Seminar in Natural Science (online)
Annotated Bibliography
on an Illinois Ecosystem
For this project, you will find and evaluate five sources related to your assigned Illinois ecosystem. Your paper will consist of an annotated bibliography, using MLA citation style for the entries (1 page); and an introduction (1 page max.) to the entry list.
The purpose of the assignment is three-fold: it gets you researching your assigned ecosystem on your own (and, by extension, with your small group) so that you're able to delve into it deeply; it provides you with potential ideas and sources for a research project, should you choose to focus upon your ecosystem for the final assignment in 391; and it supplies the class with an extension reading list from which I'll select assigned readings for weeks 10-12.
Format: 2 pages, single-spaced text, 1" margins, 12-point font size; double-space between paragraphs, as in this document. Use "hanging indent" for your list of entries.
Assignment Overview
The annotated entries should be science-based sources related to your assigned ecosystem. Sources may include websites (e.g., environmental organizations, government sites, scientific institutions, companies or private organizations, homepages of scientists or other environmental authorities), technical reports, scientific papers, books, in-depth magazine or newspaper articles, or specialized reference works.
Please note that:
- A minimum of two of your annotated sources must be print-based. Web-accessible articles, reports, or books that are also available in print (or were at one time) do count as print sources, however. An example of this would be a peer-reviewed journal article retrieved from an online database such as Infotrac or EBSCO Host (via the RU library homepage).
- Do not cite general reference works. These include online encyclopedias such as Encarta, Encyclopedia Britannica, or Wikipedia.
- Indicate which one or two of your sources would be suitable for an assigned class reading for weeks 10-12. I'll be picking and choosing amongst your bibliographies for assigned readings on the five ecosystems for weeks 10-12. You can help me out by indicating in your annotations which one or two of your sources would be suitable for the class to read in order to learn more about your ecosystem. Bear in mind that length and technical difficulty are appropriate considerations. For example, a very long technical report written for experts in the field probably isn't a good choice, though it may be authoritative and useful as a research source.
The introduction should define and briefly describe your assigned ecosystem; preview the type, scope, and quality of the sources you found; and discuss some of the key things you learned about your ecosystem from your research.
Your annotations should be 4-5 sentences max, and be in your own words (no quotes, please!). First, summarize the content, scope, organization, and/or major points of the entry in 2-3 sentences; then, analyze the quality, value, relevance, significance, etc. of the entry in 1-2 sentences. Your aim is to inform a reader unfamiliar with the work about its purpose, scope, and usefulness with respect to understanding your ecosystem. Here's an example of a book annotation:
Botkin, Daniel B. Our Natural History: The Lessons of Lewis and Clark. New York: Putnam, 1995. A professional ecologist and conservationist, Botkin analyzes the journals of Lewis and Clark's 1803-6 expedition from Missouri to the Pacific Ocean in light of the contemporary American landscape and current environmental concerns. Interwoven among discussions of Lewis and Clark’s natural history and narrative of their long journey (the book serves as a nice introduction to the explorers as well as a different look at the significance of their work) are discussions of ecological issues and management problems experienced by Botkin and other scientists. Each chapter contains personal vignettes of Botkin’s retracing of Lewis and Clark’s path in order to assess how the landscape has changed. Botkin argues we must recover our “natural history”--not only by gathering raw information on species abundance and the shape of the land, but also by analyzing the environmental legacy of the American West and its relation to present controversies, such as habitat destruction, species extinction, and ecosystem management. A major theme is the inherent variability of nature, rather than its assumed constancy.
Drawing from Your Ecosystem Discussion Group
The purpose of the Ecosystem Discussion Groups is two-fold: to serve as a bulletin board where your group members can post references and/or links to sources, discuss and critique them in reference to one another, and brainstorm possible research topic ideas for the final project of the semester, the Web-based Research Presentation. It's OK for you to use a source found by another member of your ecosystem group, and it's possible that people may annotate some of the same sources in their bibliographies. (That said, you should not over-rely on the findings of others -- follow your own nose!) Moreover, your bibliography must consist of sources related to your assigned ecosystem, whether or not they were posted to your Group Discussion Board.
Tools and Tips for Finding Sources
- A guide to finding and evaluating sources in the library and on the web
- Roosevelt's Library website: access to books, articles, and reference works
- Web-based sources related to BGS 391, organized by subject
- A good example of a source for articles about the Chicago region is the online publication, Chicago Wilderness Journal. The CW Journal also maintains an online archive which allows you to view all the issues from Fall 2003 onward. I've used this journal for assigned readings on Chicago-area ecosystems before, and they're appropriate because even though they contain technical and sometimes quantitative information, they're written for a general rather than highly specialized audience.
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Roosevelt University
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Last updated
09/27/07