In today's library session, we will: 

• Talk about information and format as it pertains to this assignment
• Discuss what an annotated bibliography is and what it looks like
• Talk about information generally and how to choose the right sources for your information need
• Practice the skill of being able to identify different types of information
• Work to find sources for your paper using the library and Google Scholar
• Brief overview of how to find citation information

What is it?

An annotated bibliography is a list of references with a brief description

• Includes complete bibliographic information (a citation)
• Summarize the work – describe the content of the article
• Evaluate the work – critically look at the scope or main purposes of the work. 
• Note authority (who wrote it) and any possible biases
• Determine the relevance – discuss how the source is relevant to your topic
• Do NOT use the abstract to summarize, use your own words
• Demonstrates that you have taken the time to look at a variety of sources to support your topic

Things to Remember

To avoid plagiarism when paraphrasing, remember these five important points:

1) Your paraphrased text should be significantly different from the original (i.e. don't just change a few words here and there)

2) You must change the structure of the sentence or paragraph you are paraphrasing, not just the words.

3) If you use anyone else's words verbatim (word for word) you need to put quotation marks around it.

4) Use proper citation methods to give credit for the ideas, opinions, or theories you are presenting.

5) Check that you have preserved the original meaning of the text in your paraphrased version

What do I need to include?

An annotated bibliography entry consists of two components: the Citation and the Annotation. For this assignment, use APA style format (7th ed.)

Generally, an annotation is approximately 100-300 words in length (one paragraph). However, your professor may have different expectations so it is recommended that you clarify the assignment guidelines.

An annotation may include the following information:

1. A brief summary of the source
2. The source’s strengths and weaknesses eg: has it increased your awareness on the topic you chose?
3. Its conclusions
4. Why the source is relevant to your selected theme
5. Its relationships to other themes in the course eg. social issues and social change
6. Information about the author’s background
7. Your personal conclusions about the source in relation to your positionality and a discussion topic.

Examples of Annotated Bibliographies and how to format 

• Annotated bibliographies - OWL@Purdue

  Includes definition, samples and examples for APA, MLA and more

• Writing an annotated bibliography - University of Toronto

• Concordia University annotated bibliography guide

• Video: (Carleton University) Writing an Annotated Bibliography

Why using good sources matter...

When you endeavor to find sources related to a topic of interest for your academic writing, you are demonstrating a number of skills

• You are able to synthesize a variety of information and integrate it into your own work
• You are able to investigate the dialogue that has occurred related to an area of interest and engage in that conversation through your academic writing
• Using good, credible reliable sources will elevate the accuracy and authority of your own work

Authority is Constructed and Contextual

Information, in any format, is produced to convey a message and is shared via a selected delivery method.  The iterative processes of researching, creating, revising and disseminating information vary, and the resulting produce reflects these differences (ACRL par. 13).

• Information creations are valued differently depending on the context and purpose for which they are created
• Audience matters. Certain things are created for certain purposes and it doesn't really make one format of information better than another. It is up to us to discern what information process best fits our information need.
• In your own creation process, understand that your choices in what type of information you use, impacts the purpose for which the information product you create will be used and the message it conveys

Source: Project Cora - https://www.projectcora.org/assignment/information-spectrum

 Add / Reorder  

Encyclopedias
Strengths: short, contains background information on a topic, normally a great starting point when you are just learning about a topic
Weaknesses: too short, print encyclopedias are out of date quickly, Wikipedia has reliability issues.  Example of a scholarly encyclopedia.

Books and Book Chapters
Strengths: Provides an in-depth investigation into a topic
Weaknesses: too long, sometimes hard to tell whether it is scholarly   Example of a scholarly book chapter in an edited book. 

Scholarly Journal Articles
Strengths: often based on research findings or extensive review, written by experts, reviewed by experts, provides evidence
Weaknesses: Sometimes written using discipline-specific language or terminology, hard to understand.  Example of a scholarly journal article.

Media Sources (news, online magazine articles)
Strengths: Good for current information
Weaknesses: Sometimes biased, sometimes written to entertain, often not written by experts, often not reviewed by experts.  Example of a media source. 

Websites & Social Media
Strengths: Highly accessible, includes government info
Weaknesses: It is hard to assess credibility and reliability...anyone can post online or create a website.  Example of a social media site. 

