and it is
an issue of generations not understanding one another, rather than of the games themselves. As
the youth of today grow older, the controversy will die out, according to the author. The author
of this article stresses the age factor over violence as the real reason for opposition to video
games and stresses the good gaming has done in most areas of human life. This article is
distinctive in exploring the controversy surrounding video games from a generational standpoint
and is written for a general audience.

Example of a more CRITICAL / ANALYTICAL annotation:

Breeding evil. (2005, August 6). Economist, 376(8438), 9. Retrieved from
http://www.economist.com

This editorial from the Economist describes the controversy surrounding video games and the
effect they have on people who use them. The article points out that most critics of gaming are
people over 40 and it is an issue of age not of the games themselves. While the author briefly
mentions studies done around the issue of violence and gaming, he does not go into enough
depth for the reader to truly know the range of studies that have actually been done in this area,
other than to take his word that the research is unsatisfactory. The author of this article stresses
the age factor over violence as the real reason for opposition to video games and stresses the
good gaming has done in most areas of human life. This article is a good resource for those
wanting to begin to explore the controversy surrounding video games, however for anyone doing
serious research, one should actually examine some of the research studies that have been done
in this area rather than simply take the author's word that opposition to video games is simply
due to an issue of generational divide.

To get started

You can find books (including e-books) by searching the library catalog (GRACE) on the library
web site. Many people will be pursuing the same topic and potentially the same print books, so
please do a basic review of the book while you’re in the library and leave it on the shelf, rather
than checking it out. (Generally speaking, it’s OK if your annotations are shorter and go into a
bit less depth than the examples above.) If needed, ask a research librarian for more
information about search strategies or viewing/downloading e-books.

You can find journal articles by choosing databases from the library’s online resources page,
either a multisubject database like EBSCO Host Academic Search Premiere, ProQuest, or
JSTOR or a specialized one (click on Music or another subject area under “Single Subject
Databases.” Nearly all databases have check-boxes by which you can limit your search to “peer-
reviewed” (scholarly) articles, but using scholarly articles over general-audience articles is not
strictly mandatory. Again, a research librarian can help you search effectively and trouble-shoot
finding the full text of chosen articles.

You can find good web sites by the usual Google route. Just keep in mind the criteria provided
for “quality” web sites.

Guidelines for formatting the citations

Above each annotation you should provide a properly formatted Turabian citation for the
source. There are multiple copies of the Turabian style guide in the main library, and the
research librarians are experienced helpers with correct formatting.
HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENT – Due Tuesday November, 29th at 9:00 AM

1. Choose from among the following topics:

a. The impact of music on various regions of the brain
b. The life and works of Beethoven
c. Ragtime and its cultural origins
d. The development of keyboard instruments
e. The history of Christian hymns
f. How does music affect learning and memorization?

2. Find 6 resources (2 books, 2 articles from journals, and 2 authoritative websites) that
have to do with the topic you chose. Using the information above, write 6 annotated
bibliographies (1 for each resource), each with a properly formatted Turabian citation.

3. Submit this assignment as a WORD document via MOODLE no later than Tuesday,
November 29th at 9:00 AM.