English 102 Annotated Bibliography Assignment

 

The library project for this course is an annotated bibliography of 8 information sources, all of which relate to a topic of your choice. 

 

Begin with an introduction explaining the scope of your topic to familiarize the librarian and your instructor with the focus of your research.  The introduction may be two or three paragraphs long.  List the items alphabetically by author, using MLA style bibliographic format.  Each item must be followed by: 

Ø      an annotation or descriptive and critical evaluation of the resource demonstrating clearly how this item related to your topic (see sample annotations)

Ø      photocopy of the title and verso pages of each book cited, or the first page of each article included

Ø      a brief explanation of the process through which you found the item – catalog search, database search, works cited of another article or book, referred by instructor, etc, as well as the search terms used.  (see sample annotations)

 

The purpose of the final project is for each student to demonstrate an understanding of the research skills covered by the library instruction component of this class.  You must use the Dominican University library resources (periodical databases and online catalog) to locate the majority of your sources.  Sources may include: books, scholarly articles, reputable websites, magazines and newspapers.  You will need to include scholarly journal articles and at least one book (recently published or classic book in the field). 

 

The final projects must be typed.  Projects are due November 5^th.   

 

 

What you need to turn in

 

1. Two copies of your bibliography
2. Brief (2-3 paragraph) explanation of your topic
3. Citations for all of your sources in correct MLA bibliographic format
4. Annotations with both description and critical evaluations of each source
5. Short explanation of how the resource was located – e.g. Academic Search Premier, Dominican University Online Catalog, recommended by professor, etc., as well as the search terms used to retrieve relevant materials.  
6. Photocopies of each title and verso page (for books) and the first page of each periodical article included in the bibliography 

 

 

Suggestions for Writing Annotations

 

Content – What is the resource about?  Is it relevant to your research?

Purpose – What is it for?  Why was the book or article written?

Usefulness – What does it do for your research?

Reliability – Is the information accurate?  Do other sources support the

conclusions? 

Authority – Is it written by someone who has the expertise to author the

information?  What are the author’s credentials?

Currency – Is it new?  Is it up-to-date for the topic?

Ease of use – Can a “real person” use this resource?  What is the reading level

of the resource? 

 

Sample Citations and Annotations

 

Gibbs, W. Wayt.  “Obesity: An Overblown Epidemic?” Scientific American.  292.6 (2005). 

Health Source Consumer. EBSCOhost. Dominican University Rebecca Crown Lib., River Forest, IL. 10 Oct. 2005 <http://ezproxy.dom.edu/login?url=http://search.epnet.com/login.asp?profile=health >.

 

Published in Scientific American, this article discusses obesity and the trend that is depicted by health officials.  The author’s credentials are not indicated but he does provide a list of further readings on the topics and consults outside sources heavily.  The intended audience is the educated general population.  The article is organized with topical headings and there are several graphs and charts indicated, however these were not included in the electronic version and I had to consult the print version to view the data.  Published in June 2005, the information included is current.  I may cite the author and present his argument to support my thesis or to present an alternative viewpoint. 

 

This article was located using Academic Search Premier Databases.  I used the search terms health and obesity. 

 

Ronzio, Robert.  The Encyclopedia of Nutrition and Good Health.  2^nd Ed. New York:

Facts on File, Inc., 2003. 

 

Geared to the general audience this encyclopedia aims to “demystify scientific concepts without sacrificing accuracy so [the reader] can grasp the essential ideas quickly and easily.”  The encyclopedia is intended to be objective, up-to-date and comprehensive. (Ronzio, p. ix.) It includes current information on carbohydrates, fats and proteins, as well as food-related conditions like obesity, diabetes, and eating disorders.  Organized alphabetically the encyclopedia includes thousands of terms and phrases with cross-references to related terms and topics within the text.  A back-of-the-book index is included for quick searching.  Topics appear current and include “fad diets.”  The author lists his credentials as Ph.D, C.N.S., F.A.I.C.; his PhD. is in Biochemistry. 

 

I found this book by searching the Dominican University Online Catalog using the term nutrition limited to the reference collection. 

 

“Overweight and Obesity: Obesity Trends: U.S. Obesity Trends 1985–2004”

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Department of Health and Human Services. 2005. 10 October 2005 <http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/index.htm>

 

Produced by the CDC, the site contains a schematic demonstrating the prevalence of obesity in the United States currently and provides information relating to past obesity indicators.  Also included in the site is a PowerPoint presentation with further detail regarding the obesity trend and its development over the past 20 years. The site is geared toward an educated but general audience and provides current data on the topic.  Within site are links to many other related articles related to this topic through CDC websites as well as other government produced sources.  The graph and data may be used in the research paper to contribute to the background knowledge of the topic. 

 

I found this website by searching Google.com with the terms obesity and “united states”.

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