The Working Bibliography

What is a Working Bibliography?

A working bibliography is a list of citations to books, articles, and documents. Each citation is followed by a brief (usually about 150 words) descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. The purpose of the annotation is to inform the reader of the relevance, accuracy, and quality of the sources cited.

Why do a Working Bibliography?

An annotated bibliography forces you to think deeply about a source, to evaluate it, to figure out how it might be useful for your purposes, and then to articulate all this in writing (which also makes you think more); it also improves your ability to write succinct, concise analysis. It helps you begin articulating how you’ll incorporate your research into your project – in other words, to what extent do you find this source useful, how might you argue with or add to it, or perhaps use it to strengthen/prove your claims?

The Process

Creating a working bibliography calls for the application of a variety of intellectual skills: concise exposition (quick summary), succinct analysis (short discussion/evaluation), and informed library research. Think: SUMMARIZE, ASSESS, REFLECT.

First, locate and record citations to books, periodicals, and documents that may contain useful information and ideas on your topic. Briefly examine and review the actual items. Then choose those works that provide a variety of perspectives on your topic.

Cite the book, article, or document using the appropriate style (MLA, APA, Chicago Style, etc). Check the OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue website for guidance on each of these styles and how to use them: https://owl.english.purdue.edu

Write a concise annotation that summarizes the central theme and scope of the book or article. Include one or more sentences that (a) evaluate the authority or background of the author[1], (b) comment on the intended audience, (c) compare or contrast this work with another you have cited, or (d) explain how this work illuminates your bibliography topic.

Sample Annotated Bibliography Entry for a Journal Article

The following example uses APA style (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition, 2010) for the journal citation:

Waite, L. J., Goldschneider, F. K., & Witsberger, C. (1986). Nonfamily living and the erosion of traditional family orientations among young adults. American Sociological Review, 51, 541-554.

The authors, researchers at the Rand Corporation and Brown University, use data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Young Women and Young Men to test their hypothesis that nonfamily living by young adults alters their attitudes, values, plans, and expectations, moving them away from their belief in traditional sex roles. They find their hypothesis strongly supported in young females, while the effects were fewer in studies of young males. Increasing the time away from parents before marrying increased individualism, self-sufficiency, and changes in attitudes about families. In contrast, an earlier study by Williams cited below shows no significant gender differences in sex role attitudes as a result of nonfamily living.

[1] See this site for how to critically evaluate sources (http://guides.library.cornell.edu/criticallyanalyzing)

[2] Adapted from http://guides.library.cornell.edu/annotatedbibliography