Annotated Bibliography

Based on your professor’s guidelines, you may include an assessment or evaluation of each item.

Ask yourself if each item is a useful resource.

How does it compare to other resources you are using? What are the resource’s goals, biases or objectives? What are its strengths and limitations? How does it relate to your topic or argument?

Author

• What are the author's credentials and affiliations?
• Is the publisher or journal known and reputable?

Publisher

• Who is the publisher? Are they reputable? It is an academic press?

Accuracy

• Does the author provide references to support his/her statements?
• Is the source scholarly or peer-reviewed? (Has the information been verified by other professionals or researchers in the field?)

Currency

• How current does your information need to be?
• What is the publication date?
• Is the information outdated?
• Is it a key historical piece of literature on your topic?

Coverage

• Who is the audience: the general public, professionals, or researchers?
• Is the information general or in-depth?

Point of View

• Is the information balanced and without bias?
• Does the author have a specific goal or objective? (For example: to persuade, to entertain, to inform?)