Examples and Tips for a Winning Entry
Examples of annotations from previous winners:
- Pastoureau, Michel. 1996. Figures de l'heraldique. Paris: Gallimard.
Pastoureau is one of the leading scholars of heraldry, and this is one of his thirty or so books, few of which have been translated into English. This book is copiously illustrated, and serves as both an introduction to the topic and to some of Pastoureau's own original theories. - From "On Heraldry" by Jonathan Good
- Fiffer, Steve. 2000. Tyrannosaurus Sue: The Extraordinary Saga of the Largest, Most Fought-over T. Rex Ever Found. New York: W. H. Freeman.
This is an award-winning account of the controversy surrounding the acquisition and rightful ownership of "Sue," the most famous dinosaur specimen in the world. Although this story focuses on the legal battles waged before the specimen was acquired by the Field Museum, this book is especially interesting to me because I worked on the Sue Project for the Field. - From "My Collection of Books on the History of Vertebrate Paleontology" by Paul Brinkman
- Ashley, Mike, ed. The Mammoth Book of Arthurian Legends. London: Robinson, 1998.
This collection is a comprehensive introduction to the many facets of Arthurian legend. It includes works by virtual founders of the legends, such as Geoffrey of Monmouth and Alfred, Lord Tennyson, as well as modern writers by Jane Yolen and Phyllis Ann Karr. - From "My Collection of Arthurian Literature," by Amber B. Shields
Tips:
- TITLE: Give your entry a title to reflect the subject or meaning of the collection.
- COLLECTION COHESION: The strength of a collection derives as much from the collector's knowledge of the subject as from the importance of any particular book or the subject. A miscellaneous group of books that haphazardly make a library held together only by the fact of ownership will not compete successfully against collections that illuminate a topic.
- FORMAT: Collections need not be limited to books, and hardcovers are not necessarily superior to paperbacks. However, most collectors value materials in good condition, and realize that books in poor condition need justification.
- EXPERTISE: The ideal bibliography not only identifies the materials it lists, but also displays the intellectual powers of its compiler. You may arrange the entries in your bibliography in any meaningful way, i.e. alphabetically by author or title, or chronologically, or geographically, if applicable, or by sub-topics. Your bibliography must be annotated. You may follow any annotation and bibliographic style, but follow it consistently.
- PROOF: Proofread your essays and bibliographies, and follow a consistent style. Errors in grammar, spelling, or punctuation tend to distract rather than to persuade readers.