The quality and usefulness of your bibliography will depend on your selection of sources. Consider these questions to help you find appropriate limits for your research:

After you have obtained your articles or book chapters, create an annotated bibliography.

An annotated bibliography gives an account of the research that has been done on a given topic. Like any bibliography, an annotated bibliography is an alphabetical list of research sources. List the works you find using the proper format for bibliographic citations (the MLA form for "Works Cited" as described in MLA Handbook). Place an asterisk next to each work that is available in King Library.

• MLA documentation is generally used for disciplines in the humanities, such as English, languages, film, and cultural studies or other theoretical studies. These annotations are often summary or analytical annotations.
• Title your annotated bibliography "Annotated Bibliography" or "Annotated List of Works Cited."
• Following MLA format, use a hanging indent for your bibliographic information. This means the first line is not indented and all the other lines are indented four spaces.
• Begin your annotation immediately after the bibliographic information of the source ends.

Summarizing the Argument of a Source:
An annotation briefly restates the main argument of a source. An annotation of an academic source, for example, typically identifies its thesis (or research question, or hypothesis), its major methods of investigation, and its main conclusions. Keep in mind that identifying the argument of a source is a different task than describing or listing its contents. Rather than listing contents (see Example 1 below), an annotation should account for why the contents are there (see Example 2 below).

Example 1: Only lists contents:

McIvor, S. D. "Aboriginal Women's Rights as �Existing Rights.�" Canadian Woman Studies/Les Cahiers de la Femme 2/3 (1995): 34-38.
This article discusses recent constitutional legislation as it affects the human rights of aboriginal women in Canada: the Constitution Act (1982), its amendment in 1983, and amendments to the Indian Act (1985). It also discusses the implications for aboriginal women of the Supreme Court of Canada's interpretation of the Constitution Act in R. v. Sparrow (1991).

Example 2: Identifies the argument (*research question **method & main conclusions ):

McIvor, S. D. "Aboriginal Women's Rights as �Existing Rights.�" Canadian Woman Studies/Les Cahiers de la Femme 2/3 (1995): 34-38.
This article seeks to define the extent of the civil and political rights returned to aboriginal women in the Constitution Act (1982), in its amendment in 1983, and in amendments to the Indian Act (1985).^* This legislation reverses prior laws that denied Indian status to aboriginal women who married non-aboriginal men. On the basis of the Supreme Court of Canada's interpretation of the Constitution Act in R. v. Sparrow (1991), McIvor argues that the Act recognizes fundamental human rights and existing aboriginal rights, granting to aboriginal women full participation in the aboriginal right to self-government.^**

Reading Strategies

The following reading strategies can help you identify the argument of your source:

Assessing the Relevance and Value of Sources

Your annotation should now go on to briefly assess the value of the source to an investigation of your research question or problem. Try to assess the source's contribution to your project.

Some language for talking about texts and arguments:

It is sometimes challenging to find the vocabulary in which to summarize and discuss a text. Here is a list of some verbs for referring to texts and ideas that you might find useful: