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Organizing Your Research
Annotated Bibliography Cards


A good organizational scheme is very important during the research phase of your history day project. Sound organization of your research will save you time, assist you in developing and refining your project's outline, and point out connections between themes and ideas you might otherwise miss. Many scholars use note cards to keep track of their sources (bibliography cards) and their notes (note cards) while conducting research for their projects. Review the example bibliography cards below and click on the Friendly Notepad to the right to find out how to "build" bibliography entries and note cards. Friendly Notepad
bibliography card; primary source; Publicity Still For Edison Phonograph Comapny, West Orange, NJ. Photographer unknown. ca 1920. (http://www.nps.gov/edis/29500000.htm); This advertising image of four women listening and dancing to an Edison Phonograph embodies the changes in American culture brought on by Edison's inventions. Phonographs reproduced sound in the privacy of ones's own home, and allowed for millions to hear music outside of concert halls and vaudeville stages.
bibliography card; secondary source; Clark, Ronald W. Edison: The Man Who Made The Future. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1977. This account of Edison's life and professional career gives a solid overview of Edison and his inventions. It pays special attention to the social impact of Edison's inventions and discusses the changes ushered in as a result of his work.
bibliography card; secondary source; Israel, Paul. Edison: A Life of Invention. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1998. A more recent biography of Thomas Edison by the managing editor of the Edison papers, Paul Israel. A lot of this book focuses on the technical aspects of Edison's inventions. Includes a very extensive annotated bibliography of both primary and secondary sources.
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