An annotated bibliography is a helpful research tool that identifies and critiques useful resources for a specific subject. It includes a brief descriptive paragraph for each book, article, website, and source that is listed. This is the annotation, and its purpose is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources within the annotated bibliography.
There are two main types of annotated bibliographies:
A descriptive or informative annotated bibliography is similar to an abstract in that it describes or summarizes a source. It provides a description on why the source is useful or relevant to the topic researched. It may also question an author's arguments or conclusion; however it does not evaluate the author's conclusion or results.
London, H. (1982). Five myths of the television age. Television quarterly 10, 1, 81-89.
Herbert London, the Dean of Journalism at New York University and author of several books and articles, explains how television contradicts five commonly believed ideas. He uses specific examples of events seen on television, such as the assassination of John Kennedy, to illustrate his points. His examples have been selected to contradict such truisms as: "seeing is believing"; "a picture is worth a thousand words"; and "satisfaction is its own reward." London uses logical arguments to support his ideas which are his personal opinion. He doesn't refer to any previous works on the topic. London's style and vocabulary would make the article of interest to any reader.
An analytical or critical annotated bibliography summarizes the source and points out its distinctive features, and it can analyze what is being said. It examines the strengths and weaknesses of what is presented as well as describes the applicability of the author's conclusions to the research conducted.
London, H. (1982). Five myths of the television age. Television quarterly 10, 1, 81-89.
Herbert London, the Dean of Journalism at New York University and author of several books and articles, explains how television contradicts five commonly believed ideas. He uses specific examples of events seen on television, such as the assassination of John Kennedy, to illustrate his points. His examples have been selected to contradict such truisms as: "seeing is believing"; "a picture is worth a thousand words"; and "satisfaction is its own reward." London uses logical arguments to support his ideas which are his personal opinion. He doesn't refer to any previous works on the topic; however, for a different point of view, one should refer to Joseph Patterson's "Television is Truth" (cited below). London's style and vocabulary would make the article of interest to any reader. The article clearly illustrates London's points, but does not explore their implications, leaving the reader with many unanswered questions.
