The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition
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What is an annotation?
An annotation is a brief summary of a book, an article, or any other kind of publication (including audio-visual materials).
What is an annotated bibliography?
An annotated bibliography includes a short summary of a publication's content in addition to the complete citation. The summary is intended to inform the reader of the content, viewpoint, and relevance to the subject of the bibliography.
What information will help accomplish the intent of the annotation?
Summary Annotations:
A summary annotated entry is a brief explanation of what information is available in the source. It also describes the author and publisher, as well as any other relevant bibliographic data. That is all you need to include.
Evaluative Annotations:
1. State the qualification and viewpoint, if known, of the author. This helps to place the article in a framework of authority.
2. Explain the purpose and scope of the publication. You cannot hope to summarize the entire content, but you do want the reader to understand its subject matter. A more complete explanation is better saved for a narrative paper.
3. Indicate the author's audience and level of difficulty.
4. Point out any bias which you note.
5. Relate works to each other. Often there is the "thread" that binds your annotations into a meaningful commentary on the literature available on the subject.
6. Conclude with a summarizing statement. This is the step that synthesizes your reading of separate items into a coherent and cohesive project.
TIPS: Watch your tenses, Maintain the same tense throughout the bibliography. Use citation chaining as a fruitful source of possible entries (meaning look at the bibliography of one article to find other articles on the same topic. Weed out irrelevant items. Some work will be wasted. That's the process! Exercise initiative and search for the unusual if appropriate.