The purpose of this tip sheet is to provide clear instructions for updating the annotated bibliography and to ensure consistency in how it is updated. The ” Annotated Bibliography of Publications By or About the Instruction Section” can be found in the Projects and Publications section of the IS web site.
Please note: this document has been retired by the Section and no longer updated.
Table of Contents:
- Formatting of the Bibliography
- Organization of the Bibliography
- Searching the Literature
- Web Publications
- Creating New Annotations
Formatting of the Bibliography
- Order of citations: Citations are added to the bibliography in reverse chronological order. Within each year, citations are arranged in alphabetical order by author’s last name.
- Serials: Serials are added to the bibliography in a single entry by year of first publication. After the year of first publication, a hyphen followed by a blank space indicates that the publication is ongoing. When the publication ceases, the years of publication are indicated in a range separated by a hyphen.
- Revisions: Publications that have been revised are added to the bibliography in a single entry by most recent year of publication. Delete the previous entry and add the year(s) of original publication and any prior revisions at the end of the new entry. Update the annotation as needed.
- Citation style: Citations are formatted using The Chicago Manual of Style, current edition.
- Spacing: Entries begin with a bullet and are single spaced. A single blank line separates the citation from the annotation. Another single blank line precedes the next entry.
- Capitalization: The first letter in each word of a title is capitalized.
- Pagination: Page numbers are complete for both starting and ending page numbers.
Organization of the Bibliography
The bibliography is divided into two separate sections, one of publications by the Instruction Section and one of publications about the Instruction Section.
- Publications by the Instruction Section:
- This section will include all publications of the Section and its committees.
- This section will include the Instruction Section’s newsletter.
- The audio files of the Instruction Section’s Conference Program for each year should be included.
- Publications about the Instruction Section:
- This section will include substantive publications about the Instruction Section or any of its committees, task forces, or projects.
- Publications that are both by and about the Instruction Section should be listed with the publications about the Section.
- For complete definitions of the Instruction Section publication types referenced, see the Instruction Section’s ../pubspolicy/tablecontents1.xml“Publication Policies and Procedures Manual.”.
Searching the Literature
- Contacting Section Committees: In the spring, contact each Instruction Section committee and ask if the committee has published or created any documents that fit the criteria for inclusion.
- Suggested Databases: Search the latest two years in databases such as LISA, Library Literature, and ERIC for publications by or about the Instruction Section indexed or published since the last update. WorldCat should also be searched to identify conference program tapes.
- C&RL News: Review issues of C&RL News from the past year to identify other documents by or about the Instruction Section.
- Internet Searches: Review the Instruction Section website for publications. Search Google or other search engines for publications.
Web Publications
Include the Following Types of Web Publications:
- Online versions of print publications: Include online versions of print publications (e.g. IS Newsletter, journal articles, or reports) in the bibliography.
- Web-Only Publications about the Section: Include online monographs and articles from electronic journals.
- Publications by the Section: Include guides, guidelines, handbooks, manuals, models or model statements, policies, and standards in their final and approved versions.
- Ongoing Section Projects: Ongoing projects should be included in the year that they are introduced with a note in the annotation that the project is ongoing. If or when that status changes, then the reference should change to give the range of years the project existed.
Exclude the Following Types of Web Publications
- Internal Publications by the Section: Exclude publications created to guide the work of the Instruction Section with the exception of the IS Newsletter. Excluded types include Instruction Section internal procedures, committee web pages, and committee minutes. Also exclude brochures, directories, surveys or working papers.
- Program Materials Published by the Section: When a committee creates materials for a program, discussion group, or poster session, materials should be listed on the appropriate page of the IS Web Site. However, if a monograph or journal article is published as a result, it should be included in the Bibliography.
- Informal Electronic Communication: Exclude informal communications such as weblog postings and messages from listservs or electronic discussion lists.
Format Web Entries as Follows:
Links to web publications should be checked annually with each update of the bibliography. If more than one URL is included, preface additional URLs with “also available at.” List multiple URLs in the following order, including no more than three for each item.
- URLs on the Instruction Section, ACRL, or ALA web sites.
- URLs on freely available web sites where there is a reasonable expectation that the page will persist.
- URLs from subscription databases should not be included.
Creating New Annotations
- Content: Annotations are meant to give the reader a concise yet substantive summary of the publication. This summary is often taken from the publication’s introduction or preface, and it is not simply a repeat of the title and author.
- Length: Annotations are generally no more than three sentences.
Prepared by IS Communication Committee, July 2005. revised: Policy and Publications Review Committee, January 2007, March 2009
Retired by the Instruction Section Executive Committee, August 2018
Last updated September 2018
