Keeping track of sources
- Use the Literature Matrix tool to collaborate with your teammates and collect sources
- To save your own copy, click the link above > click File > "make a copy."
- Share your literature matrix with your teammates & start taking notes!
Making annotations
Parts of an annotation
- MLA citation
- Summary of the source: Explain the main points of the work briefly. Your summary should be original to you -- don't just copy/paste the publisher summary of a book or the abstract from a scholarly article.
- Evaluation and/or commentary:
- Authority: is the author [or publisher] qualified and/or has expertise in the content area? what's their background (in relation to the topic)?
- Relevance: how valuable, effective, or useful was this source in your research?
- Context: who is the intended audience of this source? what is the purpose of it? does there seem to be any bias? are there gaps in coverage?
- Explanation on how you intend to use the source.
Useful websites