ENG 111: Writing and Inquiry

An annotated bibliography is a list of sources about a topic, including a citation for and a description of each source.

Annotated bibliographies can serve a variety of purposes.

• Practice evaluating sources. Annotating your bibliography requires you to think carefully about the sources you're including, as you summarize each of them. Tell your audience what each source is about and why it is important: How does it relate to the topic of the bibliography? What is remarkable about this source? After reading your annotated bibliography, someone should understand more about the topic and why each source belongs on the list.
• Practice creating citations. The citation to each source on your bibliography is as important as its description. Make sure you understand all the elements of your citation format (APA, MLA, etc.) and learn how citations are constructed. Creating citations early in the process of doing research saves a lot of trouble later!
• Begin a research project. An annotated bibliography can be a starting point of a research project. Gather a few resources that seem like they may be useful, create citations for them, and type up a brief description of each resource. When you are working on your larger project, you already have a list of sources and citations to work from!
• Provide a summary of representative resources on a topic. In scholarly articles, you might find a version of an annotated bibliography called a "literature review." The literature review provides background reading on the article's topic.

This tutorial was created for a specific ENG 111 class, but the information in it is relevant to anyone who needs to know how to do an annotated bibliography.

You can click "CC" to turn on captions. This 17-minute video is worth your time!

The library has a number of books from the Opposing Viewpoints, Current Controversies, and At Issue series that can assist you in selecting a topic for a research paper.  Search "opposing viewpoints" or "current controversies" or "at issue" in the online catalog. (Be sure to select "Durham Libraries"!)

Books in the Information Plus series include statistical information and nice overviews of a wide variety of topics. They are a great starting point for developing a topic or beginning research!

Current books in this series are located at the beginning of the reference shelves in the main campus library and cannot be checked out. Older editions can be checked out, and are shelved with other circulating books.