BA3: Annotated Bibliography

Tips For Success

Before you begin BA3 . . .• Review:

https://raiderwriter.engl.ttu.edu/files/LitReviewIntroSP13.pdf

• Review: Annotated Bibliography examples (586-91)• Review:

https://raiderwriter.engl.ttu.edu/files/1302LiteratureReviewTopics.pdf

• Review: BA3 guidelines in Raider Writer • Decide on a topic.• Skim the articles on course reserve. Read abstracts,

introductions, and conclusions.

Decide on a sub-topic. For example:

• Digital Humanities/Book History:– the book as a material object; – the roles of editors, book designers, illustrators, and booksellers in

shaping texts for readers; – the future of the book; – the status of intellectual property in the age of Google books;– the problems of research in a digital age;– the nature of digital preservation;– the causes and effects of digital piracy; – the place of computer games and game theory in the digital

humanities;– the transformation of cultural, literary, and historic texts into digital

form, etc.

BA3: Summarize

• Be brief. Just one or two sentences.• Look to abstracts and introductions.• If you use someone else’s words or ideas, you

must cite CITE!• Check out the handbook (13b) for help

deciding when to quote, summarize, and paraphrase.

BA3: Accuracy

• How might an article be “accurate”?– How current is the information?– How much detail is present?– What kind of evidence is used? (statistics, case

studies, other articles) Does it explain the evidence?

– Do other articles cite this article? Check out the Works Cited

– Does it seem biased?

BA3: Quality

• How might an article be of good quality?– Which database does it come from?– Can you trust the source material? How do you

know?– Does it come from a trusted (peer-reviewed)

source?– Is the tone professional?– Who wrote it? What is that person’s credentials?

Pedigree?

BA3: Relevance

• How might an article be relevant to your sub-topic?– For whom is the article written? Can you understand it?– Tell where/how you might use the article. It’s okay to

guess or give options. You can always change your mind later.• To establish the concept? To give a brief history of the

debate?• Statistical data to support a specific point?• Case study to give this issue a face?• Be as specific as you can.

Helpful Resources

• Textbook: – “Tips For Finding Reliable Sources” (103-11)– Annotated Bibliography examples (586-91)

• Handbook: sections 12c and 12d• List of articles and bibliographic information:

– https://raiderwriter.engl.ttu.edu/files/1302LiteratureReviewTopics.pdf (remember to change the date of access)

• Accessing the articles: http://www.lauriandersonalford.com/uploads/9/6/2/8/9628234/ares_training_guide.pdf

• Check out the Works Cited of articles you like to find more articles that aren’t on the list. Search those databases.

• Search in Google Scholar

Looking Ahead

• Literature Review: Due 9/27• For Next week:

– Read pages 124-40 in your textbook– Read examples of Literature Reviews, beginning on page 609 of

your textbooks.– Read/print out anything I send you via email.– Come to class with

• a thesis that makes a claim based on the literature about the topic, not the topic itself.– Debate among scholars? Different camps of thought? Research styles? Types of

evidence used?

• Two or three main-idea sentences that address the literature, not the topic itself.

• Begin to write! Make notes! Start!