An annotation is additional information, such as a note, comment, or explanation, added to a specific part of a document, text, image, or other media to clarify, interpret, or provide context
. It can appear as marginal notes, highlights, underlining, or symbols that help readers engage more deeply with the material, enhancing understanding, recall, and critical thinking
. Annotations serve various purposes depending on the context:
- In reading and study, annotations help highlight key points, track questions, and summarize ideas, facilitating better comprehension and review
- In programming, annotations can act as metadata embedded in source code to influence application behavior or track changes
- In digital imaging and biology, annotations identify regions of interest or explain genetic data
- In academic writing, annotations summarize and evaluate sources, often forming annotated bibliographies that reflect the relationship between the source and the researcher's ideas
Overall, annotation is the act of adding explanatory or interpretive notes to a piece of information to enrich understanding and communication
