Annotated Bibliography
What is it? It is an alphabetical list of research sources that includes a very concise, but thorough summary of each source and evaluates its relevance to your project. (This is focused toward your project, not all annotated bibliographies have the same kind of focus.)
How many?
For the final paper in US Legal and Constitutional History, the annotated bibliography should consist of the 5 most important secondary sources and two most important primary sources. This will not be all of the sources but will reflect what sources will be the core of your work.
What is in an Annotated Bibliography?
1. Write out the full and accurate bibliographic citation. Using
Chicago Manual of Style format, make sure you separate and label primary and secondary sources.
2. Summarize the work the methodology, organization, and conclusions should be stated in one or two sentences. It should be clearly distinct from other books in your bibliography.
3. State the relevance of the source : Assess the value of the source.
Explain its value to your particular topic. List any limitations in the
source. A very strong annotation will explain its significance in the
historiography.