Lectures, Ted Talks, Interviews, Recordings, Testimony
Strengths: Primary, first-hand accounts
Weaknesses: It is hard to assess credibility and reliability...single perspective relying on the accuracy of memory. Example of a video.

A scholarly publication contains articles written by experts in a particular field. The primary audience of these articles is other experts. ... Many of these publications are also referred to as "peer-reviewed", academic or "refereed". They all mean essentially the same thing and refer to the editorial and publication process in which scholars in the same field review the research and findings before the article is published.

1. What are the author’s credentials? Is it written by an expert?
2. Published in a journal (is there a DOI?) If you are not sure if it is a journal article enter the title of the publication into Ulrichs Web
3. Academic language
4. Includes reference list
5. Length
6. A "Received" and "Accepted" date
7. Is it an actual article? Sometimes other types of content are included in scholarly publications, such as editorials/opinion pieces and book reviews.  Make sure you are looking at an article. 

For the following exercise, join the group that matches your birthday and complete the exercise.

Group 1 (your birthday is in January, February, March, or April)

Scan the following resource (you don't need to read it in full).

Consider the following:

• What are the qualifications of the author(s)?
• What type of evidence do they use to support their argument? What sources do they cite? Data, personal opinions, etc.?
• Who is the intended audience of this article? How does that impact how it is written?
• Does this source undergo any type of review or quality control?

Group 2 (your birthday is in May, June, July, or August)

Scan the following resource (you don't need to read it in full).

Consider the following:

• What are the qualifications of the author(s)?
• What type of evidence do they use to support their argument? What sources do they cite? Data, personal opinions, etc.?
• Who is the intended audience of this article? How does that impact how it is written?
• Does this source undergo any type of review or quality control?

Group 3 (your birthday is in September, October, November, or December)

Scan the following resource (you don't need to read it in full).

Consider the following:

• What are the qualifications of the author(s)?
• What type of evidence do they use to support their argument? What sources do they cite? ata, personal opinions, etc.?
• Who is the intended audience of this article? How does that impact how it is written?
• Does this source undergo any type of review or quality control?

Figure 2. Copely, R. Huge stand in the market with a large selection of fruits [Photograph]. Pixy.org. https://pixy.org/143529/

What word(s) or phrases would you use to describe this image? 

Questions to consider

• Are you using the terminology that an expert in the field would use?
• Is there more than one way to spell the word?
• Are there any synonyms or other terms that could apply to your topic?

Tip: Think about your topic in terms of a simple sentence

Things to remember when using Library Search:

1. Sign in to save searches, items, and to request materials.

2. Use the pin icon to save books and articles. 

3. Use the filters on the right. You will use Availability, Resource Type, and Date filters most often.

4. Some items won't be available. You can request unavailable items using interlibrary loan.

5. When viewing an item record, scroll down to the Get It or Full Text section to get the item.

You can search in a way to combine or omit different terms by telling the search engine exactly what you want…this can help you save some time (and frustration!)

• Use quotation marks to keep phrases together - "Black Lives Matter"

• Use  AND to combine search terms - "police violence" AND protester

• Use OR to connect two or more similar terms - BLM OR "Black Lives Matter"

• Use wild cards to substitute a letter or suffix with a symbol - demonstr*

Search Google Scholar

Google Scholar is another great way to find peer-reviewed/scholarly material. Google scholar has a nifty citation chaining function.  The Cited by function will forward you to indexed scholarly material that has cited an article that you may be interested in.  The Related Articles link will direct you to similar articles that may have the same metadata or keywords. 

The Advanced Search is found by clicking the menu icon (top left).
Besides providing links to articles in MRU databases, Google Scholar links to online repositories that contain articles the author has been allowed to upload.  Academia.edu and ResearchGate are among the repositories searched by Google Scholar.

By clicking on the Settings icon, you can select library links to show library access for up to 5 libraries (type in Mount Royal and click on save).  If you are logged into MRU library, links should automatically populate if you are running a Google search in another window. 

MLA Resources

• MRU Guide to MLA style for Academic Work (2024-2025)

• MRU Guide to Formatting Your MLA Paper (2024-2025)

• MLA Citation Examples for Images (2024-2025)