Know How to Write an Annotated Bibliography

Know How to Write an Annotated BibliographyOne of the new components of the Common Core State Standards is annotated bibliography. An annotated bibliography is a compilation of references that are specifically chosen to be informative and helpful to readers in the course of an assigned reading. In order to explain how to write an annotated bibliography, it is first necessary to know what this type of reference is and how you can use it in your essay.When writing an annotated bibliography, you will be providing your readers with an introduction, conclusion, and resources for further study. In this manner, you are really creating a 'back up' for your essay. This is really important, as if the research or other materials are not available at your fingertips, you are truly missing out on valuable information.The problem, however, is that you must choose various items. To use the word 'ample' often used by writers, you must use it with caution. Many people think that the more you list, th e better. When the term is used in this way, it means that you are selecting a limited number of sources and trying to get the best from them.This method of selection is fine when writing short essays which only have a limited amount of information, but as you get into the other forms of writing, this method is not suitable. What you need is an extensive bibliography of research and other resources. An annotated bibliography will take all of this work out of the equation and allow you to focus on the main subject of your essay and the main points you want to make.In most cases, you will be asked to list each source that you use in your essay. This will include the page and a half and time that you started to research each particular item, what section of the essay they are contained in, and the title and author of the item. You will also be asked to list the number of times that the item has been used. If you are asked to use more than one source in your essay, you may be asked to p rovide an abbreviated bibliography containing those sources, along with your specific page and time to be used for each source.When writing an annotated bibliography, you should remember that the type of resource that you choose to include in your essay does not always have to be the same as the one you are used to using. In many cases, you will be asked to do research on an item that is not being used in your essay. While this could be considered an excellent chance to bring in a third party expert, if you are not familiar with the topic, or are lacking in knowledge, you could be doing yourself and your readers a disservice.The easiest way to avoid these pitfalls is to do some research before writing your annotated bibliography, and select a resource that fits the theme of your essay. There are many resources that you can use to provide information about books and articles that can be used in your essay. However, you should be careful to not use items that are not available in your area, or that are not written in a language that you understand.In many cases, the topics that you write about will not require you to bring in experts, so you can benefit from having the help of a number of sources, not just one. By following some good example, you will be able to write an effective annotated bibliography that allows you to use both an internet reference and an in-person reference to add a great amount of value to your readers.