Welcome to this video from the Carleton University
Library on reading to write an annotated bibliography.
This video introduces a method for reading
journal articles that facilities the writing
of a short annotation.
How we read academic literature depends on
many factors including our own habits and
preferences, the discipline in which we are
studying, and the reasons for which we are
reading. Are we reading to write a paper,
to do a literature review or to put together
an annotated bibliography?
If we are writing an annotated bibliography,
there are some essential pieces of information
in most academic journal articles that we
need to identify if we are to understand the
research that has been done and write a proper
annotation.
An annotation is a short paragraph that describes
and evaluates an academic work. The purpose
of the annotation is to demonstrate the quality
and relevance of a given source.
To write a good annotation, we need to identify
the following five components of the work:
One, the purpose of the research, that is,
the researcher’s reasons for engaging in
the project).
Two, the scope or parameters that define the
extent of the research, such as population,
geography, and time period.
Three, the research methodology: The system
of methods used to conduct the research; is
it qualitative or quantitative.
Four, the thesis or main argument that the
researcher is making
And five, the conclusion: What are the researcher’s
findings or what is the outcome of the study?
Sometimes identifying these components is
relatively easy. Editors of peer reviewed
journals will often require writers to format
or structure their papers in a specific and
consistent way that makes it easier for readers
to identify these key elements.
However, the use of a consistent format can
depend on the discipline and not all peer
reviewed journals use a structured approach
to published works.
So, readers have to be attentive to language.
For example, goal can be a synonym for purpose,
argument can be a synonym for thesis. And
practice makes perfect. The more we read scholarly
works in a given field, the better we get
at understanding the research.
Here’s an example of one article, where
the reader has annotated the work in order
to identify the author’s purpose, scope,
method, thesis and outcome.
This reading has been done in Perusall, a
social annotating software and we can see
that some of the text is highlighted in blue
to indicate an annotation.
When we click on some highlighted text, a
box on the right-hand appears, and we can
see that the reader has annotated this sentence
and believes that it relates to the purpose
of the research.
As we can see, the articles have been annotated
using a series of hashtags for each element
being identified. In this case, the hashtag
purpose.
As is true in many cases, the author introduces
and repeats key ideas as they analyze and
synthesize the content.
If we go to the right-hand navigation and
click on the All conversations function, we
can see that the hashtag purpose appears on
more than one page and so does the hashtag
outcome. This makes sense as the author will
be developing his or her ideas and sharing
conclusions in different parts of a paper,
depending on the research methodology.
And the reader can go in at any time and add
new notes or thoughts. For example, these
sentences could relate to the author’s discussion
of their methodology. And we can use the hashtag
method to add a new annotation.
If we again go to the right-hand navigation
and click on the small pencil, then click
on the drop-down menu and Open my notes, we
can that the reader can make notes that pull
together or synthesize their thinking about
the article, notes that can be copied and
pasted in another document as the basis for
the outline for their annotation.
Now, there is one last element that is necessary
to any good annotation: A sentence that state
the relevance of a given article or academic
work to a given project. But, if a reader
has really understood the purpose, scope,
method, thesis, and outcome of a research
study, then this last sentence could be easy
to write.
This is the end of this video.
