User:CMDarling/sandbox

My Sandbox
This is my sandbox, used for learning, testing and assignments.

Assignment 1
Instructions:
 * 1) Research and list 3-5 Wikipedia articles that you will consider using for your main project. Provide the citation, in MLA style, for each of the articles.
 * 2) Locate other encyclopedia sources that have articles on the same topics as the ones you listed in Wikipedia. Provide the citation, in MLA style, for each of these articles.
 * 3) Write a few paragraphs about your search process and how you chose those Wikipedia articles. Discuss also how you found the other encyclopedia articles and your initial thoughts on the differences between Wikipedia and the other encyclopedia.

Search Process and Initial Thoughts
When I began this assignment, I knew that whichever topics I chose would be readily available on Wikipedia. The challenge was finding other online encyclopedia articles on the same topics. I began by choosing a broad range of topics based on my personal interests. Then, I searched other online encyclopedias to see the availability of complete entries on that topic. This narrowed down my list of possible topics substantially. The result was a medley of topics, most with widespread appeal.

During my search process, I used a few other online encyclopedias (Encyclopedia Britannica, The Canadian Encyclopedia, and The Encyclopedia of Earth), none of which were as easy to navigate as Wikipedia. I was particularly disappointed with Encyclopedia Britannica. The entries of topics I would have considered choosing were incomplete, showing only the first 100 words or so. This just succeeds in driving the users to Encyclopedia Britannica's competition; Wikipedia. Furthermore, I thought its advertisements cluttered the entries, and its only redeeming quality was the citation option, which provided the APA, MLA, Chicago, and Harvard Style citation for the entry. The Canadian Encyclopedia had the same problem with advertisements, and even though I was encouraged by the fact that all the complete entries were available online, there are far fewer topics to choose from. As for The Encyclopedia of Earth, I was impressed. The format is extremely similar to that of Wikipedia, but has a narrow focus on subject matter. Entries on The Encyclopedia of Earth are also expert-reviewed, marked for trusted content, and rated. I would definitely recommend The Encyclopedia of Earth, but I believe that none surpass Wikipedia in range of topics and user-friendliness.

Summary of the Encyclopedia Articles
Wikipedia "Group of Seven (artists)."

The Group of Seven were a group of Canadian landscape painters active from 1920 to 1933. The Group of Seven is widely known for its artwork depicting Canadian landscape, and initiated the first major Canadian national art movement. In 1913, Tom Thomson, J.E.H. MacDonald, Arthur Lismer, Frederick Varley, Frank Johnston, Alexander Young, Lawren Harris and Franklin Carmichael would have meetings to discuss artistic opinions and share their artwork with one another. This informal group of eight artists was disbanded during World War I, but reunited afterwards, without Tom Thomson, who died in 1917. When they reunited, they traveled together across Ontario, sketching and developing techniques to better represent the Canadian landscape. In 1919, they officially became the Group of Seven, and unified their artwork to become distinctly Canadian. Soon after, in 1920, the Group of Seven were ready for their first exhibition.

After a few years together, the members began to drift apart and each found inspiration in different parts of Canada, including British Columbia, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and the Arctic. With the addition of new members, as well as the fact that their artwork was so different at that point, in 1932, they decided to disband. They maintained an association with one another, and called themselves the Canadian Group of Painters, a much larger group with varying influences.

The Canadian Encyclopedia “Group of Seven.”

The Group of Seven was founded in 1920. Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A.Y. Jackson, Franz Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J.E.H. MacDonald and F.H. Varley were the original members, all of whom met each other in Toronto between 1911 and 1913. The Group were not exclusively landscape painters, until their first exhibition in 1920, when they unified their styles and became a landscape school. All the members felt frustration towards the quality of Canadian art, and used their art as a rebellion to what they felt was wrong with Canadian artists and the Canadian art industry. This led to resentment and displeasure from the Canadian artistic establishment.

The Group further rebelled against the norm by having their paintings evoke what the landscape made them feel, instead of trying to portray an imitation of the landscape, as was expected and accepted at the time. Despite this, the Group's influence and popularity continued to grow throughout the 1920s. They admitted new members to include artists from different areas in Canada. This may have led to their downfall, because when the group disbanded in 1933, it had become inundated with mainstream artists and too large too manage. The Group of Seven had successfully overthrown the art establishment they had sought to rebel against, but had compromised some of their artistic values in the process.

