Unit 2, Task 2:

Prepare an Annotated Bibliography 

Prepare an Annotated Bibliography on the topic you have chosen.  Each entry will include both a useful annotation of the article's contents and a thoughtful evaluation of the quality of the article. Please, do not select junk here! This is one of the most time-consuming tasks of the entire research project, but if you do a good job here, the rest of the research project will be much easier to do. If, after you do your best, you cannot find good material on your topic, you may want to change to another topic that is easier to work with.

Each article must be substantial--not less that two full screens of text. Do NOT select websites, but rather choose specific articles from the websites that you examine.

Step 1. Read Hacker:

• Section R1 on Conducting research

• Section R2 on Evaluating Sources

• Section R3 on Managing information and avoiding plagiarism

• Section MLA-4, on documenting sources, especially the part on electronic sources.
  

Step 2. Print out this page and the Sample Annotated Bibliography  to keep the directions handy while you search.

Step 3. Prepare a list of at least ten different key words to use as you begin to search your topic. A key word is a word or phrase describing your topic that you type into the search box to find material on your topic.

Some key words work very well; others do not. You may need to experiment with different related words until you find some that lead you to the material you are looking for. Problems can occur in two directions:

If you have several key words that belong together, try putting the group of words in quotation marks. This can improve your search results. For example, if I wanted to find out about Elizabeth Taylor in her role of Cleopatra, I might try this entry: "Elizabeth Taylor Cleopatra film."

In order to annotate an item, you must first read it, so concentrate on articles, web pages, etc. that you can actually read and print out. Articles need to be substantial as well as reliable, so do not include any article in your bibliography that is briefer than 2 full print pages or 4 screens.

Step 4. You can start your search by clicking on VIVA, which has good Electronic Collections (e-texts). E-texts are useful, since you can read them online before deciding whether or not to print them. Select at least ten substantial items on your topic. Print all of them, so you will have them available now for bibliography and later for writing summaries and preparing your report.

If you cannot find enough material using VIVA, try one of the search engines listed under  Resources. Currently, my favorite is Google, but there are many good search engines.

At this stage, you should already be considering your evaluations. Don't select any items that look junky or unreliable. How can you tell? Well, if there is no qualified author, no date, no reputable organization, no documentation, etc., then the article is probably not suitable for an academic research project, although it might be fun to read and even to share with friends. If the article is on a site sponsored by a reputable organization such as the American Medical Association, you can almost certainly trust the contents. If the article is written by a journalist from a major newspaper, you can almost certainly trust the contents. If an article uses footnotes or other documentation to show where its information comes from, it is probably ok. And so on. 

In a library, the materials are already checked over by a trained librarian, but on the Internet, there are no filters or kindly librarians. You have to use your own judgment, and be as careful and critical as a detective.  Go to Evaluating Internet Resources to see an excellent brief discussion of five items to think about when evaluating a web site. They are: Authority, Accuracy, Objectivity, Currency and Coverage. Another good place to learn about how to evaluate web pages is: Bedford Research Room: How to Evaluate a Web Site.

There are many other ways to find information on a topic, whether on the Internet or in your local library. Use any that are available. However, if your topic is current, you need to find materials that are current. If you are researching current thinking about using drugs for ADHD children, you need articles from the past couple of years, not something ten years old. 

Step 5. After you have gathered your articles, return to this page.  Now you are ready to begin organizing your Annotated Bibliography. Each entry will contain 

• a bibliographical entry; 

• an annotation;

• an evaluation; and

• an explanation of use.

A bibliographical entry is the publication  information about the article that will enable the reader to find the source you've cited.  For models of bibliographic entries read the section on documentation in Hacker, MLA-4.  

Each bibliographical entry for an Internet item must include:

In addition to the bibliographical entry, each entry for your annotated bibliography must include:

Alphabetize the list by the last names of the authors or editors. If an article does not have an author or editor, alphabetize it under the first word of the title (ignore articles "a, "an," or "the" when you alphabetize) . Number your entries, to be sure you get at least ten of them. 

You can view a Sample Annotated Bibliography to see how one is done.

If you have selected your topic wisely, and located relevant, reliable sources, you should now have a beginning bibliography for your research project, or you may now know that your original idea won't work easily as a research project and you will need to turn to something else. As you develop your ideas for your essays, you will find that you need more sources on particular issues. Add these to your bibliography as you locate them; some of them will become part of your final list of works cited.

Now you are ready to post your Bibliography on the Discussion Board,  Unit 2, Task 2 Forum.   

Unit 2, Task 2 is worth up to 20 points.