User:AvaArdito/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Paleoshoreline

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
(Briefly explain why you chose it, why it matters, and what your preliminary impression of it was.)

I chose to evaluate the Paleoshoreline article because I am interested in studying how changing shorelines have influenced the geological landscape and community assemblages. It is important to understand paleoshorelines and the processes that have led to them shifting or changing, especially at a time where sea level rise is of concern. Understanding paleoshorelines are also important in understanding continental migrations, evolution, and community assemblages. My preliminary impression of this article is that it does well at explaining surface level information about what a paleoshoreline is. However, I feel as though a bit more context as to why these shorelines have changed over time may be important to include. Including processes that have led to shifting shorelines could help readers to better understand why paleoshorlines differ than the shorelines present today, as well as how the exposure of land that it submerged today may have led to migrations and communities that may not naturally be possible with today's shorelines. There also seems to be a key part of how paleoshorelines have allowed for community assemblages that we see today that could evolutionarily be interesting.

Evaluate the article
(Compose a detailed evaluation of the article here, considering each of the key aspects listed above. Consider the guiding questions, and check out the examples of what a useful Wikipedia article evaluation looks like.)

Lead Section:

The lead section includes a good introductory sentence with the definition of paleoshoreline. However, it does not include descriptions of the major sections or information within the article. The article does include a sentence describing a perched coastline that is not mentioned anywhere else in the article, and I think this information may be better off in a different paragraph or subsection. The first sentence of the lead is concise, however I think the paragraph itself is missing a bit of detail that would be a helpful introduction for readers to quickly understand the major points within the article.

Content:

The content within the article seems to be relevant to paleoshorelines and has a concise discussion on sea level on short term and long term time scales. There could be more information added that describes some of the major process that have led to changes in sea level that have created differences between modern and paleoshorelines. There are also mentions of lake paleoshorelines, and paleoshorelines on Mars that could use some expansion or could be added in the "Examples" section. The content surrounding The Bering Land Bridge, seems to be a bit inaccurate and uses outdated language that doesn't accurately describe the human migration and settlement of the North Americas.

Tone and Balance:

The article appears to be fairly neutral. However inaccurate representation of the migration of The Bering Land Bridge and discussion of indigenous people seems a bit problematic.

Sources and References:

Most of the references come from reputable publications and sources pertaining to the information provided within the article. All links to the citations work. There are some instances where more citations should be present to better support the article.

Organization and Writing Quality:

The article tends to be clear and concise with specific points it is making, however the organization and information provided could be improved to better articulate the important points of the article. There may be some topics that could be expanded upon and added to improve the quality of the article.

Images and Media:

The media present within the article is relevant and helpful in visualizing the readers understanding of paleoshorelines and how they have changed throughout time. The media in the article seems to be a strong point in enhancing the readers understanding of points made within the article.

Talk Page Discussion:

Currently, there is no history of discussions within the talk page and no discussions occurring here about the topic. The article is rated "Stub-class" and is highly underdeveloped under the Wikipedia content assessment scale. The article is also "of interest" to a few WikiProjects.

Overall Impressions:

The article's current status is "Stub-class" under the Wikipedia content assessment scale. It is evident that the article is missing quite a bit of information that would enhance the status and improve a reader's understanding of the topic. Some strengths of the article are that it gives a concise definition of the topic and provides a good start to lists of examples that may be more heavily researched by current readers. The article can be improved by including more points that more closely represent the processes that have led to changes between paleoshorelines and modern shorelines. There could also be more information concerning a number of topics that are of interest but only briefly or inaccurately described that raise some important points. I would assess this article between poorly and underdeveloped.