Comparing, Contrasting and Assessment
I chose to do a comparison between Wikipedia and The Canadian Encyclopedia based on their articles on the Group of Seven. Above I have created a short summary for both articles, and even with a cursory glance, it is clear that the tone and focus of the articles is very different.

The main contents of the two encyclopedia articles are very similar, but The Canadian Encyclopedia has a very different point of view. It focuses more on the political climate of the art industry at the time the Group of Seven was active, and their motivation towards changing what they thought was wrong with Canadian art. It gave great insight to the politics that the Group of Seven endured, overcame, and eventually overthrew. The Wikipedia article does not delve into these specifics, instead presenting the facts in a timeline format. There are also a few differences in facts. Wikipedia states that the group disbanded in 1932, but this could be due poor sentence structure that causes confusion in readers, whereas The Canadian Encyclopedia states definitively that the group disbanded in 1933. Overall, the articles closely resemble one another in terms of information provided.

As these are articles on a group of artists, I expected to see images of paintings to accompany the articles. Although both entries included images of the Group of Seven's paintings, I found that Wikipedia could have included more. A mere two images are included on Wikipedia to The Canadian Encyclopedia's nine.

Interestingly enough, the Wikipedia article even cites The Canadian Encyclopedia article on the Group of Seven, along with many other reputable sources. Unfortunately, The Canadian Encyclopedia does not provide source material for articles. But since The Canadian Encyclopedia does not allow editing of the article, citations are not as critically important as they are for Wikipedia.

Another aspect of note when comparing the articles is the author, or contributors. The Canadian Encyclopedia article is written by Christopher Varley. At first, I assumed he was related to F.H. Varley, one of the artists from the Group of Seven, but I was unable to verify this. Christopher Varley did however author a book in 1981, F.H. Varley: A Centennial Exhibition, and more research led to the discovery that he is an art dealer that specializes in Canadian historical art. This leads me to believe that he is indeed an expert in this field, and reinforces the validity of The Canadian Encyclopedia article. The creator of the Wikipedia page for the Group of Seven was User:Adam Bishop. But since its creation June 12th, 2003, there have been 812 edits, by 394 users. It is impossible to know whether or not these people are even in the art field, much less whether or not they are experts. This is why citations and edit history are of extreme importance on Wikipedia.

I also examined the suggested reading affixed to both articles. I did this after finding ten additional resources to accompany the articles on the Group of Seven. The suggested reading that accompanies The Canadian Encyclopedia article is very relevant, with the most recent title published in 2006, which I believe is sufficiently recent for this particular topic. Of the four publications listed, I had independently suggested two as my additional resources. The texts are very authoritative, and are excellent additional reading material for someone interested in the Group of Seven. While the Wikipedia article has a more extensive suggested reading section, with two titles published in 2010, it is less relevant. Again, I found that I had one publication in common that I found independently. However, nearly half of the titles focus on a sole member of the Group of Seven, instead of the entire group. When seeking information on the Group of Seven as a whole, it is my firm opinion that a publication on a sole member is inadequate supplementary material.

As I stated earlier, the information provided in both articles is very similar. I believe that they are both good articles, but The Canadian Encyclopedia is more comprehensive. It gives the reader information about the political climate of the art establishment in that time period as well as challenges the group faced, which is important in understanding the Group of Seven. I appreciated the format of the Wikipedia article, and believe it provides a better structure for the article, but when I compared it alongside The Canadian Encyclopedia's article, the information provided appeared inadequate. Despite appearances, the Wikipedia article did not contain any notices for lack of citations or need for improvement.

The Canadian Encyclopedia article elaborated eloquently on important points while Wikipedia stated them plainly. To start, the Wikipedia article identifies the Group of Seven as a “group of Canadian landscape painters” in the first sentence of the article, but The Canadian Encyclopedia describes them as an “organization of self-proclaimed modern artists... [that] were not exclusively landscape painters, and it was only after their first exhibition at the Art Gallery of Toronto in 1920 that they began to identify themselves as a landscape school.” Another example is found when the articles touch on the topic of Tom Thomson. Wikipedia states that Tom Thomson had “a significant influence on the group,” while The Canadian Encyclopedia explains that Tom Thomson “was important to the other artists... for he was an avid outdoorsman and awakened their interest in painting the rugged northern Ontario landscape.” Yet another difference between the articles is whom they mention as main advocates or supporters of the group. Wikipedia mentions Barker Fairley and J. Burgon Bickersteth without going into detail as to why they are named as “champions” of the group. The Canadian Encyclopedia names Eric Brown, director of the National Gallery of Canada, and supports this claim with a short background of his relationship with the Group of Seven. These small touches truly have an impact when reading the articles. It cements my opinion that The Canadian Encyclopedia article was expertly written, and presents the facts beautifully and interestingly, while the Wikipedia article is uninspired by comparison.

