Finding possible sources should feel like binge drinking. Let me explain. You should be constantly clicking and typing--looking at bibliographies and searching those articles, etc. etc. You aren't worried about the effects its going to have on your body--you just want to get drunk (with texts)--you want to saturate your possibilities until your body can't take it anymore! Once you start reading and reflecting, undoubtedly some of it will be indigestible, or useless to your body--that will be expelled and you will never have to deal with again. But after you expel it, you will feel refreshed. At first, it might hurt---your head with pound with a swirl of titles and word searches, but eventually you will regain your composure and be ready to sit down and eat a good meal (or write a good paper). Your annotated bibliography will be the small amount of stuff left in your body after a good ol' next-morning purge.
Another metaphor: Research should feel like you are romping through a field of research at warp speed plucking flowers without bothering whether or not they make a pretty bouquet.
I'm going to let you in on a little secret: researching is different than reading (I may have already said this in a previous post). Researching is about gathering possible useful material--researching is fast, furious, and almost unreflective (at first). Researching is RE-SEARCHING or RE(S)EA(R)CHING --reaching. . .reaching out.
Reading Articles (a process)
To narrow down your article selection:
1.) Read abstracts
2.) Read the first couple paragraphs (quickly)
3.) Read the conclusion.
4.) If it still seems relevant, skim paragraphs.
5.) If it is a "useful" article, read most of the article and write an annotated bibliography.
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