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Annotated Bibliographies

Find resources for creating annotated bibliographies

Summary

A summary for a resource in a standard annotated bibliography is typically a few sentences at most. Often this summary will outline the type of source, the basic thesis or findings of the resource, the argument  of the source, and , in some cases, what the source includes (i.e. charts or tables about the data, the poems included in the source, etc.).  Summaries should include more than the basic research question. 

 

At the very least, a summary should be descriptive enough that it differentiates the source from the other, similar sources in your bibliography. For example, a summary of “Looks into how mindfulness affects students” is not adequate when the topic is about mindfulness and students because the rest of the sources will likely be about the same thing. Instead, a descriptive summary like “The article investigates how social media use affects college student’s ability to focus on mindfulness exercises by evaluating student’s reported time spent on social media platforms compared to their observed performance in guided mindfulness activities.” 

"Lamott presents sane advice for those struggling with the anxieties of writing, but her main project seems to be offering the reader a reality check regarding writing, publishing, and struggling with one's own imperfect humanity in the process" - From MtSAC Writing Center's "Annotated Bibliography" handout. 

"Each essay examines modern botany and environmentalism through the lens of the traditions and cultures of the Indigenous peoples of North America. The book is a combination of memoir, science writing, and Indigenous American philosophy and history. Braiding Sweetgrass explores relationships between humans and the land, with a focus on the role of plants and botany in both Native American and Western traditions." - From BSU's Writing Center's "Writing an Annotated Bibliography

"The chapter on Didion focuses on how she uses methods of collage, juxtaposition and white space, as well as other stylistic maneuvers to render larger meanings in her essays"  - From BSU's Writing Center's "Writing an Annotated Bibliography

 

 

No Ai allowed

According to Grinnell's Academic Honesty policy, using generative Ai for creating summaries or other work for course credit is a violation of academic honesty. If that isn't enough to steer you away, then the inaccuracies that often accompany AI generated bibliographies should scare you off. ChatGPT and other AI's are known to make up citations and "invent" resources that sound convincing, but are completely fabricated. Furthermore, the AI cannot add the important "significance" part of the annotated bibliography as the AI cannot understand context the way you can.