The Annotated Bibliography

What is a Bibliography? A bibliography is a list of books that you used to research a historical question. Sometimes your teachers might call this list “Sources” or “References.”

What does Annotated mean? An annotated bibliography has a few sentences about what you found in the book, website, magazine, or other resource that you listed. The annotation might include “This book has a chronology of events.” or “This book explains that the Battle of Killdeer Mountain was one of the events that led to the Battle of the Little Big Horn.”

How do I make a Bibliography? Gather a thorough list of resources you used. You will need all of the publication information for your resource (see slide #5). Determine which of your resources is primary, and which is secondary. Organize your resource alphabetically within your primary list and your secondary list.

What publication information do I need? Book Author’s first and last name Full title and sub-title of book City where the book was published Name of publishing company Date of publication Example Thompson, Era Bell. American Daughter. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, 1986.

What publication information do I need? Magazine article Author’s first and last name Title of Article Title of Magazine Volume Number, Edition Number, Date published Page numbers of article Example Schneider, Fred. “Oscar H. Will: North Dakota’s Pioneer Seedman.” North Dakota History Vol. 68, No. 1 (2001): 2-19.

What publication information do I need? Website Title if available Author’s name if available Name of sponsoring organization if available URL Date you accessed the website Example “The Battle of Killdeer Mountain,” North Dakota Studies. ndstudies.gov/civil-war-era-north-dakota. Accessed April 15, 2013.

Citing Other Resources Use a similar format for all your resources. What is important is: title author (or, perhaps, filmmaker) date published.

Annotating The purpose of annotation is to help other scholars and researchers know what is valuable in each publication.

Annotation An annotated bibliography should be helpful. What you take from each publication will vary, but you should explain what you found in the publication that you are using in your National History Day Project.

Annotated Bibliography Example Calof, Rachel. Rachel Calof’s Story: Jewish Homesteader on the Northern Plains. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, Rachel Calof was a Jewish immigrant from Russia. She and her husband settled on a farm near Devils Lake in the 1890s. They struggled for many years, but finally succeeded in raising a family on their farm. Thompson, Era Bell. American Daughter. St. Paul: Minnesota Historical Society Press, Thompson’s memoir describes growing up in Driscoll, North Dakota in the 1910s and 1920s. Thompson was an African-American girl in a community of mostly white people.

Annotated Bibliography: Primary and Secondary Both Era Bell Thompson’s and Rachel Calof’s memoirs are primary sources. These two women told their own story about their lives. You would place their books under the heading of Primary Sources

Annotated Bibliography: Primary and Secondary Our other two examples are both secondary sources. The Battle of Killdeer Mountain (website) and Fred Schneider’s article on Oscar Will are secondary sources. You would place their books under the heading of Secondary Sources.

Annotated Bibliography Example Schneider, Fred. “Oscar H. Will: North Dakota’s Pioneer Seedman.” North Dakota History Vol. 68, No. 1 (2001): Schneider describes how Oscar Will established a plant nursery in Bismarck in Will learned about the seeds that the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara planted. He propagated these seeds and sold them to people all over the United States.

Summary of Annotated Bibliography 1.Keep notes on your resources. 2.Your notes include author, title, publication information 3.Your notes for a website should include title, author and sponsor if available, the URL, and the date you visited the website. 4.Your notes should include the important ideas you gained from that source. 5.Make two headings on your bibliography. One heading is Secondary Sources; the other heading is Primary Sources. 6.Enter publications into your bibliography with the correct information on publication 7.Write 2 or 3 sentences about why that resource was important for your project.