Assignments
Sources Essay
- Describe the procedures you followed to select and locate each one of your sources. Reference your sources by using the last name of the author or, if there is not an individual author, by title. Describe the factors you considered when selecting the particular finding aid and item.
- Evaluate the relevancy to your research and scholarly value of each of your sources. Comment on or evaluate the following aspects of the source that are important. Be specific:
- credentials/affiliation of the author and publisher
- publication date
- arrangement
- purpose and scope
- documentation
- methodologies used
- theories or conclusions
- reviews by others
Example: I selected Pininfarina's book from a reference in a refereed article in the June 2007 issue of the Journal of Genetic Mutations (p 1241) which I located using PubMed. Pininfarina has published extensively in the field and his Helical Aberrations is considered a classic. This book included a section of pro and con arguments about DNA structure and blood iron levels by leading scientists in genetic research, as well as an extensive bibliography where I located an additional article. The book has received excellent reviews in Genome and Birth Defects.
It will be much easier for you to do this as you locate sources throughout the duration of the class, rather than at the end of the class. Begin your research as early as possible in order to locate and obtain the best sources.
Sources must be substantial. Sources such as one paragraph articles, short pages of general information from the web, unattributed three minute videos from You Tube, etc., are not acceptable.
Bibliography
Write a short research paper (~ two pages) about a scholarly topic that is approved by the instructor. Your paper must incorporate information from all your six sources.
Write your thesis statement on the top of your bibliography page.
Compile a bibliography for your research topic listing six sources you used to write the paper.
Bibliographic citations.
- One of your sources must be obtained via interlibrary loan. Attach a copy of your electronic or paper form.
- Each citation should be complete and accurate, and in the appropriate format as outlined in your style manual.
- The bibliography must include six citations, distributed among the resource categories as indicated below.
| Type of work | Number of citations | Comments |
| Reference works | 1 | The citation must be to a relevant Corette Library reference work. If you would like to use a reference work from another source, obtain Frazza approval. General encyclopedias (Britannica, Wikipedia, Encarta, Americana, World Book, etc.) and dictionaries are NOT acceptable. |
| Books | 1
| Textbooks and juvenile books are not acceptable. |
| Periodical article | 1
| Must be from a peer-reviewed/refereed journal obtained from a Corette library periodical index or print source. Must be full text, not a citation or abstract. Book reviews are not acceptable. |
| Periodical article | 1 | Any relevant, substantial article obtained from a Corette library periodical index or print source. Brief articles and book reviews are not acceptable. Must be full text, not a citation or abstract. |
| Internet Web site | 1 | Should be an example of web publishing, not an article from a database delivered via the web. |
| Other information source | 1 |
| Interviews that you conduct (not published), government reports, lectures that you attend (not transcripts), films, videos, news program transcripts, etc. |
|
- Style manual. If you do not use MLA style, indicate which style manual you use.
Sample annotated bibliography
Keep in mind the following requirements as you write your bibliography; grading will be based on these criteria:
- Your thesis statement must be just that, an informed hypothesis about your subject. It is not a question or a statement of obvious facts. If in doubt, consult your professor or a reference librarian. See page 355 in A Writer's Reference and section 1.8.2 in the MLA Handbook. How to write a thesis statement (from Indiana University).
- Sources should be listed in one alphabetical list (by author or whatever is first in the citation).
- Include the complete title of all books and periodical articles, including the subtitle.
- Make sure you use the correct style for the source; there are different styles for book reviews, transcripts, DVDs, etc. If in doubt, consult a reference librarian, or the appropriate style guide, e.g. the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers, 6th ed.
- Do not use acronyms or abbreviations unless specified in the your style guide. If you are using MLA style, for University Press, use U P. If no date is apparent, use "n.d.". See other abbreviations on pages 178 and 261-281 of the MLA Handbook.
- Spelling, grammar, and punctuation must be correct.
- In your citations, URLs should not be hyperlinks – how to do this.
- Use full URLs, including protocol, except for an article from a periodical index. In that case, you may conclude the URL with the domain.
- In your citations of websites, URLs should be for the specific page you are citing, not the homepage. If the URL is very long you may cite the URL for the homepage and indicate the path; see Hacker, page 391, note at top of page.
- Do not copy citations given in periodical indexes at the end of articles, even if they purport to be MLA style, or whatever style you are using.
- When citing a periodical article from an aggregate database, e.g., Academic Search Premier, include the name of the database and vendor, date of access, and truncated URL, as described above. You do not need to list the library, city, and state from which you accessed the database unless it is NOT Carroll College, Helena, Montana.
- In your annotation of a personal interview, state who the person is and why he/she is a good person to interview about your topic.
- Do not confuse the author of a web site with the webmaster.
- Turn in the assignment via turnitin.com - see instructions.