IS 400: West & the Rest: Annotated Bib & Literature Review Resources

An annotated bibliography is a listing of the resources you will use in your paper and includes:

• a brief summary of the content of the resource (book chapter, article, etc.)
• an explanation of how you, as the author, will use the resource within your research project

Cornell University Library has a good resource on how to prepare an annotated bibliography, including examples. http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill28.htm

Literature reviews enable a researcher to learn about (and explain) the research already done on a topic or issue.  It shows what other researchers are doing and is used as evidence of a supporting argument in new research.  Literature reviews excellent sources for determining how other researchers have designed their projects, definitions of terms or problems, and hypotheses that have already been tested.

A wide variety of resources can be included in a literature review, such as: books, book chapters, journal articles, news articles, working papers, conference proceedings, and reports.