Essay Instructions: Hi,
Please feel free to use more than 7 pages if you need to - just charge my credit card for the extra pages.
Here are the following requirements that need to be satisfied:
Thanks!!!
Compose a short written description (1-2-3-4 sentences) of this more focused topic to clarify what you are looking for in your sources, and include the final version of this description at the beginning of the assignment you hand in.
LOCATE SOURCES OF DIFFERENT TYPES
3) Locate at least twelve (12) relevant (which add something not already covered in other sources), appropriately current (usually within the last 5 years or so) and generally representative (if not note this) sources of information on the selected topic. The items selected must satisfy the following search criteria (a to h below). Whenever possible, select the better-quality, ‘serious’ sources of information that are available (except as requested otherwise, as in h) below).
The different sources will address your topic in different ways, but, when possible, try to select items with a comparable focus. As you look for the sources, note that you need to report certain information about them (e.g., in b), the index used) in a report of how you satisfied the search criteria that will be attached to your assignment (see further below on this report).
a) PEER REVIEWED ITEM (4)
At least four items should be scholarly, peer-reviewed articles published in a peer-reviewed, scholarly journal. Be clear what scholarly and peer-reviewed means, e.g., see http://www.kwantlen.ca/library/articles/scholarly_publications.html.
Note that the “scholarly” or “peer-reviewed” function in indexes like Academic Search Premier is NOT always accurate, so you must also apply your own judgment, e.g., scholarly articles list authors and have footnotes and bibliographies, and peer-reviewed publications usually lack popular advertising.
Abstracts or other short summaries of scholarly studies, and very short items (e.g. less than one page), and items without a specific author are not acceptable substitutes for the original study or article to which they may refer. Peer-reviewed journals often include editorials or news items that are not peer-reviewed.
b) ITEM FOUND USING SCHOLARLY INDEX (3)
At least three items should be found using a Kwantlen or other library scholarly article index, e.g., Academic Search Premier (see https://appserver1.kwantlen.ca/apps/library/databases.nsf/A-Z/F06599FD2BD7DD908825756600774AFC?OpenDocument, user guide at http://www.kwantlen.ca/library/guides/guideshelpsheets.html#articles. Report which index you used in your submission. More than three from the scholarly index is better. This will probably be the way you locate the peer reviewed items above but you can also find non-peer-reviewed items this way.
c) ITEM FOUND USING REFERENCE LISTS (1)
At least one item should be found by looking in the footnotes or bibliography of one of your other sources. Usually you will find a good source on your topic, e.g., a recent scholarly article whose footnotes or bibliography list the most relevant sources on that topic. Choose at least one. Report the citation of the source that brought it to your attention.
d) HARD COPY ITEM IN KWANTLEN COLLECTION (1)
At least one should be a Kwantlen Library resource with a physical (hard copy, not electronic) form in the Kwantlen collection (e.g., print or AV), found by using the keyword, subject or author function in the library catalogue; report the search term used.
e) ITEM A GOVERNMENT REPORT (1)
At least one should be a government research report or policy document (an original research paper or research/policy paper commissioned or published by a government agency; they should have footnotes and bibliography, etc.). Government media releases or other secondary descriptions are not acceptable. Government reports are increasingly available on government web sites.
f) ‘GEOGRAHY’-RELATED ITEM (1)
At least one should be authored by a ‘geographer’, or published in a geography journal or book about geography, or be somehow related to geography defined very broadly (geography could be in the title, or it could be that it is about a particular place, or that it is about the relationship between society and nature, etc). Briefly report your justification.
g) INTERNET (1)
At least one of the sources should be found on an internet (web) site using a browser search (e.g. Google, Bing).
h) POPULAR (1)
At least one should be from a popular source like a newspaper or news magazine like Maclean’s or the Economist.
Any one source may be used to satisfy more than one of the above criteria, e.g. you could find an internet site (g) above) with an article from a peer-reviewed scholarly journal (a) which is written by a geographer (f). However, the minimum number of sources is still twelve.
