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Last modified 10.4.06
Dana Hall Library >> Research Commons >> RC: Creating a Bibliography >> Creating a Bibliography >>  Creating an Annotated Bibliography

Creating an Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations of a variety of sources (books, articles, videos, websites, etc.) that also has a short paragraph describing and evaluating each particular source. This paragraph is called an annotation.

The purpose of the annotation is for you to think critically about the source: what sort of information it covers, in what way it covers that information, and whether it was helpful to you.

The annotation should be 3-6 sentences long, and should briefly cover CONTENT, INTENDED AUDIENCE, ILLUSTRATIONS, and UNIQUE FEATURES. Questions you should think about answering when writing your annotation include (you might not cover all these questions in your annotation):

  • What are the main ideas of this source?
  • What is the scope of this source (what information does it set out to cover)?
  • Who is this source for (people familiar with the topic, people unfamiliar with the topic, young children, scholars...)?
  • Does this source have any special features (illustrations, bibliography, maps...)?
  • Did you find the source useful for your assignment? Why or why not? (It's okay to say that you didn't, so long as you say why!)
  • Do you think this source is reliable? Why or why not? (You probably won't need to answer this question for non-fiction books, but it is important to consider for websites.)

    The paragraph should be single spaced with its first line indented. See a Sample Annotation.

    For more information about writing an annotation, see:

  • The University Library at the University of Santa Cruz's How to Write an Annotated Bibliography
  • The Online Writing Lab at Purdue University's Annotated Bibliography

    Back to Creating a Bibliography