User:AveC88/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
Nicolas Steno

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
Relevant to the subjects studied closely in the field of Geology. Nicolas Steno was a prominent figure in developing the concepts studied through Geology. The article, at first glance, looked to be well organized and detailed aspects of Steno's life from career, contributions, and origins.

Evaluate the article
Lead Section:

The leading sentence of the article successfully identified the subject of the article, Nicolas Steno, as well as how he came to possess that name. The lead section did lack a roadmap of the topics to be discussed in the rest of the article, however, the headings of each topic were clearly bolded and visible, so navigation within the article was not challenging. Some of Steno's early life was included here, despite there being a dedicated section for this.

Content:

The content successfully provided a range of topics about Steno's life. The main focus was on his contributions to the study of Geology, Anatomy, and Paleontology. However, it also included some personal life details about Steno. The content is relevant, and provides useful information if you are intending to research Steno for scientific purposes, but also contains other meaningful information to provide context to Steno's life.

Tone and Balance:

The article has a successful, neutral tone. It does not over-celebrate nor denounce any of Steno's work or life choices. It presents the information in a clear, concise way that is meant for the reader's understanding, and not to further a specific opinion.

Sources and References:

Ideas are presented with sources cited. Several Wikipedia pages are also linked if one wanted to read more on a specific topic or person. However, there are situations were quotations are used to convey information, but a citation or link to a source is either not there, or not easily visible. Sources appear to be from a variety of places.

Organization and Writing Quality:

The organization of this article was well done, as it was structured chronologically. It was easy to follow, and if one was in need of finding specific information, the visible topic headers minimized the extensive search for specific information. Having the article be structured proficiently made it easier to contextualize information and relate it back to things mentioned previously.

Images and Media:

The images that are provided serve to elevate the information presented in the article. The quality of the images are good, although, the size of some images makes it harder to see its content, but that could be fixed if images were made to be bigger, not necessarily an issue of quality. With that being said, clicking on the enlargement function of the photo fixes that minor problem. Images also have sources attached to them, as well as if the image is in the public domain or not.

Talk Page:

Topics in the Talk Page are knowledgeable - people clearly have done their reading/research on Steno's life. Also, there is a fair amount of questions between users: asking for clarification, debating about certain word choices, and comparing sources. Overall, majority seem committed to bettering the information contained in the article. Some of the research discussed in the Talk Page goes beyond what this class is required to know, nonetheless, it is interesting to see the amount of collaboration that goes into making a polished article.

Overall Impressions:

Overall, what stood out the most is the effective organization of the article. It was easy to follow, and information was organized effectively in chronological order. The article's strength is that it has a range of topics about Steno, not just his scientific research and advancements, but also about his upbringing and professions. Having details about Steno's life helps the reader contextualize his research, as well as know more about him outside of the field of Science. The article could improve by making its images bigger in the article view, without having to enlarge them each time. The article is complete, and the Talk Page contains meaningful inquiries on how to update information to be as accurate as possible. This article was helpful, and elevated pre-existing knowledge of Nicolas Steno covered by this class.