User:Blake.cooney/Evaluate an Article

Evaluate an article
This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.


 * Name of article: Silver Islet
 * This article is about resource extraction and has particular interest to me as it is about a historic mine around my hometown.

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?

Lead evaluation
The lead is not necessarily lacking detail, but fails to really intrigue the reader or give the reader any description about the major sections of the article.

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?

Content evaluation
The content is predominantly relevant to and up-to-date with the topic. There is some content that may not necessarily belong; there is a paragraph dedicated to an article written by Syd Hancock on the death of Julian Cross, which is neither cited nor displays any direct relevance to the article. There is missing information, the article does mention an exhibit at Sleeping Giant Provincial Park, but fails to include much of the information provided in the Sleeping Giant exhibit.

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?

Tone and balance evaluation
The article is neutral and all of the information presented appears to be fairly distributed, and presented in an unbiased nature.

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?
 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Sources and references evaluation
Almost none of the facts in the article are backed up by any reliable sources. This article is missing an insane amount of referencing. One of the two (2) references is a useless link.

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

Organization evaluation
The article is easy to read, is very concise and clear. It could be organized better, however this may be dependent on more content and referencing eventually being added to the page.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Images and media evaluation
The images present in the article do a fine job of enhancing the understanding of the topic. They are captioned concisely, but very inclusively, leaving out no unnecessary information. The images do adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations.

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?

Talk page evaluation
There is no conversation going on in the talk page. There is one addition, noting that a picture previously uploaded to the article actually held no relevance to the article. Instead of removing the image, an accurate caption was added, and the picture remained on with its new meaning, still contributing to the page, as it displayed an overhead view of the entire town, but not the island of Silver Islet itself.

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?

Overall evaluation
My overall evaluation for this article is that it's better than nothing. It is a very important topic and was integral to development to some of the infrastructure that still exists on the north shore of Lake Superior today, and provides an insight to how valuable some resource extraction pioneers regarded Northern Ontario. There is plenty of room, however, for additional information regarding the mining activities itself, some details of the town that still exists today, and popular culture surrounding the town and mine. The lack of references is disheartening, however there is few nonfiction reads that present some ideas around the town, and the Ontario Parks exhibit is based on fact as well, so there should be satisfactory citeable information available.

Optional activity

 * Choose at least 1 question relevant to the article you're evaluating and leave your evaluation on the article's Talk page. Be sure to sign your feedback

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