User:Cstickel(byu)/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: Dan Wells (author)
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate

I was tasked at work to update this article. Special Collections is going to receive some of his manuscripts and things.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? Yes
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? No
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article? Yes (where he currently lives)
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? Concise.

Lead evaluation
The lead is concise, but it's too short. The information about where he currently resides should be in his infobox. The lead should be expanded to include the names of his most famous novels, etc.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic? Yes
 * Is the content up-to-date? Yes
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong? Yes

Content evaluation
The article does not talk about one of his novels that was made into a movie, and there are definitely articles out there about its production and such. The most recent content was added in November 2019, so there may be new information out there.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral? Yes
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position? No
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented? No
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another? Maybe

Tone and balance evaluation
The article is neutral, but the critical reception section only includes two reviews that are overwhelmingly positive. There are more than likely negative reviews of his work that should be included as well.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information? Mostly
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic? Yes
 * Are the sources current? Yes
 * Check a few links. Do they work? Yes

Sources and references evaluation
Most of the sources are journalistic, which for a living person (especially an author) is acceptable. One of the sources is a tweet from Dan Wells himself, which will probably have to be removed.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read? Yes
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors? No
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic? Yes

Organization evaluation
It is definitely well-organized, with headings and subheadings. The content just needs to be expanded under these headings so as to balance it out - but it is well written.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic? Yes
 * Are images well-captioned? Yes
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations? Yes
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way? Not really

Images and media evaluation
The infobox picture of him is appropriate, and the one in the article is as well. Adding more content (words) will balance it out nicely. I would add a picture of one of his novels, novellas, etc.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? The talk page discusses the validity of links and such.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects? It is rated as a "start." It is a part of WikiProjects on biography, horror, science fiction, Children's lit, and HBLL project.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class? N/A, we haven't talked about Dan Wells in class.

Talk page evaluation
The talk page is very short. It says that there are 121 contributing editors, but it looks like only a few are still active. It doesn't look like anyone else is working on this project at the moment.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status? "Start" status - it needs more information.
 * What are the article's strengths? It's organized well and already has two applicable images, an infobox, and lists of his work
 * How can the article be improved? It needs more information, a more balanced critical reception section, images of his books, etc.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed? It isn't poorly developed, but it is underdeveloped.

Overall evaluation
This will be a great article for me to edit at work. It isn't a controversial topic, and it is notable. There isn't a lot of action on the talk page which tells me that people haven't been paying much attention to it lately. There is a lot of room for improvement, but no major problems.

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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