A Step-by-Step Guide to Annotating

- Familiarise yourself with the contents of the book or an article. Examining the table of contents, the foreword and the introduction can be helpful.

- Read as much of the look or article as is necessary to understand its content.

- Outline or make notes of the information you think you should include.

- Write a paragraph that reflects the spirit of the book or article without emphasis on any of the points.

The Content of an Annotation

An annotation is usually one to three paragraphs, with a total of 150-200 words in length. The following points provide guidance for what should be included in an annotation.

- The credentials, authority and qualifications of the author, unless extremely well-known.

- The scope and main purpose of the text, i.e. a brief description of the article book, stating the writer's main objective or key idea, in one to three sentences.

- Major standpoint, bias, or perspective of the author in relation to the topic or theme. These may be evident in the writing style, organization or interpretations.

- Relationship of work to other works in the field, i.e. how it compares to similar studies.

- Audience that the material is intended for, determined broom language, writing style and subject matter.

- Findings, results, conclusions, given in the form of a summarizing comment, possibly with projections for the future.

Practice

I. Read the article, follow "step-by-step" guide to the annotation and finally write an annotation to the article.

There's a Hole in My Bench

By Christopher C. Darway

Black holes, according to scientists, are the remains of collapsed stars. They are so dense and have such a powerful gravitational pull that nothing – not even light – can escape. Whole galaxies can be sucked in. Great for sci-fi movies and books, but bad for a good night's sleep. This brings me to "Darway's Theory of Solid Mass Accumulation." The theory is brilliant in its simplicity.

My theory

All horizontal surfaces attract matter, and I can prove it! Move any pile of stuff and you find a horizontal surface. Horizontal surfaces are distant cousins (billions and billions of generations removed) of black holes. Things/stuff don't disappear into a horizontal surface; they just sit there and attract more things/stuff. Clean up that pile of junk in the corner of your garage, and you'll see a horizontal surface.

With all great scientific theories, there's a quirk, dilemma, deviation, or what I call "the exclusion factor." No matter how large the surface that becomes covered with stuff, there is always an empty 6 x 6-in. (15.2 x 15.2 cm) area. I can't explain this. All work is performed in this small space. Things are created there, ideas come to fruition, and yet, it stays clear.

The trouble with clutter

You know how it is looking at a mess on your bench; you can't focus on the task at hand. Instead, you play with remnants of false starts — ideas for designs that seemed like world-beaters at the time are now just little pieces of metal destined for the melt pot. I suffer from this. It's writer's block in reverse. Instead of looking at an empty piece of paper and nothing coming, I stare at a pile of almost-ideas and work them a little more. This time, I believe, I'll finish them. Either stop playing with your peas and eat them, or throw them away.

Start fresh

I've developed a new habit when I start a project. I sweep everything off my bench into a small plastic bin – I mean everything. This includes metal, drill bits, burs, dust, broken saw blades, and half-finished projects. Everything is now in one safe place and I can start new work. I no longer feel guilty of wasting anything, and there are no visual distractions on my bench.

I retrieve items as I need them, and I sort the bin later, when time allows. A magnet pulls out burs, drill bits, nasty razor blades, and a few files. Good drill bits return to their index, burs reunite with their friends, and files are returned to the wall or their respective pouches. With proper light, an Optivisor, and tweezers, I pick out bits of silver, gold, findings, stones, and other valuable items. Brown or red-colored bits must be bronze or copper; they have their own safe box. I use leftover base-metal clays (copper and bronze) and scrap copper and bronze for mystery metal casting. All metal is recycled in the end. It's amazing how much of what remains in the bin is useless accumulated junk. Now is the time to throw stuff out.

Get organized

Having moved into a smaller, tighter work space, I am more conscious of making the most of my storage and work areas. The dollar store is my new best friend. So is Harbor Freight, for some items.

I keep most of my large files and steel rulers on magnetic strips. It's not a good idea to keep files together in a drawer; files should be kept from banging against each other. You can get magnetic strips at Harbor Freight or one of the big outlets. Gourmet kitchen stores also carry knife holders for your wall, but they cost more.

I recycle pieces of foam packing material to hold burs [1], It's cheap and fast, and you feel good saving the planet. Pieces of wood drilled with holes slightly larger than V32 in. (2.5 mm), which is the outside diameter of most burs, serve the same purpose, but they last longer. Like, forever. Your heirs will fight over the wood bur holders at the reading of your will.

Catch tray cleanup

Back to the subject of holes, I read somewhere about putting a screen in the bottom of your catch tray to catch larger pieces of metal and let smaller particles (from filing and sawing) pass through. This helps when cleaning the catch tray. I had been thinking of making one out of metal screen, but I was not convinced the mesh would allow enough particles to drop through. And I wasn't exactly sure how to support it.

Rather than use mesh, I found a sheet of perforated aluminum at Lowes. The aluminum cut easily with large tin shears and was thick enough to support itself. I purchased % x %-in. (19 x 19 mm) wood molding to construct my frame support. Wood glue and finishing nails were enough to make a frame that fit neatly inside my catch tray [2]. Tacks and double- sided tape secured the aluminum sheet to the frame. Two twist ties were handles to lift the screen tray. So far, I'm liking it. It's always fun to add to and improve a work area.

The vertical surface

One final thing to ponder: the vertical surface. Vertical surfaces also attract stuff, but in a different manner. Stuff is attached through artificial means — push-pins, nails, tape, magnetic pineapples, fish symbols, sticky putty, etc. Most commonly found on vertical surfaces are: photos of loved ones (small children in snowsuits, cats, dogs with neck scarves, etc.), medical appointment slips, overdue electric bills, photos of unknown people, food lists, dumb self-help slogans – billions and billions of bits of information. In ancient times, this condition had a name: horror vacuity, fear of the empty. It is still with us.

From "Art Jewelry" journal