Annotated Bibliography Model for Freshman Seminar
If you have questions don't hesitate to contact a reference librarian. Connect HERE to find out how to find us in the Library, call, email, or set up a research consultation.
The purpose of this guide is to provide information about compiling your annotated bibliography. Generally speaking, an annotated bibliography is an organized list of sources with critical and explanatory notes provided for the reader. This assignment requires that you find and annotate five scholarly journal articles (also called peer reviewed) relating to a movie you view in class. Directions on how to do this appear later in the guide.
The movie you view and the citation style you use will depend upon your professor. For information concerning the most popular citation styles (MLA, APA and Chicago) connect to http://www.uwgb.edu/Library/research/guides/CiteYourSources.html. This guide sets up the sample annotation using MLA style. Also, the themes and keywords you use to generate articles will depend on the movie you view and guidance from your professor.
Hypothetically speaking I am in a freshman seminar class that is going to view the movie Dude, Where's my Car? A plot synopsis appears below.
Plot Synopsis Courtesy of Amazon.com
Jesse and Chester, two bumbling stoners, wake up one morning from a night of partying and cannot remember where they parked their car which prompts them on a journey to find it and along the way, they encounter a variety of people who include their angry girlfriends Wilma and Wanda whose house they trashed, an angry street gang, a transsexual stripper hounding them for a suitcase full of stolen money, a cult of alien seeking fanatics, and a group of aliens in human form looking for a mystical device that could save or destroy the world.
To view a trailer connect to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4056eW2hiCc
The synopsis of the movie gives us all kinds of themes to pursue. We could search for articles based on relationships, street gangs, transsexuals, crime, cults, and of course drug use (in this case marijuana). It is important to stress here that your articles DO NOT have to relate directly to the movie. For example, we will not find any scholarly journal articles on marijuana use and intelligence as it plays out in Dude, however, we will find some articles that deal with this topic in general. If there is a way to tie it to your movie great, but the real value in this exercise is becoming familiar with finding scholarly articles and making sense of the content. The kind of information the annotation should contain will be made clear by your professor.
Accessing Databases to find Scholarly Articles
This guide illustrates the process of finding scholarly journal articles in what is called a "general database" meaning it covers a broad range of topics, but not in as great of detail as some of the subject specific databases. To connect to Academic Search Premierconnect to the Library home page at http://www.uwgb.edu/Library. Next click on "Articles and Databases" beneath the "HOW DO I FIND" category. Select "Databases by Subject." Select "Great Place to Start (General)." Select "Academic Search Premier from EbscoHost." Once there notice the other subject categories. Depending on your keywords and the movie you see you may want to search in additional databases.
Before entering keywords in Academic Search Premieryou may want to put a check in the box to the left of in the limits section. For more information concerning the differences between scholarly or peer reviewed articles and popular magazine articles connect to http://www.uwgb.edu/Library/research/guides/scholarly.html. The following publications and articles WOULD NOT be considered scholarly:
TIME, Newsweek, Newspapers, reviews of the movie
Part of your grade will be based on the quality of the journals you use so if you have any questions don't hesitate to contact a librarian. You can email me (Dave) directly at dettmand@uwgb.edu.
You may also want to put a check in the box next to "Full Text" to ensure that the scholalry journal articles you retrieve are available electronically. Note that not all articles are available electronically so if you have questions about getting something that is not in full text don't hesitate to ask.
Enter your key terms. I am interested in finding an article dealing with marijuana use and intelligence (a topic related to my focus film). Since we can't ask the databases a question we need to enter key terms and separate them with the word "and." Thus, my search is marijuana and intelligence. Limiting to scholarly and full text I come back with 12 results. Don't be frustrated if your search yields 0. Think of other key terms to enter. In my result list number 4 looks promising. Below is a screen shot of the citation information (details about the article) and the abstract, a paragraph (sometimes only a few sentences) describing the content of the articles.
Below are examples of how your citation should look in various citation styles. The first is a citation in MLA, the second in APA and the third in Chicago Style. It is required that you also include the abstract of the article from the database before your annotation (as shown below). Following the abstract is my annotation for this article. Of course you need to read the article in its entirety to compose your annotation.
Fried, Peter, et al. "Current and former marijuana use: preliminary findings of a longitudinal
study of effects on IQ in young adults." CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal 166.7
(2002): 887. Academic Search Premier from EbscoHost. 21 August 2006. http://search.ebscohost.com.
Fried, P., Watkinson, B., James, D., & Gray, R. (2002). Current and former marijuana use:
preliminary findings of a longitudinal study of effects on IQ in young adults. CMAJ:
Canadian Medical Association Journal, 166(7), 887. Retrieved Monday, August 28, 2006
from the Academic Search Premierdatabase.
Fried, Peter, et al. "Current and former marijuana use: preliminary findings of a longitudinal
study of effects on IQ in young adults." CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal 166,
no. 7 (2002): 887. Academic Search Premier from EbscoHost, EBSCOhost (accessed August 28, 2006)
Abstract: Assessing marijuana's impact on intelligence quotient (IQ) has been hampered by a lack of evaluation of subjects before they begin to use this substance. Using data from a group of young people whom we have been following since birth, we examined IQ scores before, during and after cessation of regular marijuana use to determine any impact of the drug on this measure of cognitive function. Results: Current marijuana use was significantly correlated
(p < 0.05) in a dose- related fashion with a decline in IQ over the ages studied. The comparison of the IQ difference scores showed an average decrease of 4.1 points in current heavy users
(p < 0.05) compared to gains in IQ points for light current users (5.8), former users (3.5) and non-users (2.6). Interpretation: Current marijuana use had a negative effect on global IQ score only in subjects who smoked 5 or more joints per week. We conclude that marijuana does not have a long-term negative impact on global intelligence. Whether the absence of a residual marijuana effect would also be evident in more specific cognitive domains such as memory and attention remains to be ascertained.
Annotation: The authors investigated marijuana use in a number of target groups in an attempt to determine if there is a correlation between use and intelligence. I think this is a valuable article not only for doctors and scientists involved in this area of study (it can serve as a starting point for more detailed and conclusive future research), but also for government officials in charge of making policy relating to marijuana use. Understanding how marijuana use obstructs our ability to learn (if at all) is an important factor that needs to be considered when discussing in what ways (medical or other) marijuana should be used (if at all). It was interesting to learn that "Current marijuana use had a negative effect on global IQ scores only in subjects who smoked 5 or more joints per week." It is reasonable to suspect that Jesse and Chester smoked at least 5 joints a week, considering that the movie covers a span of less than 24 hours and they can be observed firing up a handful of times. As the study indicates there is a negative impact on intelligence for current heavy smokers. This is illustrated perfectly in the tattoo scene, the interrogation room scene, and countless other scenes where it is evident that marijuana use is linked to behavior that indicates low intelligence considering the age of the characters.