User:Atallent/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article

 * Digital Media
 * I have chosen this article to evaluate because it reflects what we are learning about this semester.

Lead evaluation
The Lead consists of two sentences that clearly describes the article's topic. These sentences inform readers what digital media is and how and where one can interact with it. Overall, the Lead is concise and describes digital media very briefly since it is such a broad topic. The article goes into more detail in the following sections, but as a starting point, it does a good job of giving a general idea of what digital media means.

Content evaluation
The article's content is relevant to the topic because it tries to give an overview of how digital media came about and how the world has been impacted by its incorporation into our lives.

Tone and balance evaluation
The article references digital media's "significant" impact on society many times, but it would be better to hear specific examples of why and how it has this reputation. However, there are many other statements that have reliable sources to back up their claims. The content is well balanced so there are no viewpoints that are overrepresented or underrepresented in the article.

Sources and references evaluation
There are many references present and cited in the article. Many of the links I tried all work and direct to reliable sources. A majority appear to be cited correctly within the body of the article as well.

Organization evaluation
The article's History and Impact sections are organized well, but I find the Digital Media section to be out of place. Half of this section talks about digital media's impact on society and culture and would better fit under the existing section, Impact. With the first half of the section referencing examples of digital media and how it contrasts with print media, this could likely be moved to be included in the Lead section since it is relevant to further explaining what digital media is. The article is well-organized because under main sections, sub-sections are clearly identifiable and organized in their topics.

Images and media evaluation
The article includes one image of a hard drive and one motion graphic image depicting digital codes. The existing images are great additions to the article because they give readers visual representations of digital media. Including more images would enhance the article further. The images are well-captioned as they explain why a hard drive is considered a type of physical digital media and how the 0s and 1s of digital code make it easier. A few grammatical and punctuation errors contained in them need to be fixed. The way the images are laid out works because it aligns with a corresponding section.

Talk page evaluation
One of the only things that have been posted to the Talk page is a comment that raises questions about digital media's impact on various things in today's world. The user goes on to give their overall impression of the article's content. The comment is useful in some ways, but it does not further the development of the article. If they referenced certain aspects or given suggestions on how to improve the article, the comment would be a helpful tool to other Wikipedians editing or adding contributions to the article. The article is rated as C-Class and is listed as a level-5 vital article in Society.

Overall evaluation
The article is pretty well developed and has had a lot of information contributed to it. The article's strength is having a wide array of sources backing up its claims. It can be improved by adding more images for a break from the large amounts of text on the screen.

Evaluate an article

 * Tom Godwin
 * I have chosen this article to evaluate because it will be the article that I endeavor to edit and contribute to for this semester. It was also one of the articles that had the least amount of information, so I look forward to building it up.

Lead evaluation
The Lead includes an introductory sentence that states that Godwin was a science fiction author which clearly describes the article's topic. It also briefly mentions how many novels and short stories he has published which is listed in the article's only major section. The Lead mentions his short story, "The Cold Equations," but does not go into further detail later in the article. Overall, The Lead is concise, but it could include more detail to better its quality.

Content evaluation
The article's content is relevant to the topic because it lists all the works that he has published in order and in sections. The content seems to be up-to-date, but there is content missing such as more detail about his life and works that should be included.

Tone and balance evaluation
The article is not neutral because it describes his short story, "The Cold Equations," as "notable" without offering a source that backs that statement up. There are no viewpoints that are overrepresented or underrepresented because there is not enough content contained in the article. The story being described as "notable" is the article's only attempt to persuade the reader to believe the work to be a major player in the mid-1950s science fiction genre which could be true, but that claim would need to be supported by a secondary source.

Sources and references evaluation
There are no secondary sources present in the article so there are no facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information. All of the external links work and direct to other pages that contain some of Godwin's works.

Organization evaluation
With the information present, the article is easy to read and clear in its goal. The word "author" in the Lead section is linked to a nonexistent page so that needs to be fixed, the "SF" in "hard SF" should be spelled out, and there are a few punctuation errors that need to be corrected. The article is not well-organized because the list of novels and short stories that he has published is under the Bibliography section. A whole new section should be created that contains his works and then new information should be added to the already existing Bibliography section.

Images and media evaluation
The article includes one image of Godwin's short story's cover art, but including an image of him and possibly more cover art images would enhance the article further. The image is well-captioned because it offers information that the viewer would not have known just by looking at it, but a few punctuation errors contained in it need to be fixed. The image adheres to Wikipedia's copyright regulations because it is uploaded on Wikimedia Commons and is licensed under the public domain. The way the image is laid out now works, but if more images are added, the layout would likely need to be changed for it to be more visually appealing.

Talk page evaluation
A large portion of what has been posted to the Talk page does not follow Wikipedia guidelines or further the development of the article. There is one comment that is helpful in pointing out that a reference previously used might not be a reliable source so contributors should look elsewhere. The article is rated as Stub-Class and is a part of WikiProject Biography and WikiProject Science Fiction.

Overall evaluation
The article is a stub so there is not a lot of information present. The article's strength is having a comprehensive list of all the works he has published, though it lacks in many other areas. It can be improved by adding more information about the author himself and most importantly, finding reliable secondary sources to back up the information added or already present in the article. The article is nowhere near completion since little to no information is present about Godwin other than the fact that he is an American science fiction writer.