What is an annotated bibliography example

An A to Z ordered list of used sources is known as an annotated bibliography. Every citation, though, unlike in a usual bibliography is followed by a precise summary of the source (the annotation), which also contains its relevance and evaluation of the cited source. In this article, you will find several annotated bibliography examples.

In this article, you will read about annotated bibliographies in different formats (APA, MLA, and CMS). You will scrutinize every annotated bibliography example that refers to a different research assignment. It is important to remember that annotation should refer in some way to your own research project and resonate with the instructions of your assignment.

Your bibliography may have various purposes, according to that your annotation may contain an evaluation of a source, it’s summary or in it you may think upon its further usage for next projects. There may be an annotation that includes all three of the above-mentioned objectives. When deciding how much information should you include in your annotation, you should consider the task and the guidelines given to you by your educator.

You should remember that the text, including the information below the citation, should be positioned so that only the last name of the author is left-aligned. 

Annotated bibliography example in MLA format

Lamott, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. Anchor Books, 1995.

The book of the prolific modern author Lamott gives generous advice on principal peculiarities of a writer’s life about its difficulties and challenges. Using humor the author states that it is engaging but difficult to be a writer and describes all stages of a writing process from outlining a plot to procrastination, perfectionism and overcoming inner critic.

 Lamott describes writing exercises which may help a writer to become more inspired and energetic. She proves: the writing process may be fun. An author’s path from writing to publishing and struggling with difficulties of her imperfect nature is described in the book. The book is valuable for its sane recommendation for novice writers. It is not just a textbook or a handbook, it contains down-to-earth experience mixed with humor and motivation. To include some parts of the book in the curriculum could be a must for writing classes. Some chapters might cause discussions among students about essential parts of a writing process, some exercises can also be conduct in the classroom and seem useful for creativity. Lamott’s style easily grabs the reader’s attention and is entertaining as well.

The above given annotated bibliography example contains three parts, including a summary, an evaluation of the book, ruminating upon the usefulness of the book for the research. If you are not sure how to format your annotation using MLA styles, you can use our MLA 2016 Formatting and Style Guide.

Annotated bibliography example in APA format

Ehrenreich, B. (2001). Nickel and dimed: On (not) getting by in America. New York, NY: Henry Holt and Company.

This book is nonfiction and is based on the author’s journalist experiment. Ehrenreich tries to find out if it is achievable for a person to live on minimum wages in America.

The author worked in a cleaning company, as a waitress, as a sales employee at Walmart. She dwells upon her financial difficulties, her relationship with co-workers and her work, analyzing each situation. Being a competent journalist, Ehrenreich understands the constraints of her experiment and ethical connotations of her observational research methods and speculates about it in her book. The author is straightforward about her techniques and broadens her experience with scientific research on her employment, American economy and growing expenditures. Ehrenreich’s book is up-to-date, vivid, well-scrutinized.

The given annotation contains both a summary and an evaluation of the book. The first part contains a summary of the book briefly covering the main points of the project. In the second part, the main strengths and techniques used by the author in the project are mentioned. The potential value of the project for further research is not mentioned.

The information on how to format APA citations correctly you can find in APA Formatting and Style Guide.

Annotated bibliography example in Chicago Manual of Style format

Davidson, Hilda Ellis. Roles of the Northern Goddess. London: Routledge, 1998.

A detailed examination of the numerous roles filled by several Nothern European pagan goddess in day-to-day life is given in Davidson’s book. The author describes their roles in hunting, household, death, husbandry, agronomy, and housekeeping. Archeological evidence, ritual and symbol patterns, known research is reviewed in the book. A lot of black and white photographs of significant antiquities are used in the book.

The annotation consists only of one part and that is a summary of the project. It describes the main features of the project. You can find information on how to use Chicago Style formatting in the Chicago Manual of Style resources.