When viewed alone, the Wikipedia article provides a clear and concise account of the Group of Seven. An excellent addition to the article was the Collections section, which detailed where large collections of work from the Group of Seven are found. After viewing the article, the reader knows they can visit the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, or the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in Kleinburg, Ontario to view the Group of Seven's artwork. Another fascinating addition to the article was the mention that “on 18 September 1970 Canada Post issued “The Group of Seven”... 6¢ stamps” in recognition of the Group of Seven. These touches go a long way in setting Wikipedia apart from other online encyclopedias.

Despite the additional information about the galleries which display the Group's artwork, and the recognition awarded the group in the form of a stamp, once I had read the article from The Canadian Encyclopedia, I found that it was clearly superior. I received detailed information in such a masterfully crafted writing. My only complaint is that a few sentences in the article were beyond my comprehension. The Canadian Encyclopedia states that: “Like the European fin de siècle symbolists and post-impressionists from whom their aesthetic largely derived, the Group rebelled against the constraints of 19th-century naturalism and tried to establish a more equitable and independent relationship between art and nature.” Artistically speaking, I am a layman, and I do not know what post-impressionism or fin de siècle symbolism is. It did pique my interest to learn more, and I am glad that the majority of the article was written in a language that I understand. I suppose that the only disadvantage to having an expert write the article is that the language used may be above the comprehension of the readers.

At first, I was biased toward Wikipedia, I use it on a daily basis and I staunchly defend its validity. In this case, the article was very thoroughly referenced, and validity was not an issue. However, it was not as in-depth as most other Wikipedia articles, and the lack of information was disappointing. I believe that in this case, The Canadian Encyclopedia produced the better article.

Additional Resources

 * Fenton, Terry, and Karen Wilkin. Modern Painting in Canada : Major Movements in Twentieth Century Canadian Art. Edmonton: Hurtig, 1978. Print.


 * Forty Years of Canadian Painting from Tom Thomson and the Group of Seven to the Present Day / [introduction H.O. McCurry]. n.p.: [s.l. : s.n.], 1949. Harvard Library Bibliographic Dataset. Web 12 Nov. 2012


 * Hill, Charles C. The Group of Seven : Art for a Nation. Ottawa: National Art Gallery of Canada; Toronto : In collaboration with McClelland & Stewart, 1995. Harvard Library Bibliographic Dataset. Web 12 Nov. 2012


 * King, Ross. Defiant Spirits: The Modernist Revolution of the Group of Seven. Kleinburg, Ont : McMichael Canadian Art Collection, 2010. Harvard Library Bibliographic Dataset. Web 12 Nov. 2012


 * Mastin, Catharine M. The Group of Seven In Western Canada. Toronto, Ont : Key Porter Books in association with the Glenbow Museum, 2002. Harvard Library Bibliographic Dataset. Web 12 Nov. 2012


 * Mellen, Peter. The Group of Seven. Toronto, Ont: McClelland and Stewart, 1970. Print.


 * Newlands, Anne. The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson : An Introduction. Willowdale, Ont: Firefly Books, 1995. Print.


 * O’Brian, John, and Peter White. Beyond Wilderness : The Group of Seven, Canadian Identity and Contemporary Art. Montreal : McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2007. Harvard Library Bibliographic Dataset. Web 12 Nov. 2012


 * Reid, Dennis. A Concise History of Canadian Painting. 3rd ed. Canada: Oxford University Press, 2012. Print.


 * Silcox, David. The Group of Seven and Tom Thomson : Tom Thomson, Lawren Harris, J.E.H. MacDonald … [Et Al.]. Toronto, Ont: Firefly Books, 2003. Harvard Library Bibliographic Dataset. Web. 12 Nov. 2012