Week 12 - Evaluating Sources and Annotations

Introduction

by Shant Shahoian, lightly edited by Adina Lerner

To "dress something up" is to make something unappealing seem attractive. Certainly, evaluating sources and writing paragraphs about them is not how many of us choose to spend our Friday nights. Moreover, they don't, initially, seem like a good use of our time. However, what we learn this week will ensure that you have quality resources for your research project -- in this class and in any other class. My roommate at UCLA ultimately become a pharmacologist, conducting research on new medications. He would use many of the strategies we will cover this week, particularly when it came to data from studies and annotating his own sources. This is all to say, you may find yourself doing much of what we cover this week well after this course is over.

Evaluating Sources

We have discussed a lot of strategies this semester to help you vet the veracity of sources and the authority of those composing those sources. Even once we determine a source is accurate -- which is a process we continue to explore this week -- we should also consider whether the source is appropriate for your research question. Does it meet your needs in terms of content, timeliness, or focus? Asking relevant questions of any media, like the recommendations in this document from NAMLE Download this document from NAMLE, are useful in any context really, and this cheat sheet from Al Fontes, Download this cheat sheet from Al Fontes, the people that brought you the bias media chart, is excellent. You'll be looking at a lot of information this week and as you complete your final research project. Take time to vet the sources, using the strategies we discussed earlier this semester regarding fact-checking, lateral reading, and more. But also consider if the content is directly applicable or germane to the question you are exploring. While not exactly clickbait, some titles seem to promise something the article does not deliver. Other articles or sources may not initially seem worthy but the abstract may reveal that it's an ideal source. The abstract of an article, as we will learn in a few weeks, provides a meaningful overview of the article's conclusions. 

While you have some requirements in terms of the format for your sources, you should be thinking about why types of resources would be best for the question you are poised to answer. Where is your question on the information timeline? Would there be many scholarly articles on this topic? Are books or book chapters the best way to go? We'll think about that as well this week, as you finalize your sources and begin the annotations.

MLA and APA Citations

Both the Modern Language Association (MLA) and the American Psychological Association (APA) have seen substantive changes in the last two years: MLA released their 9th edition Links to an external site. last summer and APA recently released their 7th edition Links to an external site.. While these are not the only citation styles, they are the two most common on most campuses. 

Major Changes in the 9th Edition

While the rest of this overview will go into more detail regarding individual changes in this edition, the major changes are as follows:

  • More guidance on how to use MLA core elements to create a Works Cited list by explaining the definition of each element in different types of documents (it will not always be literal), where to find each element, and how to style it. The MLA 9 was designed so that the core element strategy will become even more accessible through more examples and explanations, such as how to use notes, websites, interviews, and YouTube videos. 
  • A deeper dive into in-text citations, a category many users expressed struggles with.
  • Reintroduction of MLA guidance on research papers, absent in MLA 8, with expanded instructions.
  • A new chapter on inclusive language.
  • Expanded guidelines on grammar mechanics.

  • GCC Library's MLA 9th Guide Links to an external site.

Annotated Bibliography

An annotated bibliography is a list of the correctly formatted citations for each source in your essay where each source is followed by a short paragraph that outlines its purpose, audience, and findings. While the general guidelines for annotated bibliographies are always similar, there are some differences. I have a specific set of criteria for this class, but you can find a lot of usual general advice about all citation matters (as well as worksheets for annotated bibliographies) on the GCC Library CampusGuide, Citing Sources. Links to an external site. The video below provides a good overview of what an annotated bibliography is and why it is important for you as the researcher.

The whole process of composing an annotation helps you understand the source, determine how (and if) it addresses your research question, and imagine how that source could ultimately be used in your final research paper (should you have to write one, which you usually will).