User:AlexWillard/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento,_California

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article due to its significance to the State of California, as learning about the state capital and its history, cultural impact, and significance to the economy is incredibly important.

Evaluate the article
The City of Sacramento, California

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sacramento,_California

Lead

Guiding questions

•	Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?

•	Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?

•	Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?

•	Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

The Lead does include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic, which is the city of Sacramento, California. The Lead also includes a brief discussion of the major sections located within the article, describing its history, population, and what is notable information about the city. The Lead does not include information that isn't present in the article and is not overly detailed either.

Lead evaluation

Content

Guiding questions

•	Is the article's content relevant to the topic?

•	Is the content up-to-date?

•	Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?

•	Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?

The article's content relevant to the topic and is also currently up-to-date, as the last edit for it was on February 7th, 2022 at 3:21 PM. There is no content that is missing and there is no content that does not belong.

Content evaluation

Tone and Balance

Guiding questions

•	Is the article neutral?

•	Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?

•	Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?

•	Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

The article is entirely neutral, as it is a discussion about the history and present of the city of Sacramento. No viewpoints are under or overrepresented, and since it is a page about the city, it does not attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or another.

Tone and balance evaluation

Sources and References

Guiding questions

•	Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?

•	Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?

•	Are the sources current?

•	Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?

•	Check a few links. Do they work?

All facts that can be found within the article can be backed up by a reliable secondary source of information, reflecting the available literature on the topic as well as being current, while maintaining a diverse spectrum of authors as well. Many of the links do work.

Sources and references evaluation

Organization

Guiding questions

•	Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?

•	Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?

•	Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

The contents within the article are incredibly easy to ready, they are concise and clear, never leaving me to wonder what the current subject was or making me scratch my head in confusion.

Organization evaluation

Images and Media

Guiding questions

•	Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?

•	Are images well-captioned?

Are the images of high quality and visually understood by a wide variety of audiences? <

•	Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?

•	Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

The images included in the article do enhance the understanding of the topic, showcasing areas of interest within the articles such as Sacramento State University, the main campus of the University of California, Davis, and the Crocker Art Museum, all of which have significance to the history of the state as well as what makes them important to mention.

Images and media evaluation

Checking the talk page

Guiding questions

•	What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?

•	How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?

•	How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

This article is trustworthy with very few conversations occurring behind the scenes, with the conversations mainly being modified external links and which ones were modified so someone can verify their contents. The rating of the article is a level-5 vital article in the Geography, Cities category. It is apart of three WikiProjects; WikiProject California, WikiProject Cities, and WikiProject United States.

Talk page evaluation

Overall impressions

Guiding questions

•	What is the article's overall status?

•	What are the article's strengths?

•	How can the article be improved?

•	How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

The article's overall status and strengths is that it is well written, the sources are verified and are from a variety of authors with differing opinions, and is consistently updated with new information as it comes out. I would say that the article is well-developed.