Introduction
Finding and working with quality research material is a core part of the academic writing process. In a digital culture, we are flooded with easily available information. But sometimes, it’s just too much information! How can we filter it? How do we find relevant information for our projects?
Overall, this Study Room will help you to develop skills in finding and evaluating quality research material appropriate for academic contexts. As we develop these skills through practice, we will build an annotated bibliography for a sample essay topic. By the end, you will have a template for an annotated bibliography that you can use in a range of academic areas.
What is an Annotated Bibliography?
An annotated bibliography is a list of citations that are all relevant to a particular research topic. Each citation is followed by a short summary and statement about the relevance of the source to the research topic.
Note that this lesson uses APA 6th ed. but it does not cover the mechanics of documenting sources in APA. For practice in documentation, you might consider Boot Camp 3 in the University Writing Lessons.
How to start
This Study Room offers 3 lessons that guide you through a process of developing a research question and then finding and evaluating relevant information for an annotated bibliography.
This Study Room works best when you complete the lessons in order. In each lesson, you build on the work completed in the one before it until, finally, you complete an annotated bibliography.
Can’t do it all? No problem. Dip in to any lesson to find useful tips, templates and samples on each topic.
Menu
- Developing a Research Question (Lesson A).
You will learn how to select a general topic, and develop techniques to narrow it to a manageable research question. - Finding and Evaluating Sources (Lesson B).
You will become familiar with library and Internet search tools and how to find and evaluate sources relevant to your research question. - Preparing the Annotated Bibliography (Lesson C).
Using a template, you will learn how to write short summaries and justifications for each source that you find.
You can work progressively through the lesson, or click the links to choose a specific section.
View the quick access list of the blank templates offered in this lesson. You can use these templates as resources to help you complete future work.
Special Note:
If possible, take the time to print off your own practice activities so that you will have your work to use when you get to the next lesson. As well, you can print the sample answers to every activity for reference.