The purpose of an annotated bibliography is to provide a summary of the articles used in a project to easily keep a record of them and remember each article. Often used in longer projects, this makes sure that you understand the information in each article and, based on what you wrote in your summary, refer back to the information in that article.
Depending on the purpose of your bibliography, some annotations may summarize, some may assess or evaluate a source, and some may reflect on the source’s possible uses for the project at hand. Some annotations may address all three of these steps. Consider the purpose of your annotated bibliography and/or your instructor’s directions when deciding how much information to include in your annotations.
Please note that all of the text of your annotated bibliography, including the text beneath the citation, is indented. Only the author's last name will be the text that is flush left.
Ehrenreich, Barbara. Nickel and Dimed : On (Not) Getting by in America. 1st ed., Metropolitan Books, 2001.
In this book of nonfiction based on the journalist's experiential research, Ehrenreich attempts to ascertain whether it is currently possible for an individual to live on a minimum-wage in America. Taking jobs as a waitress, a maid in a cleaning service, and a Walmart sales employee, the author summarizes and reflects on her work, her relationships with fellow workers, and her financial struggles in each situation. An experienced journalist, Ehrenreich is aware of the limitations of her experiment and the ethical implications of her experiential research tactics and reflects on these issues in the text. The author is forthcoming about her methods and supplements her experiences with scholarly research on her places of employment, the economy, and the rising cost of living in America. Ehrenreich’s project is timely, descriptive, and well-researched
O'Leary, Bill. “Who Needs Reality?” Electrical Apparatus, vol. 67, no. 12, 2014, pp. 17–18.
In this periodical article on the author’s projection of how virtual reality could change how students learn to weld, O’Leary describes the potential benefits of using virtual reality to replace the traditional methods of teaching welding to students. Examining the recent development of virtual reality software and how some companies are investing in virtual reality training tools, the author describes how virtual reality might affect how students learn to weld. Experienced in the field of research, O’Leary acknowledges the limitations of using virtual reality versus learning in a physical environment. He writes that virtual reality, it’s lower cost, and how it could affect learning skills is a new concept that will take time to implement into welding training. O’Leary’s article was thorough, current, and unbiased.