The Information Literacy Curriculum at Otis is designed to ensure that students can locate, evaluate, and effectively use information.

As part many Otis courses, you will be asked to do research and write a annotated bibliographies. Please check the Pathfinders link to see if there is a specific version the this bibliography required for your course.

If you need to learn the basics of college-level research, TILT is available. There are also numerous guides and tutorials available by clicking the Information Literacy link.

Bibliography Requirements
The number of sources will be specified in each course, but you must usually include some from each of the following:
1. books
2. journal articles
3. content-rich academic/educational websites

Each source must be briefly annotated to include:
1. Author's credentials (Or, if not available, something about the book or journal)
2. Type of information (i.e. scholarly, popular, professional)
3. How located (i.e. which search tool was used)
4. Specifically, why what's written will be of benefit in your paper.

In LAS courses, citations must be formatted in MLA style. Other instructors may require other styles. This Guide , shows citations in a variety of styles.

Example of an "Otis Standard" annotation in MLA style:

Lieberman, Rhonda. "Je m'appelle Barbie." Artforum International 3 (March 3,1995) 20-1.
How located: As a research tool, I used Art Index through Wilson Web to find this citation. Author's credentials: I had to go to the actual magazine to find out anything about the author, Rhonda Lieberman. At the end of the article it says that she writes a regular column for Artforum International. Although I could find nothing about Artforum, the Otis Library has copies going back to 1962 and the librarian said it is considered one of the most important art journals out there.
Type of information: Although this article was easy to read, I think that it would be considered "scholarly" because I think it's directed towards educated readers.
Why what's written will be of benefit in your paper: The article creates a history for a mythical Jewish Barbie doll because Barbie was created by a Jewish woman. This is interesting because Barbie has often been depicted as white and representing the main stream dominant culture.

Research Process
Many courses have Pathfinders to assist you in identifying the best search tools for researching topics for that course.

You are also encouraged to make an appointment with the Library Director for assistance and/or critique of sources.