Your annotation should now go on to briefly assess the value of the source to an investigation of your research question. If your bibliography is part of a research project, briefly identify how you intend to use the source and why. If your bibliography is an independent project, assess the source’s contribution to the research on your topic. Keep in mind models for assessing arguments in your course materials and discipline.
- Are you interested in the way the source frames its research question or in the way it goes about answering that question (its method)? Does the source make new connections or open up new ways of seeing a problem? How effective is the method of investigation (e.g. bringing the Sparrow decision concerning Aboriginal fishing rights to bear on the scope of women’s rights)?
- Are you interested in the way the source uses a theoretical framework or a key concept? Why do you find this use valuable? Is it problematic in some ways (e.g. analysis of existing, extinguished, and other kinds of rights)?
- Does the source gather and analyze a particular body of evidence that you want to use? How good is the evidence? (e.g. the historical development of a body of legislation).
- How do the source’s conclusions bear on your own investigation?
