Skip to Main Content

LIT2000 - BC Online

General

Definitions

A bibliography is a list of sources used for researching a topic. Information like the author, title, publisher are listed in the bibliography. In MLA Citation style, bibliographies are called the Works Cited page. 

An annotation is a summary and/or evaluation. Depending on your assignment, your annotations may do one or more of the following:

  • Summarize: Some annotations merely summarize the source. What are the main arguments? What is the point of this book or article? What topics are covered? If someone asked what this article/book is about, what would you say? The length of your annotations will determine how detailed your summary is.

    Assess: After summarizing a source, it may be helpful to evaluate it. Is it a useful source? How does it compare with other sources in your bibliography? Is the information reliable? Is this source biased or objective? What is the goal of this source?

  • Reflect: Once you've summarized and assessed a source, you need to ask how it fits into your research. Was this source helpful to you? How does it help you shape your argument? How can you use this source in your research project? Has it changed how you think about your topic?

From OWL at Purdue