Develop and submit an annotated bibliography that documents current research and thinking on the subject. The bibliography should include scholarly journals, books, and print media. Students should include 8 sources. Only 2 sources should be from an Internet web page. (see description of an annotated bibliography below). Use APA Format.
Selecting the sources:
The quality and usefulness of your bibliography will depend on your selection of sources. Define the scope of your research carefully so that you can make good judgments about what to include and exclude. Consider these questions to help you find appropriate limits for your research:
What problem am I investigating?
What question(s) am I trying to pursue? Try formulating your topic as a question or a series of questions in order to define your search more precisely ( e.g. How has Canadian law affecting aboriginal women changed as a result of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms? How have these changes affected aboriginal women? How have aboriginal women influenced and responded to these legal developments?).
What kind of material am I looking for? (academic books and journal articles? government reports or policy statements? articles from the popular press? primary historical sources? etc.)
Am I finding essential studies on my topic? (Read footnotes in useful articles carefully to see what sources they use and why. Keep an eye out for studies that are referred to by several of your sources.)
Summarizing and identifying the argument of a source:
An annotation briefly restates the main argument of a source. An annotation of an academic source, for example, typically identifies its thesis (or research question, or hypothesis), its major methods of investigation, and its main conclusions. Keep in mind that identifying the argument of a source is a different task than describing or listing its contents.
In order to identify the argument of your sources, consider the following things:
Identify the author’s thesis (central claim or purpose) or research question. Both the introduction and the conclusion can help you with this task.
Look for repetition of key terms or ideas. Follow them through the text and see what the author does with them. Note especially the key terms that occur in the thesis or research question that governs the text.
Notice how the text is laid out and organized. What are the main divisions or sections? What is emphasized? Why? Accounting for why will help you to move beyond listing contents and toward giving an account of argument.
Notice whether and how a theory is used to interpret evidence or data. Identify the method used to investigate the problem/s addressed in the text.
Pay attention to the opening sentence(s) of each paragraph, where authors often state concisely their main point in the paragraph.
Look for paragraphs that summarize the argument. A section may sometimes begin or conclude with such a paragraph.
Assessing the relevance and value of sources: Your annotation should now go on to briefly assess the value of the source to an investigation of your research question or problem. Try to assess the source’s contribution to the research on your topic.
Are you interested in the way the source frames its research question or in the way it goes about answering it (its method)? Does it make new connections or open up new ways of seeing a problem (e.g. bringing the Sparrow decision concerning aboriginal fishing rights to bear on the scope of women’s rights)?
Are you interested in the way the source uses a theoretical framework or a key concept (e.g. analysis of existing, extinguished, and other kinds of rights)?
Does the source gather and analyze a particular body of evidence that you want to use (e.g. the historical development of a body of legislation)?
summarize the source (chapter, book, article, or the like). you should include sources that provide a variety of perspectives on the problem you have selected.How do the source’s conclusions bear on your own investigation?
Your annotations for each of your 8 sources should do the following
identify the author’s argument (or main point) rely primarily on your own words and phrasing—use summary and paraphrase.
discuss the source’s strengths and weaknesses. For instance, does the item offer a good introduction to the issue? Does the item deal with a particular aspect of the issue that is especially relevant to the problem you plan to address in your proposal? Do you find the piece accessible or is it geared to a more specialize audience?
