User:Cearly2/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: Shopping Mall
 * I chose to evaluate this article because the topic is very interesting to me, but I have not done much formal research on it. I think it's a topic that gets overlooked but has a lot of potential to reveal certain things about American consumer culture.

Lead

 * Guiding questions

The introductory sentence simply explains the definition of a shopping mall, which is the article's topic. It does not really describe the article's major sections, but I think that the sections proceed in a logical way even though they are not introduced in the Lead. It does not have information not present in the article. It is sufficiently concise and mostly discusses the different terms used in different countries, so it does not place sole emphasis on the United States.


 * 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?

Content

 * Guiding questions

The article's content is relevant to the overall topic of shopping malls, though I mainly have an interest in U.S. shopping malls in general, and I believe it is up-to-date. The History section of the article only focuses on U.S. mall history, though, which seems to indicate a gap in representation of other countries.


 * 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?
 * Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions

I would say that the article is neutral. The information seems mostly historical and objective, not trying to make any particular claims. The article seems heavily moderated, so any subjective claims or writings would have been edited out by now.


 * 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?

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions

All of the facts in the article in the sections that I focused on, the United States-related sections, were backed up with reliable secondary sources. There are more than a hundred sources for this page, many of them recent, so I would suspect the available literature is up to date. There is no intersectionality or mentions of marginalized groups in this article, and I do not think there is really space for it in this specific article.


 * 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?
 * Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?
 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Organization

 * Guiding questions

It is well-written, but it is not concise. It's very long, covering many countries, which is somewhat intimidating and would probably be hard to scroll through. They mentioned in the talk page that they don't typically create spin-off pages, so that would explain why all the information is on this very long Wikipedia page. It is broken down well into sections, in an order that makes sense (history and types of malls being first in the order).


 * 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?

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions

The article has a large gallery that definitely help provide examples of the breadth of shopping malls. The captions are informative and contribute to the sections they belong to. The images were submitted as "own work," so I think that means the people who uploaded them are the ones who took the photos, so it meets Wikipedia's copyright rules.


 * 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?

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions

The article is rated B-class and is a part of WikiProject Architecture, WikiProject Urban studies and planning, and WikiProject Shopping Centers. There appear to be some "uncivil" conversations going on in this article's talk page about whether the page should be called "Shopping malls" or "Shopping centers," and whether it should be "center" or "centre." It came across as a very... well, pointless, tedious argument. There was some inflammatory words and claims of harassment. What strange things to argue about... I looked in the talk page's archive and the older topics seemed a lot more normal. Suggestions to create new sections, adding sources, etc.


 * 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?

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions

Based on the edit history and the Talk page, this article seems well-researched and reputable. It seems very complete, and it seems like it would be hard to add to this topic. Its strengths are its expansiveness, its simple style, and its thoroughness. The only aspect that I find weak about it is that it is so broad, encompassing so many regions, that it can be hard to find detailed information about just one country. I would prefer if, for example, "Shopping Malls in the United States," got its own article page, since that topic on its own is very big. I would probably not want to contribute to this page because it is already so frequently edited by a good amount of people; I would rather spend my time contributing to a smaller page, making a more substantial impact.


 * 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?

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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