User:Charleston Baker/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: Treaty of Fort McIntosh
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.
 * I chose this article because it relates to Native American rights through treaties and is not very extensive (as it only has one section; the Lead).

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * The article has a good introductory sentence; it pretty accurately defines what the Treaty of Fort McIntosh was and sets up what the rest of the article will go over.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * No, the Lead is the only section included in this article.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * Since the Lead is the only section in the article, all of the information that is present in the Lead is not included in any other sections.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?
 * The Lead could definitely be less detailed in exchange for putting more detail in and creating other sections. It has more information than a Lead probably needs to have (just because it is the only section in the article).

Lead evaluation
The first sentence is accurate and descriptive. But, the fact that the Lead is the only section, makes the article kind of jumbled and not as organized as it should be.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * The article's content is relevant in that the information that is there, does relate to the Treaty of Fort McIntosh. It goes over the history of the treaty and lays out the land boundaries that were established in the treaty.
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * The content seems up-to-date; however, there could definitely be more information as to what happened with the treaty/how it is regarded now. There is a brief paragraph that mentions this, but it could definitely be more in-depth.
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
 * I feel like a good amount of content is missing, or rather, elaboration is missing. I wish the article would go more in-depth as to the specific articles of the treaties and other aspects of what it was about and what it meant for the Native Americans that were a part of the treaty.

Content evaluation
There definitely needs to be more section, as the only section currently is the Lead section. Organization would definitely help the flow of the article. Other than that, the information is relevant but there needs to be more specificity and elaboration.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?
 * The article is neutral, there does not seem to be any opinions present or any information that seems to sway in one direction.
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * There do not seem to be any heavily biased claims.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * The article could have definitely included more information about how the Native American nations experienced the implications of the treaty. It article seems to talk about the treaty in terms of the United States.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?
 * No, all of the facts and information in this article seem to be objective and not biased. However, the overrepresentation of the U.S. perspective could lead to a misinformed opinion on the reader's part.

Tone and balance evaluation
The tone of the article is neutral and it doesn't seem too biased. However, the experience of the Native American tribes is underrepresented and could definitely be further elaborated on.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * There is only one source cited as a reference and the author did not use any footnotes. The source is a book and I do not have access to it so I'm not sure how accurate the information is.
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * I'm not really sure if the source is thorough, since I don't have access to it. But, there definitely needs to be more than one source used for the article.
 * Are the sources current?
 * The source is form 2001, so I guess it is relatively current but there could be more primary sources used to reflect the history of the treaty.
 * Check a few links. Do they work?
 * The source isn't linked.

Sources and references evaluation
There is only one source and I can't really check to see if the information is accurate. There definitely needs to be more sources and footnotes need to be used.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * There do not seem to be any major issues with the writing; however, it is not very concise and the sentences can sometimes be a lot to digest. It would be a lot better if the article were actually split up into multiple sections.
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * There do not seem to be any grammatical or spelling errors.
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?
 * The article is not well organized. Aside from the fact that it is just a Lead with no sections, the information is not organized very well. There is not clear structure.

Organization evaluation
The article definitely needs more organization and sections. Though it doesn't seem like there are any grammatical/spelling errors, there is a lot of room for improvement.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * No, the article does not have any images.
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * N/A
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * N/A
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?
 * N/A

Images and media evaluation
The article does not have images, so there is not visual representation of the topic. There should definitely be images of the actual treaty or even a map of the boundaries that the treaty established.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * There are no comments on the talk page.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * There are a few WikiProjects interested in this article (United States/Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Indigenous peoples of North America). The United States/Indiana and Pennsylvania WikiProjects rate this article as low-importance and a stub. The Indigenous peoples of North America only rates the article as a stub.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * There is no discussion on the talk page.

Talk page evaluation
Information needs to be added to the talk page. No one has commented as to the changes they made or information they added.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * The article's overall status is that it is a good start, but there is a lot of room for improvement. It is a stub article and needs a lot more editing/sources for it to be a well-developed article.
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * The article is heading in the right direction with the information mentioned; it just needs to be extrapolated more and there needs to be way more resources. It is also not overtly biased or tilted in one particular direction which is good, but there needs to be more representation of Indigenous experiences.
 * How can the article be improved?
 * The article could be improved in many different ways. First, there needs to be more sections of information and the information in the Lead should be expanded into a more thorough article. Images also need to be added and there needs to be many more sources and those sources need to be more credible. The sources also need to be referenced; none of the information in the article has a footnote that references the source attached to them. It just needs a lot of structural development.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?
 * I would say that this article is underdeveloped. It has a good start, but there needs to be more information and many more sources for it to be a well-developed article. It also needs images and visual aids. Overall, it does not seem very professional and could be made much more digestible.

Overall evaluation
There is a lot of room for improvement. Though the basic information seems to be accurate, the focus of the article needs to be shifted. There also needs to be more organization, source, images, and information.

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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