WHAT IS AN ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY?
An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.
THE PROCESS
Creating an annotated bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills: concise exposition, succinct analysis, and informed library research.
First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic. Briefly examine and review the actual items. Then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.
Cite the book, article, or document using the appropriate style.
Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. Include one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author, (b) comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or (d) explain how this work illuminates your bibliography topic.
Ask a Teacher Librarian for further assistance with referencing and writing your bibliography.
APA style referencing is an author-date system of referencing. Use only the surname of the author(s) followed by a comma and the year of publication. Include page, chapter or section numbers if you need to be specific, for example, if you are quoting, paraphrasing or summarising: (Jones & Carruthers, 2013, pp. 29-31)
Titles and subtitles are given minimal capitalisation. Only the first letter of the first word of the title (and subtitle, if given) and proper nouns (the names of people, places or organisations, etc.) are capitalised.
Book titles are italicised when typed or underlined when handwritten.
The reference for an article from an e-journal is the same as for a print journal article, followed by a DOI or URL, if available.
URLs should not be used for articles retrieved from academic research databases. Do not include database information for articles retrieved from academic research databases.
Your Guide to Harvard Style Referencing by The University of Sydney is very useful, easy to follow and thorough guide on how to complete a reference list. Examples are sorted into categories and include in-text referencing and reference list.