12c Keeping a working bibliography
Contents:
Creating an annotated bibliography
Customizing an annotated bibliography
A working bibliography is a list of sources that you may ultimately use for your project. As you find and begin to evaluate research sources—articles, books, Web sites, and so on—you should record source information for every source you think you might use. (Relevant information includes everything you need to find the source again and cite it correctly; the information you will need varies based on the type of source, whether you found it in a library or not, and whether you consulted it in print or online.) The emphasis here is on working because the list will probably include materials that end up not being useful. For this reason, you don’t absolutely need to put all entries into the documentation style you will use (see the documentation section). If you do follow the required documentation style, however, that part of your work will be done when you prepare the final draft.
The following chart will help you keep track of the sorts of information you should try to find:
| Type of Source | Information to Collect (if applicable) |
| Print book | Library call number, author(s) or editor(s), title and subtitle, place of publication, publisher, year of publication, any other information (translator, edition, volume) |
| Part of a book | Call number, author(s) of part, title of part, author(s) or editor(s) of book, title of book, place of publication, publisher, year of publication, inclusive page numbers for part |
| Print periodical article | Call number of periodical, author(s) of article, title of article, name of periodical, volume number, issue number, date of issue, inclusive page numbers for article |
| Digital source | Author(s), title of document, title of site, editor(s) of site, sponsor of site, publication information for print version of source, name of database or online service, date of electronic publication or last update, date you accessed the source, DOI, permalink, or URL |
For other kinds of sources (films, recordings, visuals), you should also list the information required by the documentation style you are using (see the documentation section) and note where you found the information.
Creating an annotated bibliography
You might wish to annotate your working bibliography to include a summary of the source’s contents as well as publishing information (whether or not annotations are required) because annotating can help you understand and remember what the source says, as in this excerpt from Tony Chan’s annotated bibliography.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY ENTRY
Diamond, Edwin, and Stephen Bates. The Spot: The Rise of Political Advertising on Television. 3rd ed., MIT P, 1992. Diamond and Bates illustrate the impact of television on political strategy and discourse. The two argue that Lyndon Johnson’s “Daisy Girl” ad succeeded by exploiting the advantages provided by the nascent television medium, using violent images and sounds and the words “nuclear bomb” to sway the audience’s emotions. Emphasizing Johnson’s direct control over the production of the ad, the authors illustrate the crucial role the ad played in portraying Goldwater as a warmonger.
Customizing an annotated bibliography
Some annotated bibliographies can be very detailed—going beyond a summary of the main points in a source to examine research methods, evaluate the credibility of the source, reflect on its usefulness for a particular project, and more. Writing professor Mark McBeth asks his students to include new vocabulary and potential quotations from the source as part of a reflective annotated bibliography assignment for his course. Annotations that go beyond summaries can help you think critically about your sources and their place in your overall research project. Consider the kind of annotations that will be most useful for your annotated bibliography. Student Nandita Sriram’s annotated bibliography includes summaries, descriptions of research methods, and evaluations.