Skip to Main Content

The Sheridan Libraries

International Development (SAIS)

Women Lead Resources (SAIS)

This page offers a very "core" collection of resources for the practicum. Note the guide menu to the left leads to many more useful resources. As always, please contact librarydc@jh.edu if you have any questions.

Google Advanced Search allows you to do complex searches. For example, you can use a filter to limit your results to a specific web domain such as .edu, .org, or .gov. or a specific organization's URL

Zotero is a free "open source" tool that collects, manages, and cites research sources. Like an "app," Zotero can be downloaded to your computer as a standalone version that works with the Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge browsers. It is free, unless you want to store and annotate more than 400 MB of documents.

To get started with Zotero:

  1. Open your browser and go to https://www.zotero.org/user/login/.
  2. Click "Register for a Free Account," using your preferred email address.
  3. From the Zotero homepage, download the Zotero Reference Manager for Desktop by clicking on the red "Download" button.
  4. Next install the Zotero Connector for Chrome, Firefox, Edge, or Safari. This allows you to save references to your Zotero library with one click.

You can also integrate Zotero with Microsoft Word, Google Docs or LibreOffice Plugins.

Help Guides:

Annotated Bibliographies

For guidelines on writing annotated bibliographies, see:

The CRAAP Test: Evaluating Resources

The humorously named "CRAAP Test" is an information evaluation method designed by Sarah Blakeslee, a librarian at California State University. CRAAP stands for Currency, Relevance, Authority, Accuracy and Purpose. It provides you with a list of questions - or guiding principles -  to assess the articles, books and other material you may want to include in your bibliography. 

Citation styles vary on how annotated bibliographies should look. Chicago Manual of Style has an online guide with a good sample image: 

  • According to Chicago Style, "annotations may simply follow the publication details (sometimes in brackets if only a few entries are annotated), or they may start a new line (and are often indented from the left margin). See figure 13.10."

Generally, an annotated bibliography is more visually concise than a bibliographic essay.