Suggestions for Writing Annotations

Content What is the resource about? Is it relevant to your research?
Currency Is it new? How recent is the information? Is it up-to-date for the topic?
Reliability Is the information accurate? Do other sources support the conclusions? Does the author provide references?
Authority Is it written by someone who has the expertise to author the information? What are the author's credentials?
Audience Who is the target audience for the resource? What is the reading level of the resource?
Purpose What is it for?  Why was the book or article written or the Web site created?
Point of View Is it fact or opinion? Is it biased?
Usefulness What does the resource do for your research?

 

Sample Citations and Annotations

 

“How we Learn” MemoryLifter. 11 October 2005. Accessed on 25 October 2005. http://www.memorylifter.com/learning/learning-tools.html

 

While this website has some interesting information about memory and learning, it is a commercial site with the goal of promoting its product, the MemoryLifter. Despite a couple of good diagrams and some useful information, the majority of the site is dedicated to the products they provide. There is a link for contacting the site creators but it doesn’t have any information other than a phone number and email address. There is no page with “About Us” information and no references are provided for the information on memory and learning. I would not use this site in my research paper unless I could corroborate the information with another more trustworthy source.
 
I accessed this resource through Google.com. The search terms I used were memory and learning tools.
 
Note how the student:
  • Weighed the pros and cons of the information provided on the Web site
  • Noted the purpose of the Web site and its effect on credibility
  • Researched the authority of the Web site and its effect on credibility
  • Included information about her search process

 

Quart, Allisa. Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers. New York: Basic Books, 2004.
 
Written for a general audience, Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers, fits my topic exceptionally well. The author, Allisa Quart, a graduate of Brown University and the Columbia School of Journalism, does a great job of uncovering the cruel reality of the way marketers target teenagers and their pockets. Some of the topics discussed within the book are the role of teen consultants, peer to peer advertising and marketing, and cosmetic surgery. Some of the chapters in this book will be helpful in writing my research paper. In the book, Branded, there is a great deal of information provided about some of the main ideas presented in my research paper.
 
Note how the student:
  • Mentioned who the resource was written for (intended audience)
  • Researched the author's credibility (you can usually find notes about the author at the end of an article or book)
  • Summarized the topics in the book that were particularly useful for her paper
 

 

 

 

 

 

 


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