Creature Speaks: Rhetoric of Science 2090

An annotated bibliography is a compilation of sources on a single topic that are cited in full and which provide a brief (150 words or so) description and evaluation of the content of the article, the essay, the chapter, or the book. Annotated bibliographies generally draw from primary resources in science, in other words, materials from research from refereed journals prepared by the author(s). Bibliographies may also draw on monographs (books on a single topic) or chapters from edited collections. Most annotated bibliographies included a prefatory paragraph or two (an introduction) explaining the project you're engaged in, the nature of the search, and an overview of the outcome of your search.

Annotated bibliographies serve the reader and the writer by providing a succinct summary and evaluation of the research/work described in the citation. More often than not, the research in the source is being evaluated by the author of the bibliography in a specific context. For example, a bibliographer interested in dolphin behavior may look at an article on dolphin blood chemistry for its significance to behavioral patterns (diving, energy, sleep) that depend on blood chemistry. Readers interested in the same area will find the work useful, but of course, physiologist and biochemists might find the annotation "off the mark." The benefit to the interested reader is significant because the annotation gets right to the heart of what's important to them. By the same token, the annotation is useful for you if you plan to continue research on the topic and find yourself returning to the source within a year or two. The bibliography will not only jog your memory about the content, but highlights what you felt was relevant to your own research interests.

True abstracts are generally written by the authors of the research you're citing and those abstracts are usually already compiled in a set of "indexes and abstracts" for the subject. Those abstracts succinctly describe the content of the work, the methodology, and the results. They adhere scrupulously to the article and provide no evaluation, no contextualization, and little, if any, speculation. While your annotation should also describe the content, it should offer evaluation, contextualization, and quite possibly, speculation.

The "best" material you'll find is in refereed journal, that is, journals where the articles have been "peer reviewed" by experts in the field. Some of these journals are online and some (most) are in print form. But quality varies even within peer-reviewed journals and you should ask around about the top journals in the field. The same is true of books and publishers, as well as magazines and newspapers. The web can be a great source for information, but it's often notoriously unreliable and can be very opinionated and misleading.

Research can be a tricky and subtle thing especially to new practitioners in an area. It's useful to talk to advisers and professionals in the area to get a sense of what the best sources are for you, what key words are used in your discipline, and what sources (whether journals, books, or reference materials) are best to turn to first. Negotiating your way through a library can be a challenge and so you should always consult with a reference librarian to learn your way around, whether through the physical building itself, through the reference materials, through electronic reference materials, or through the collections in general. You may, for example, want materials dealing with legal issues but will have trouble in a library that doesn't also serve a law school; in this instance, the librarian may help you refocus your approach or even help you acquire materials from other collections.

Each discipline has its own style for citing materials, which are generally compiled in guidebooks published by the discipline. They include the American Psychological Association, the Council for Biology Editors, the IEEE handbook, the Chicago Manual of Style, the Modern Languages Association handbook and dozens more. Adhere to the style closest to the discipline of the topic that you have chosen to explore.

Your Assignment (Due: Wed. Oct. 2):

Prepare an annotated bibliography on a topic of your choosing (see below for suggestions) of at least 6 items complete with an introduction.

Below are topics that are meant to be helpful and suggestive in terms of thinking about a topic that interests YOU. Let me know what topic you've decided to pursue.

Agricultural waste and the environment
AIDS
Animal Intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial joints
Attention Deficit Disorder
Bird songs/calls
Cloning
Computing and biology
Conjoined twins
Dialects of speech
Early humans
Earthquakes & construction [disasters and construction]
Hormone replacement therapy
Laser eye surgery
Lupus
Mars research
Memory
Multiple Sclerosis
Neurological damage and repair
Parental care in dinosaurs/reptiles
Stem cells
The impact of urban sprawl
Women and heart disease