what is an annotation

An annotation is a brief note or comment added to a text, document, or other piece of information. Annotations can be used to provide explanation, criticism, analysis, or historical perspective about a particular part of a text. They are often added to scholarly articles or literary works that are being analyzed, but can also be used in a more general way to refer to a note added to any text. Annotations can be presented in the margin of book pages or within a video. Annotated bibliographies are a common use of annotations, where each citation is followed by a brief descriptive and evaluative paragraph, the annotation. From a cognitive perspective, annotation has an important role in learning and instruction, as it involves highlighting, naming or labeling, and commenting aspects of visual representations to help focus learners attention on specific visual aspects.