The purpose of an annotated bibliography is to get, and convey, the key sources (both primary and secondary) on an ostensible paper topic. You may enter into the annotated bibliography process with a topic in mind only to find that a) there are actually very few sources on this topic or b) there are an overwhelming number of sources on this topic. In either case, you should regroup and either broaden or narrow your focus.
1. Strategies for finding sources
You probably have some entry point-- a book or article or ancient
text or even a topic.
a. If you have a secondary source from which you are starting, begin with their sources: what are they reading? what are they citing frequently? Then follow their sources. If you find a key source cited, see who else cites that source; you can do this either by searching in something like Google Books or the Hollis catalogue, or by using the Cited Reference Search tab in the Web of Science database.
b. f you just have a topic, then start searching broadly: in Hollis, in Google Books, in JSTOR, in ATLA (the database of religious studies periodicals). Your goal if you are starting from scratch is to find a recent, reliable secondary source on your topic, a book or article, and then go back to point "a" above and go from there.
2. Strategies for evaluating sources
How do you know if a source is major, minor, reliable, or
unreliable?
a. For books, book reviews are your friend. You can find reviews of most scholarly books by searching in JSTOR or ATLA, or even just through the Hollis catalogue (put in the book title and author and restrict your results under "Resource Type" to "Reviews").
b. For articles, searching is still a good way to find out how often a source is cited and how it is used. Do most people cite this source to refute it? To support their own arguments?
c. For primary sources, you may be the one to determine if it is a major sources for your topic--what is a minor source for other scholars may be a major source for your interests.
1. Format
Your bibliography should have three sections: Topic
Description; Primary Sources; and Secondary
Sources
a. Topic description. At the head of your bibliography describe how you envisioned this project during your research process in a few sentences. If your research caused you to change course, indicate that as well (briefly).
a. Primary sources. Listed in alphabetical order by author; you may find multiple titles for ancient sources, use the one you find most frequently. Whenever possible, give a citation for where to find the source in its original language (even if you don't know that language!) and where available in translation. Below each citation you should give a brief description (no more than two sentences) of the contents of this source and its significance for your proposed project. If a source is especially crucial to the topic you can expand to a short paragraph. You can also choose to indicate which sources are especially significant through formatting (bold face) or with an asterisk (*).
b. Secondary sources. Listed in alphabetical order by
author. I prefer Chicago Style but whatever bibliographic style you are
comfortable with is fine with me. You can find a comprehensive guide to
citation styles here.
You do not need to provide a description of every source you list, but you
should provide a one- or two-sentence description of sources that are
particularly important to your project (you may also indicate through
formatting, such as boldface or an asterisk, very key sources).
special hint: You do not necessarily need to read every single
source to provide a description of it! The way it is used by other
scholars, reviews of that source, and other methods can help you gain a
sense of the contents of your bibliography without reading thousands of
pages.
2. Length
I have no set number of sources in mind for this project. You may have a
lot of primary sources, but relatively few secondary sources, or vice
versa. The balance of sources may also depend on whether your focus is
more historical ("Virgins in the third century") or historiographic ("How
scholars have treated virgins in the third century"). You should aim to
have recent sources to get a sense of the most up-to-date conversations on
your subject; but you will also doubtless have older sources which may be
"classics" in the field you're researching.
As always, please reach out to me early and often for guidance or help.