Skip to Main Content
site header image

Ms Ortega: Annotated Bibliography for Justice : Home

Research Databases

Try Gale Group's Power Search. Then scroll down to results. Note that The New York Times falls under news.

For historical trials, try our history databases:

 

Crime and Punishment (ebook) from Opposing Viewpoints (pre-2007)

Scholar.google.com is another great source for scholarly articles.

MyBib

MyBib.com is a free citation generator for MLA, APA, and Chicago style. Create a new Project & Add a Citation.  Choose website, book, journal, video, etc.  For database articles, click More then Write/Paste.  To copy or print your final list, click on Download Bibliography.  Click here for handout. Watch the video!

The Assignment

  • Choose a court case to research! Assignment PDF.
  • You can use this site to browse for a famous court case. You will need to find the name of the case and the year of the trial.
  • Search Court TV also to learn more. 
  • Write an annotated bibliography of THREE articles (at least ONE must be from a database - see left).
  • You're not writing a paper, however, you must have an introduction with thesis statement and assertion. The introduction provides a brief summary of the event (who, what, where, when, why, and how). Provide specific examples from your three sources that support your claim in your thesis statement.
  • You will be using MyBib.com to create your annotations.  I suggest using the Note-Taking Sheet 
  • View this Exemplar!

What is an Annotated Bibliography?

Video for Formatting the Annotated Bibliography in MLA Style

Directions:

  1. In MyBib enter your citations. Click to Copy Downloaded Works Cited and paste into template. Erase Works Cited.
  2. At the beginning of the second (and third) citation, click enter.
  3. Type your annotations between the citations in the space(s) provided.
  4. After you are finished, highlight your annotation.  Go to Format and Align & Indent, then Indentation options.
  5. For Indentation (inches), for Left, enter 1.  Then change Hanging to None.
  6. Don't forget to type your Introduction.

Links for Reference:

An annotated bibliography is a list of sources that includes descriptive and evaluative comments about the sources reviewed. These comments are also known as annotations. An annotated bibliography entry consists of two components: the Citation and the Annotation.

The Citation

  • Each entry begins with an MLA-style Works Cited citation. Sources appear in alphabetical order by author name or the title.  The first line is flushed left and any subsequent lines from the citation are to be indented. In addition, the entry is to be double spaced in the font Times New Roman size 12.
  • After this citation, write your annotation. Do NOT skip lines. The annotation should be set apart in an 1" indented block.

The Annotation

  • A brief summary of the source (what is the source about?). Generally, an annotation is approximately 100-300 words in length (one paragraph). 
  • The source’s strengths and weaknesses, if applicable.
  • How is this source useful for research?
  • Validity of the source (authority of the author, background, education, etc.)
  • This section is also to be double spaced and indented.