User:Alutts/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Gothic-arch barn

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article because I find the Gothic style and its influence in general very interesting and I enjoy learning more about it. In addition, I come from a ranching family and find any correlation between architecture and agriculture intriguing. I believe it matters because it explains that even barn structures were affected by the Gothic style and this style influenced barns today in the United States. My preliminary impression of the article is that it has a lot of information and though the information seems to be reliable and cited well, the article itself could be better organized and worded.

Evaluate the article
Lead Section


 * The article's opening section expresses in detail what the article is about, though not very concisely. The opening sentence lists four different names for a Gothic-arch barn, which I found rather confusing and unnecessary within the opening sentence.
 * The articles opening does not provide an outline for the following sections.
 * It does not include any information that is not covered in the article itself.
 * The opening sentence is not concise, and the lead section contains little detail regarding the rest of the article.

Content


 * The content in the article is very relevant, detailing the history of the Gothic-arch barn, explaining why, where, and how the barns were constructed.
 * Viewing the history of the article, it was last edited in March of 2023, though the majority of the article has not been edited since 2021.
 * I believe that all content included was relevant to the history of the building style, though I am not yet familiar enough on the topic to recognize any missing material.
 * The article does not explicitly note equity gaps or underrepresented populations. It mentions that the style of barn was used most commonly in the Depression-Era by farmers with The Boundary Farms project.

Tone and Balance


 * The article does not contain any bias.
 * There are no claims within the article that favor any particular position.
 * I don't believe there are any positions that are over or underrepresented.
 * There are no minority or fringe viewpoints in the article.
 * There is no persuasion within the article.

Sources and References


 * Most claims and facts are backed with reliable sources; however the article does site some commercial and organization websites, such as wellsbarnhistory.com and kshs.org.
 * All sources are thorough and reflect the literature available.
 * Most sources are more than 10 years old, though several of these are historic reports or registries.
 * All sources are from a different author, and there are many different sources sited throughout the article.
 * After completing research on other sources regarding the topic, there are not many peer-reviewed works that have been published somewhat recently, and many of them are on the destruction of the barns, rather than the history and construction of them, as this article is primarily about.
 * All links except for two work: #11 and #15.

Organization and Writing Quality

Images and Media
 * I felt that all sections except the opening section were concise yet detailed.
 * I noticed no grammar mistakes.
 * The article was broken into sections well, though I would have organized them differently, putting all of the historical facts first, rather than having them spread throughout the article.


 * The images are relevant and are excellent examples as to what the gothic-arch barn looks like and its construction process, though a few more examples and diagrams could have been beneficial.
 * The captions are descriptive and well representing of the images.
 * Images adhere to copyright regulations.
 * The images are organized well.

Talk Page Discussion


 * There have not been any conversations since 2018, but the ones that took place were regarding the gothic-arch shape in general engineering as an ideal element, and grammar corrections.
 * The article is rated C-Class and is not a part of any WikiProjects.

Overall Impressions


 * I believe the article is detailed and represents the topic well overall. It is factual and unbiased, and presents a very clear history of the building structure and the construction process. It has not been thoroughly updated recently, and some of the sources are unavailable, but there seems to be few new, peer-reviewed articles on the topic.
 * To improve this article I would adjust the opening sentence so that it is more concise, and move the additional names for the gothic-arch barn into the body of the article, so as not to confuse readers. In addition, I would reorganize the sections so that the entirety of the history is consecutive, followed by the construction process and example photos and links. Finally, I would do more thorough research to replace or fix the few sources that were not from a reliable source or are no longer available.