User:Ellie1203/sandbox

Article Evaluation: The article that I chose to evaluate was an article on library science because that is my major and the field I hope to be in one day. I felt like this article did a really nice job of explaining what exactly library science is. However, I think that the article needs to add some more detail about how technology is effecting libraries, they had a small paragraph on it but I feel like there is so much new information about technology in libraries. The article offered other resources to read if people wanted more information. I felt like besides the technology aspect the page did a great job of explaining all kinds of good information on libraries such as types of libraries and gender equality in libraries. To me the article seemed to be very neutral and was just providing the facts without a bias towards one idea or another. As I said before I feel like the impact of technology on libraries was a little bit under represented but besides that I felt like everything was pretty well represented.

I clicked on a few links and they are seemed to work just fine. The sources did connect back to the information in the article and provided readers with additional information on different aspects of libraries such as the American Library Association. The links lead me to reliable sources that provided just facts to readers without any real bias. All the sources appeared to just be neutral and giving facts to the users. A lot of the chat in the talk page for this article was the fact that it was very US centric and that it needed more information on libraries in other countries. This article is part of a Wikiproject, which is where I originally found it. I was rated as a C-class because it needs more information to improve it.

Article Selection: American Library Association: One big problem I notice with this article is it has very little information about membership in the ALA and does not say how you can become a member. Also the information they do have on memberships is very outdated and I was able to located updated information on the ALA's website. I feel like that information may be important to add so people can understand exactly what membership means and how they can get it. The article seemed to be neutral to me and just stated the facts about the ALA and talked about different things that the ALA does. The citations appear to be reliable and up to date, although the membership information is out of date. I think it is a pretty good article that covers the information well besides the lack of membership information.

Library Science: This article is not biased in any way and provides just the facts about the library science field. Most of the information is up to date however, I feel like more information should be added on technology in libraries. There is so much great information about how technologies are effecting both patrons and library staff members. The information the article provides about technology and libraries is also from four years ago and so much more technology has been integrated into libraries. The ALA provides articles with information about different types of technologies and how they are effecting libraries. I think that the article would be much improved if it had some more up to date information about technology and libraries.

Professional Association of Therapeutic Horsemanship International (PATH Intl.): This article lacks a lot of key information about PATH and could really benefit from having more information added to it. The article does not contain any information about the founding of PATH or any of it's history. The information the article does provide is out of date as well. I would want to add a little bit about the history to the article as well as adding information about how programs have accreditation and how many people this organization helps. I was able to find a lot of good information about these statistics on PATH's website including an updated fact sheet with how many people they are currently helping.

Special Olympics: This article has been well kept and updated nicely. As I was browsing through the talk page I noticed that someone mentioned that the page did not mention any of the supporters of Special Olympics. I found this kinda of surprising because there are a lot of celebrities support the Special Olympics and advocate for them. Celebrities also provide a lot of finical support to the Special Olympics and their athletes. I think it may be good to add a section about this topic to show just what effect Special Olympics has had on people all over the world and show the importance of it. I think it is important to show everyone how much of an impact Special Olympics truly has on the world.

Stub Page Activity: Federal Research Division: This page does not offer a ton of information on the history of the FRD and why it was created. I think it is important to include this because the history will tell the story of why it was created and why it is still relevant today. This information can be easily accessed on the government's website. The website also provides sources where people can find more information about the history as well as contact information, if you want to know more then what was provided. The article also needs to improve it's citations because a lot of them are very unclear on where exactly te information came from. They are not really citations on the article so it is very unclear where exactly the information is coming from and whether or not it is paraphrased or copied directly from the article.

PATH Intl. serves people of all ages, backgrounds and walks of life. They serve people with both physical challenges as well as those with mental challenges. Some examples of challenges participants face are multiple sclerosis, down syndrome, post traumatic stress disorder, autism and traumatic brain injuries.

As of December 31 2018 there are 873 centers that are members of PATH Int and 4,776 certified professionals working in these centers. On top of the certified professionals there are 61,642 volunteers working in the centers. There are over 7,943 different equines that are used as part of these programs.The centers and there staff and volunteers serve 68,929 adults and children with varying disabilities. Within the 68,929 participants in these programs 6,724 of them are veterans.

PATH Programs
Besides just offering horseback riding lessons many of the PATH centers also offer of equine assisted therapies to its participants such as driving, vaulting, competitions,hippotherapy, ground work and stable management. In addition to these programs PATH Intl. has a program called PATH International Equine Services for Heroes, which is designed specifically to help war veterans and military personal. The program utilizes a number of equine assisted therapies to help military members after they have returned home. PATH Intl has also partnered with the Wounded Warrior Project to help provide scholarships to wounded service members so that they can participate in equine assisted activities at PATH Intl accredited centers.

Instructor certification/education
PATH Intl. provides certification for a number of equine assisted therapies including riding, driving and vaulting. There are three levels of certification that riding instructors may achieve which are, Registered, Advanced and Master. Instructors may apply for any level of certification that they feel they qualified to achieve, as long as the meet the criteria for that level. The criteria set for each level determines on much knowledge the instructor needs to have on Horsemanship, Disabilities, Equine Management, Instruction and Teaching Methodology. Instructor evaluations, regardless of level, are based on this criteria. Instructors must also complete a written and practical exam as well attending workshops to achieve their accreditation. Instructors who teach at PATH Intl. Member Centers must be certified by PATH Intl. in order to work with program participants.

History
PATH international was originally formed in 1969 as the North American Riding for the Handicapped Association (NARHA) to promote equine-assisted activities for individuals with disabilities. The organization was created because a group of individuals realized that there should be some type of organization to help get information about therapeutic horseback riding out to the public. The name was changed in July 2011 to better reflect the mission of and the people served by PATH Intl.

When it was first created the NARHA had two main goals, accrediting centers and certifying instructors. The founding members of the NARHA wanted to insure that equine assisted activity centers were being run properly and helping its participants gain benefits from the activities. Accrediting center and certifying instructors are still the core goals in the organization today.

PATH Intl. Strides
Four times a year PATH Intl. sends a copy of ''PATH Intl. Strides'' to its members. ''PATH Intl. Strides'' is a journal that focuses on the impact of PATH Intl. on its members. It includes rider profiles, how-to articles, editorials and instructional columns that help to get information about equine assisted activities out and explain some of the finer aspects of them to not only PATH Intl. members but the public as well. Each seasonal edition has its own theme. The publication is available in both an electronic format as well as a print format. The current issues of the publication are only available to PATH Intl. members, however non-members can view older editions of the publication through the PATH Intl. website.