More on critical annotated bibliographies

A student may ask us:

How do I get started on my critical annotated bibliography?

Our reply would be:

The first step would be to select the sources that relate most closely to your subject.

The student’s next question may be:

How do I know if a source relates closely to my subject?

We may reply:

It should not be necessary to read the entire book or article to see if it has something to do with the topic of research.

One possible help may be to look at other annotated bibliographies by recognized experts in the field. The Thammasat University Library owns a number of annotated bibliographies. Just do a search on Koha for “annotated bibliography.” One example is Annotated Bibliography on the Mekong, edited by Charnvit Kasetsiri and Chris Baker.

Copies of this useful volumes are shelved in the Reference Stacks of the Boonchoo Treethong Library, Lampang Campus; the Reference Stacks of the Puey Ungphakorn Library, Rangsit Campus; the Reference Stacks of the Pridi Banomyong Library, Tha Prachan campus; and the Charnvit Kasetsiri Room of the Pridi Banomyong Library.

The student may object:

But I am not doing research on the Mekong!

We would add:

That does not matter. To see an excellent presentation by award-winning historians will teach us a lot about how to analyze and present material. Also we may get some ideas about what to include and what to leave out.

If the student adds:

Since I am not supposed to write a whole book for my annotated bibliography, how can I be sure I am mentioning the right sources?

Our reply would be:

Try to find room for different points of view and studies that approach a topic or problem in different ways. This will allow us to disagree respectfully with some approaches and conclusions. Also it will show that we have open minds, and we have not already decided on our conclusions even before we began our research.

The student’s next question may be:

How do I know what each book or article’s perspective is on my subject of research?

Our answer:

To know about what is in books or articles, ir saves time to look at abstracts. Those should indicate useful information, without requiring us to read through each article before deciding whether it is of potential interest to us or not. Of course, once we decide an article or book will be relevant to our own work, then we will want to read it, because otherwise we will not be able to discuss it in an informed way, and know whether we agree or disagree with the other author’s conclusions.

The student may also inquire:

What should I put in the annotation?

First be sure that the complete citation is included in the format that your ajarn asked for. After the complete citation, then we can add the annotation, according to the type of annotated bibliography we have been asked to write. Be sure to mention:

• Why the work was written
• What is in it
• What readers it was written for
• How it relates to our subject of research
• What is unusual or different about the item
• What is good or bad, objective or biased, about the item

A final question from the student might be:

Should my annotated bibliographies be arranged letters of the alphabet or by publication date?

We may answer:

Both are possible, so it is best to check with your ajarn to see what is preferred for this assignment, an alphabetical or chronological arrangement.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)