You should focus your search on the narrower topic that you selected within your topic area - be as focused as possible. On the other hand, in some cases it may be necessary to broaden your search to find sources that may not be specifically related to your narrower focus but do provide useful background or context for your narrower topic (e.g., this may apply to a book found for d) above).
CITATIONS
4. Having obtained copies of the sources you have identified, accurately record each source’s full citation using any standard style, but the style must be used consistently. Each citation must be complete, e.g. author (if any), year of publication, title of article, title of publication, publisher, location, and beginning and end page numbers as appropriate (for book chapters and articles in journals or magazines); see http://www.kwantlen.ca/library/guides/citingyourresources.html.
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If you cite an internet version of a print publication (something also printed in hard copy, like most scholarly journals), the print publication volume/issue/page number etc. should be included, if available, because the reader might access the print rather than electronic source.
Internet sources should normally include the full URL, the date it was accessed, and where possible a very brief description of the site, e.g., whose site it is. However if the source is obtained on-line from a Library index like Academic Search Premier it is only necessary to report this, rather than including the URL.
Note that in all citations styles, the order of listing is alphabetical, by author’s last name or equivalent (if no author, usually the article title or name of web page), and the citations are usually single-spaced.
ANNOTATIONS
5) Read each source, and assess its relevance and value for the narrower topic you selected. Then write a concise, informative annotation (4 ??" 5 - 6 sentences) summarizing the content and significance of the item for your topic. Each annotation immediately follows its citation.
The point of annotations is to express as much valuable information as possible, so they are often very terse (but please use full, proper sentences for this assignment). The idea is to give the reader an idea of what they will find in the source, e.g., what kind of data, the main ideas/themes, and some indication given of its perspective and authority. Do not include vague and repetitive descriptions that could also apply to other sources; the point is to inform and assist the reader, not bore or annoy them. If there is little to report, say so, but this may also be an indication that a difference source should be included instead.
Annotated bibliographies generally strive for objectivity in the sense of including the most relevant and authoritative sources, regardless of which ‘side’ they are on. However, the range of opinion is a choice by the writer; the main thing is to be clear on the purpose of the selections provided, e.g. it could be the range of positions for a given point but none of those against as long as this is appropriately motivated. Annotations are usually single spaced, but for this assignment it would be better to double-space the text.
One way of thinking of the annotations is that they reflect an early stage of research that could be used to develop a strategy for further research on the topic or as the basis for beginning to draft a paper. For example, after reading the annotated bibliography, a reader might be able to say to themselves something like the following: “What I get from this is that X reports W using evidence Y, while A uses example P to argue for G perspective on the issue; J provides a nice summary of this, but he is published by the notoriously biased ZZZ organization. L provides an authoritative account, given that he relies on KK evidence, and is useful to then compare and contrast with the different views expressed by E and F and G.”)
REPORT SEARCH CRITERIA AND COMMENT ON SOURCES
6) Following the annotated bibliography proper (the citations followed by the annotations), report how you satisfied the search criteria (‘a’ to ‘h’ above) by listing them in that order in one column, and in a second column, the full citations of source(s) used (you can copy and paste them in). As requested above, be sure to also report the information requested about each source, i.e., for b) the index, c) citation of other article d) search term, f) justification. If you do not satisfy a particular search criteria briefly report why.
7) Finally, very briefly comment on any pattern that you may note in the differences between the various kinds of sources (e.g. scholarly vs. popular, or government vs. popular) in terms of their perspectives or approaches to the topic. (If you have already included comments of this kind in the annotations, give a short summary.)
The assignment handed in should include (also see over):
• a title page that reports the topic and your name
• a paragraph briefly describing your topic area and the narrower focus within this topic area (no. 2 above)
• the citations for your sources, in alphabetical order by author’s last name or equivalent (no. 4 above)
• the annotations for each citation that immediately follow each citation (no. 5 above)
• the report on how the criteria were satisfied (no. 6 above), and
• a brief statement (1-2 paragraphs) commenting on the differences (no. 7 above).
