Advanced Speech: Citations & Annotations

An annotated bibliography is a list of citations to materials used for this project.

• Each citation is followed by a descriptive and evaluative paragraph written in the third person*. (This is the "Annotation")

• The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the usefulness, accuracy, quality of the source, and significance to the project.

Writing the annotation:

• Why the author or organization is an expert or authority.
• Why is this important (its usefulness) to your project?
• Summary of the source which includes facts.
• The annotation is written in the objective third person. Writing in the third person does not use "I".

Example:

Cohen, Elizabeth Storr, and Thomas V. Cohen. Daily Life during the Italian  Renaissance. Westport, Greenwood Press, 2001.

Elizabeth and Thomas Cohen are both professors at York University in Ontario, specializing in Italian history. Thomas Cohen has a PhD from Harvard University. Elizabeth Cohen has undergraduate degrees from Harvard University and a PhD from University of Toronto. Together, they co-wrote, Words and Deeds in Renaissance Rome: Trials Before the Papal Magistrates (1993). Daily Life includes useful information on marriage, family relationships and dowries, as well as wedding customs. For both men and women it was a signal into adulthood. Most marriages were based on social and economic standings. The XXX had more information on wedding festivities

Note: The librarians' preferred format is different from what is specified in the MLA handbook.

• The citation should be double spaced, with the second line indented.
• Annotation to start on a new line following the citation, and is formatted as an indented, single-spaced block paragraph.
• If you verified credibility of the source's author or publisher through a website, please hyperlink that website.