The Annotated Bibliography

Mail merge tutorial

Research Paper Workshop 2003

 

1. Create a new folder on your “Y drive”. Name it “Annotated bibliography”.
2. Download (Your teacher will provide an Internet address) and save the two files named AB_Excelmaster.xls and AB_Wordmergemaster.doc and save them into the new “Annotated Bibliography folder on your “Y drive.” DO NOT rename these files.

3.  You will collect information about the books, periodicals, websites, and other sources relevant to your research in the Excel spreadsheet. To begin collecting information, open the Excel spreadsheet by double-clicking on its icon. There are titles on each of the columns. These are color-coded to help you enter the necessary information about each type of source. Consult the legend to determine where you need to enter information.

4. The following illustration shows how a student entered information about a magazine article and a book. The columns on the spreadsheet you have downloaded apply to most of the sources most of you will use. [1]

5. Later… when you use the spreadsheet to collect notes… you will depend on this information being accurate. If possible copy and paste the information (but not the annotation!) In the case of web sites this will insure that you can access them again. Be careful to correct typographical errors and to verify the accuracy of the information about each source.
6. Type a brief –no more than 100 word—annotation for each source. This must be in your own words. You need not have read the whole article or the book to type the annotation. Refer to the Staples Guide to Research Paper for more explicit instructions and an example.
7. Be sure to save your Excel spreadsheet WITH THE SAME NAME each time you collect information. If you are doing research and the Excel spreadsheet is not available, the information can be copied and pasted in from a word processing or other document.
8. When you are ready to submit your Annotated Bibliography review the requirements for your course. Most teachers specify twenty works, but your teacher may have different requirements. Also the number of works may depend on the topic. If you cannot find the required number, consult with your teacher. You may find that choosing a broader topic is more productive. Encyclopedia articles may be included in the annotated bibliography, as you may find them useful for general information about your topic, but remember, they should not be sources for research that you cite in your research paper. You may have many web sites included in your annotated bibliography. But remember that you will be limited in the amount of WWW sources allowed on your research paper. Also, be sure you know the difference between web sites and on-line publications. Finally, in your Excel spreadsheet choose Data>Sort to alphabetize your sources.

9. To submit the annotated bibliography, double click the icon of the Word file named, “AB_Wordmergemaster.doc”.

10. When the file opens you will see a series of links. Each link is bracketed by <<>>’s. These indicate Mail Merge links. This file is already linked to the spreadsheet where you collected your data.
11. To produce an annotated bibliography that is almost ready to turn in, click on View>Toolbars>Mailmerge. (In earlier versions of MS. Word, you can find the Mail Merge dialogue box by selecting Tools>Mail Merge.)
12. Select the merge icon, and choose “New document” in the dialog box.

13. When you press the Merge button, MS Office will use the data you collected in your spreadsheet to produce a new MS Word document.

14. While this looks pretty amazing, you still have work to do. Review each entry and supply the necessary formatting and punctuation required by MLA standards.
15. Save the corrected, merged document in your “Y drive.” You may print it out. Follow you teacher’s directions for turning it in.