Annotated Bibliography

Your annotated bibliography page must look like what you see in the table below:

Do NOT deviate from these instructions.
DO use the correct MLA style for each source. If you don't know what your source is, ask.
DO use readable colors and web safe fonts.
DO italicize titles instead of underlining them. Both formats are acceptable for printed reports, but on the internet, underlined words signify a link. Your titles should not be links.

Anderson, Lisa. "Title." Title. June 2002: 23+ (This is how you cite an article in a magazine using MLA style). Source citations begin at the left of the page. Everything is on one line, unless it wraps (goes to the next line by itself). Your citations should be formatted to look like a hanging indent.

Annotation goes here. Format it as a normal block paragraph indented 60 points (see below for additional details). Click here for the four questions that you answer to help you write your annotations. Remember, this list of sources goes in alphabetical order.

Benson, Mary, and Connie Marsh. Title. City: Publisher, 1999. (This is how you cite a book using MLA style). Your next source goes here. Follow the MLA style for your particular source: book, newspaper article, magazine article, web site, etc. Alphabetize by whatever comes first, usually the author's last name. Sometimes what comes first is the title of the source.

Annotation goes here.

Third source goes here.

Annotation goes here.

Fourth source goes here.

Annotation goes here. Note for Living Histories: you must cite your interviewee as a fourth source. Follow MLA guidelines for this also.

Links you need at the bottom:

Required: back to table of contents

optional: next page or previous page

How to format your paragraph to look like a hanging indent

A paragraph has a hanging indent when the first line starts at the left and all subsequent lines are indented to the right, just like this paragraph. To format a hanging indent in Microsoft FrontPage, right-click the paragraph and choose "Paragraph..."

The "Before text" indent should be 40 and the "Indent first line" indent should be negative 40 (or -40).

Note that the annotations should not have hanging indents. They should merely be indented 60 points (the "Before paragraph" indent should be 60 and the "Indent first line" indent should remain 0), much like this paragraph.

The easiest way to format these paragraphs is to copy and paste the sample table above, and then to enter your own information over the top of the instructions.

An annotation is a brief description of the source. You are not to say why you like it, but instead simply describe what you found there.

Four questions to answer for each source to generate your 30-40 word annotation:

What is the main subject of the source?
Who is the main audience for the source?
Give a brief summary of the information.
What special features can you point out about this source? Examples would be photographs, charts/tables of data, links to related sources, etc.

Here are some sources to help you with the MLA format: