LibGuides: AAH 370: The Arts of Ancient Mesoamerica: Annotated Ref. List

Prompt (10% of grade)

Use RefWorks to create an annotated reference list of five-to-seven secondary sources perceived by you to be the most relevant to your research topic. Give me no less than five (5) and no more than seven (7) secondary sources. See the 2-entry sample annotated reference list below. Examples of legitimate secondary sources include:

exhibition catalogs (e.g., Maya: Treasures of an Ancient Civilization);
scholarly books (or monographs) written by
- a single scholar (e.g., An Album of Maya Architecture) or collectively (e.g., Code of Kings); or
- edited volumes in which chapters are written by different scholars (e.g., The Maya and Teotihuacan); and
peer-reviewed journal articles.

Do not cite reference works or primary sources for this assignment. Note that exhibition catalogs contain high-quality illustrations of primary artworks and text that can often be described as tertiary (or background-like). But for the purposes of this assignment chapters in exhibition catalogs that contain substantive analysis will be considered secondary and therefore appropriate to cite in the annotated bibliography.

Title the assignment Annotated Reference List [Topic], [Your Name].
Again, cite in CMOS (17th ed.) author-date style.
Write your assignment in Microsoft Word or in Google Docs and then convert it to Microsoft Word (.docx).
Sources should mostly be those that will appear in your final research paper. You continue to have some latitude.
Each annotation should fall between five and ten sentences in length. Aim for brevity and synthesis.

Annotations should include and will be graded on the following criteria (see rubric, below):

On what evidence have you established the authority and reliability of the source?
In one sentence summarize the source's topic.
In one sentence summarize the sources' core argument (i.e., thesis).
What does the source contribute to your project? Why did you choose this source over others on your topic?

Annotations must also incorporate a brief mention of the research tools and search strategies employed. This is where your research log will come in handy. You might, for example, incorporate the following into your annotation:

Which database or other search tool did you use to find the source?
Which keywords, synonyms, and Boolean operators did you use to query the database?
You might even include your precise search syntax (e.g., <SU="Maya art" AND sculpture>).
Did the database used incorporate a controlled vocabulary? If so, did you consult the thesaurus? Was it useful?
Were your first set of search results adequate? If not, how did you refine and improve your search results?
Which factors explain why results differed in, for example, Bibliografia Mesoamericana and Art Abstracts?

Sample Annotated Reference List
The two annotations include all six elements from the grading rubric (see below). Use them as a model but don't get hemmed in by these examples.

Purpose: This activity gives students practice accessing information efficiently and helps them to determine the nature and extent of information needed to successfully complete a library-based research project.

Due date: Thursday, October 20 (upload to Canvas before midnight)

Evaluation Rubric

Criteria for Evaluation	Beginning	Developing	Competent	Excellent
Search Tools	1 search tool used	2 search tools used	3 search tools used	4 or more search tools used
Authority of Sources	No effort expended to identify authors or their credentials, or authors' credentials not relevant to topic.	Minimal effort expended to identify authors or their credentials, or authors' credentials only marginally relevant to topic.	At least half of authors identified and their credentials mostly relevant to topic.	Most or all authors identified and their credentials clearly relevant to topic.
Content Summarization	Attempts but essentially fails to summarize each source's main idea.	Does not clearly summarize each source's main idea.	Clearly summarizes main ideas of nearly all sources used.	Clearly summarizes main ideas of all sources used.
Content Relevance	Does not attempt (or fails) to evaluate relevance of sources, which only marginally apply to topic.	Evaluates relevance of at least half of sources used, which only generally apply to topic.	Evaluates relevance of nearly all sources used; sources mostly all relate to topic and generally support thesis.	Carefully evaluates relevance of all sources used; sources strongly support thesis; demonstrates explicit connections to topic.
Search Strategies	No effort expended to identify search syntax or methods.	Demonstrates basic understanding of search syntax and methods.	Demonstrates understanding of more advanced search syntax and methods.	Demonstrates advanced understanding of search syntax and methods as well as strengths and weaknesses of individual search tools.
Bibliographic Format	Citations follow no discernible bibliographic format or pattern of frequent citation errors.	Citations follow standard CMOS author-date bibliographic format with up to 10 citation errors.	All citations follow standard CMOS author-date bibliographic format with no more than 6 citation errors.	All citations follow standard CMOS author-date bibliographic format with no more than 3 citation errors.