This is not a course description. This is a process that many people interested in writing find helpful. In many of the course descriptions provided in this guide, annotated bibliographies and pathfinders are suggested as possible activities. Since many college courses require students to produce these, it would be good practice to become familiar with them and understand what they are and how to create them.

 ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES The purpose of an annotated bibliography is to help a person learn as much as possible about a topic. Not only an excellent preparation for a research paper, preparing such a bibliography is excellent documentation of all the materials that were used in a self-designed course. Bibliographies are lists of all the sources one has used researching a specific topic. These sources include books, journals, web sites, periodicals, articles, brochures, multimedia sources, reference materials, pamphlets, interviews, and any other sources one has accessed.

PATHFINDERS A pathfinder is similar to a bibliography. It is a bibliographic tool that allows a person to locate information on a specific topic in a systematic way, using a wide range of resources. Unlike an annotated bibliography, a pathfinder does not give an analysis of a source, but the author should include a sentence or two summarizing the content and usefulness of the source. Sources cited should follow standard bibliographic formats. For both, the book entitled, First Great Book of High School Course Descritpions contains several clear examples for each.