User:Challinan12/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: (link) Climate change in Alaska
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate. I have chosen this article because I noticed there is a "climate change in...." for most places and am curious what information is included about Alaska.

Lead

 * Guiding questions
 * The introductory sentence and section was very flowery- and it did seem to paint a picture of Alaska's changing landscape in the face of climate change. The introduction did not, however, effectively introduce what the article does contain. The lead was very concise,


 * 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 content is up-to-date and relevant. The section about observed climate affects today in Alaska is very short and could be expanded to include information about wildlife climate change impacts. The predicted impact section seems, to me, much more complete and comprehensive.


 * 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?

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions
 * The article is very neutral and does not emphasize any particular view.


 * 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
 * Most of the links and references do function online. There are more than one sentence in the article that requires citation though. All sources seem like reliable sources of information.


 * 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?

Organization

 * Guiding questions
 * The organization of this article works well for the amount of information that is there now. The sections "observed effects of climate change" and "predicted affects of climate change" could be expanded by subsections about wildlife, geology. economy, etc, when there is more information.


 * 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
 * very little media included


 * 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 talk page includes two entries with suggestions for improvements for not only this article, but those like it ("climate change in...").


 * 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
 * The article's overall status is Class C. The article's strengths are the "predicted effects" section. and the strength of the writing. I would rate is article as underdeveloped, as it could use more information about currently observed effects of climate change in Alaska.


 * 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

with four tildes — ~


 * Link to feedback: