Business Bibilography

Business Bibilography
Question
Answered

Purpose of an annotated bibliography
An annotated bibliography may be given as a stand-alone assessment (as in Assessment 2 of
BUS100), or as part (usually the first part) of a full research assessment
Depending on your specific assignment, the purpose of an annotated bibliography may be to:
 review the literature of a particular subject;
 demonstrate the quality and depth of reading that you have done;
 show the scope of sources available—such as journals, books, web sites and magazine articles;
 highlight sources that may be of interest to other readers and researchers;
 explore and organise sources for further research.
When set as an assignment, such as in Assignment 1 in BUS100 Professional Communication Skill,
an annotated bibliography allows you to:
 develop research skills
 become acquainted with the material available on a particular topic
 practice your referencing
 develop an ability to identify good from poor sources
 summarise information concisely
part of a larger assignment, a good annotated bibliography:
 encourages you to think critically about the content of the works you are using, their place
within a field of study, and their relation to your own research and ideas
 proves you have read and understand your sources
 establishes your work as a valid source and you as a competent researcher
 situates your study and topic in a continuing professional conversation
 provides a way for others to decide whether a source will be helpful to their research if they
read it
 could help interested researchers determine whether they are interested in a topic by
providing background information and an idea of the kind of work going on in a field.
How do you write an annotated bibliography?
There are two main sections to each annotated bibliography entry:
1. The bibliographic information (the reference or citation).
2. The explanatory paragraphs (the annotation), which provide one or more of the following
elements depending on your assessment requirements:
• a summary of the main arguments or ideas presented by the author
• a critique or evaluation of the source’s usefulness, reliability, objectivity or bias, and a
comparison with other sources
• a reflection on how the source fits into your research (this would be required if the annotated
bibliography was part of a larger research assignment).
Contents of an annotated bibliography may include (in very brief summary form):
 Citation
 Introduction
 Aims and research methods
 Usefulness to your research (if part of a larger assignment)
 Limitations
 Conclusions
 Reflection (is it really worth using – to what extent e.g. primary support for your research point or
more a contributing guide to future research).