Writing Annotated Bibliographies
Who is the author or the authors?
When was the author’s work published?
How old is it? Are the ideas in it current or outdated?
Where is the author from? Is the author writing about an issue in the country they work in or in another?
What is the general focus of the author’s writing?
How is the author writing about the topic? For example, does the author refer to statistics or survey material? Is the writing mainly theoretical? Does it discuss a theoretical position(s) or ideas? Does it argue for particular way of working or thinking? Is it a text, which includes practical strategies? Does it discuss legislation and its impact on people?
Why does it seem that the author wrote the text? For example is s/he trying to persuade the reader of a particular theoretical standpoint because s/he believes it is the most useful? Is the author trying to persuade the reader of a particular way of working because s/he believes it is the most useful? Is the author criticising a piece of legislation to point out the inadequacy of it?
Example A
Long (1992), a lawyer based in Florida in the US, writes about the development of Florida’s child protection legislation between 1980 and 1990. In particular she demonstrates how Florida’s legislation has failed to protect children adequately and points to the need for a radical shake up of child protection policy. In order to support her arguments Long refers to child protection legislation in the UK and Australia which she considers to be better than the legislation in the US. Long’s ultimate aim is to change US child protection policy.
Example B
In his critique of current social work practice, Jones (1999) a practicing social worker in New South Wales, argues that social workers usually practice a form of social work which is politically weak and unhelpful. He refers to real-life case studies from across Australia to demonstrate his arguments, pointing out how each approach failed to impact long term on the social workers’ clients. Jones argues that the failure of social workers to impact on people’s lives in the long term is a signal that the concept of social work itself is fundamentally flawed. He argues for a complete review of social work practice in Australia but also believes that this is unlikely to occur because of the entrenchment of social work in the Australian psyche.
Additional Writing Links
 Writing Introductions
Writing Conclusions
Writing to a word limit
Writing critically
Editing and proof reading
Reporting Verbs
Useful books and links
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