Boston University Scheduling System Annotated Bibliography

Develop an Annotated Bibliography that summarizes and explains how each of 6 sources will aid in development of your upcoming Feasibility Report.  An annotated bibliography cites a list of books, articles, and documents. Each listed citation is followed by a paragraph that describes the relevance, quality, and potential use of the cited source.

• For your annotated bibliography, ensure the final draft

Offers 6 sources, paying attention to content reliability and author credibility.

• Summarizes the content of each source.

Discusses how each source will aid your report’s development.

• Includes (at the top of the annotated bibliography)

working title for your upcoming Feasibility Report;

overarching subject to be discussed in your Feasibility Report;

statement of purpose (problem and potential solution) featured in your Feasibility Report.

Cites each source in perfect APA Reference page format (see model in this assignment sheet).

Uses 12-point Times New Roman font.

HOW: 

• BRAINSTORM (Links to an external site.):  Think of a specific solution to a business-related problem about which you feel passionate!  You will also write about this in your Feasibility Report.  When you brainstorm, consider how you think people should act, feel and think regarding this solution to a business-related problem.
• STATEMENT OF PURPOSE – use the exercise below to craft your statement of purpose.  Your STATEMENT OF PURPOSE, above all, HAS DEFINE a business-related problem and PRESENT a specific solution. 
• A MODEL STATEMENT OF PURPOSE STATEMENT:
• Working Statement of Purpose for Feasibility Report:

In this location, give the reader a working Statement of Purpose statement for your Feasibility Report.

1. Example:  Since plastics pollution wreaks havoc to the food chain of marine life, the management at XYZ Coffeeshop should stop giving plastic straws and plastic bags to customers, and post materials to education people about plastics pollution in the oceans.  
2. Your Turn: “Since ______________________________________________________________,
3. _________________________________________________________________.”

• Develop a clearer idea of WHAT you need to research:  Write 5 questions that begin with the words “How”, “Why”, or “What” regarding the solution to a business-related problem about which you want to write.  
• Question 1: ___________________________________________________________________?

Question 2: ___________________________________________________________________?

Question 3: ___________________________________________________________________?

Question 4: ___________________________________________________________________?

Question 5: ___________________________________________________________________?

REMEMBER to SUBMIT your draft(s) to your WRITING SPECIALIST in your Online Writing LAB (ENG 3106).  Your OWL WRITING SPECIALIST will help you develop a polished, well-crafted final version of your work.

WHY: An annotated bibliography guides the reading, evaluating, and sorting of sources planned for use in a research paper.  It also gives practice using APA citation format, and demonstrates quality of research undertaken, while strengthening a writer’s ability to analyze and evaluate main ideas, supporting evidence, and conclusions in a variety of texts.

Format for Annotated Bibliography

Your Name

Course Name/Number

Instructor’s Name

Date Assignment Due

Working Title of Feasibility Report:

In this location, briefly state the working title of your upcoming Feasibility Report.

Broad Subject:

In this location, briefly state the overarching subject area of your Feasibility Report.

Statement of Purpose for the Feasibility Report:

In this location, give the reader one sentence that tells the problem and potential solution to be featured in your Feasibility Report.

Annotated Bibliography

In this location, use APA to properly cite one source that will be used in your Feasibility Report.

In this location, after properly citing the source above, write a brief paragraph (approximately 150 words, double-spaced lines) that: 1) describes how the source connects to your feasibility report; e.g., it supports your Statement of Purpose; 2) evaluate the quality of source information; 3) show examples of the ways you will use the source to attain the goals of the feasibility report.

(Do this 6 times for each of your 6 sources)

Academic Format, Citation and Integrity Resources:

Please view this link to learn how to format in-text citations or make a references page:   

https://guides.lib.unc.edu/citing-information/apa-in-text (Links to an external site.) 

Please view this link to learn what plagiarism is and how to avoid it:   

http://subjectguides.lib.neu.edu/plagiarism (Links to an external site.) 

CRITICAL INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO CONDUCT RESEARCH

WHAT IS RESEARCH?

When you search for information and ideas beyond the scope of common knowledge, you conduct research.  For example, we know the sky is blue, so you do not need to research the color of the sky.  You may, however, need to research why the sky appears blue.

WHY DO WE RESEARCH?

For information. We may need to look up facts, statistics, or timelines of events.  We may also want to learn more in-depth information about a subject so we can make informed choices and hold informed opinions.

For support. When we have an idea or opinion, we may need to show precedent exists for our idea (for example, city officials implemented our idea for keeping parks clean and our idea worked), or that another person, an expert in the field, agrees with us (for example, if we think smoking is bad for our health, we may need to show someone who doubts us that many doctors and scientists agree, in their expert opinion, smoking harms our health).

To engage in the academic dialogue. As scholars, we must consider issues and ideas from all sides.  Much of the research we do in college helps us consider alternate points of view and make connections between and among competing sources.  For example, you may be undecided about whether spanking children is a good disciplinary technique.  Therefore, you would research different perspectives on spanking children and discipline.  Then, after you complete your research, if you conclude spanking does not work and harms children, you should not ignore the sources that disagree with you.  Include opposing points of view in your essay, examine these points of view, analyze them, and then synthesize or rebut them with other research you have done to argue your point of view.  Make sure you understand the connections between different ideas and opinions.

HOW DO WE RESEARCH?

First, always approach research as a good critical thinker.  Be open minded and skeptical.  Always change your mind when you get new, better information.  College-level research differs from high school research because you search for different information to analyze and synthesize. 

You will want to look for different kinds of sources.  Types of sources commonly used in college writing include:

Academic Journal articles. Academic journal articles are articles written by experts and peer-reviewed by other experts.  They are specific, academic, and some of the best in-depth information available.

Discipline-specific electronic sources. Discipline here means “academic discipline” or field –such as physics, women’s studies, English, French literature or psychology.  A discipline-specific electronic source is a website that only has information about that subject or discipline.  So, for example, Wiki pages or Yahoo Answers are not discipline-specific because they contain information about a lot of different subjects from many people who are not always experts.  However, you can use the website for the National Domestic Violence Hotline for information about domestic violence, or the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence website about gun laws (as would the National Rifle Association website).

Books. You can find books in “the stacks” –the third and fourth floor of the library have books that can be found by using the call numbers associated with them. 

Reference works. A reference work covers basic information about a subject.  These books include encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases and specific works like the Diagnostic Statistical Manual used by psychology professionals.

Periodicals. A periodical, i.e., a newspaper or magazine, appears periodically –every day or month or year.  You can find articles from periodicals online or in physical newspapers and magazines. Consider using: Newsweek, Time, Atlantic Monthly, Slate, Salon, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, or the Los Angeles Times.

Consider using films, interviews, archival documents, podcasts and other sources.