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Ohio State University logo University Libraries arrow Guide to Information Resources in Education


DEVELOPING AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND LITERATURE REVIEW

Gerry Greenberg and Deidra Herring , Collection Manager for Education, and Marti Alt, General Humanities Bibliographer
The Ohio State University Libraries
What is a bibliography?
A bibliography is a list of sources that you've consulted for information.  It differs from a "works cited list" in that a works cited list includes only sources that you actually have quoted, paraphrased, or summarized in a paper or report.
What is a literature review?
A literature review analyzes and synthesizes prior research on a given topic in a more holistic fashion than an annotated bibliography. An annotated bibliography presents its information in list fashion--usually alphabetically--with little attempt to pull all the information surveyed into a coherent whole for the user.
What is the difference between an annotation and an abstract?
An annotation is descriptive and/or evaluative, revealing the author's authority and point of view and commenting on specific elements of the work (see below.)  An abstract is strictly a descriptive summary of the work.
What should each entry in my annotated bibliography contain? (Note: Check with your instructor to see which elements you should include.)
  • A complete bibliographic citation (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago.  Be sure to be consistent throughout.)
  • One or two sentences that capture the main idea(s) and coverage of the source.
  • A description of the source's intended audience and purpose, form, arrangement, ease of use.
  • A critique of the source's:
    • accuracy
    • objectivity (including both explicit and hidden biases)
    • authority (author's expertise with regard to this topic)
    • currency (if applicable to this topic)
    • A description of any special features, such as a useful bibliography or a list of Web sites
    • A reflection on the source's usefulness to you, particularly compared with other sources you have read on the similar topics.
What characterizes a well-written annotation?
  • Brevity (150-250 words; 2-3 paragraphs maximum)
  • Conciseness (Make every word count.)
  • Complete sentences of varying lengths, or verb phrases (Be consistent.)
  • Only significant ideas and details included
  • No direct quotations or paraphrases. Use your own words.  Do not cut and paste from a database abstract.
  • Correct and consistent bibliographic citation style (e.g., APA, MLA, Chicago).
Example of evaluative annotation
Additional resources

Example of evaluation annotation

Margonis, F. and Parker, L. (1999). Choice: The route to community control? Theory Into Practice, 38, 203-208. Retrieved January 24, 2001 from Education Abstracts database.

In this article Margonis and Parker, Associate Professors of Education at the University of Utah and the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana respectively, argue the theory that, although minority parents who increasingly are sending their children to private schools may appear to share goals with conservative politicians, the goals of the two groups actually differ.

Minority parents are using school vouchers to obtain a better education for their children than the public schools provide.  Conservative politicians, the authors claim, are using vouchers to maintain a system of segregated schooling.  Margonis and Parker believe that minority parents unwittingly are buying into a conservative political strategy that only serves to worsen the educational system for other minority students.  While the authors display a bias against economically powerful white Republicans, neither are they sympathetic to liberal Democrats because they believe that liberal Democrats have failed inner city schools, too.

The lengthy bibliography cites works published only through 1998, but the article gives a useful overview of the historical context of school vouchers and cites studies from respected journals and publishers.  I found it interesting that Dale McDonald's (2000) more recent article cites Democrats like Joseph Lieberman and Robert Reich as favoring vouchers, too.  MDonald also cites several other studies, published as recently as 1998, that show that African-American children did show higher achievement in voucher schools than in public schools, although students from other ethnic groups did not appear to achieve any differently .  While McDonald might seem to be contradicting Margonis and Parker, however, I think that they are talking about two separate issues:  educational achievement and segregation.  This brings us back to the classic question of whether there really is such a thing as "separate but equal."

Additional resources

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