User:Gillian.wold/article critique

= Article review = While I was stationed at Naval Air Station Patuxent River (Pax), I had a lot of free time on my hands. I found a great little museum close to base and started volunteering there. I visited the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum (PRNAM) page on Wikipedia, and found three aspects of it worth commenting on: the museum’s location, staffing, and acquisition of exhibits.

Location
Located in Southern Maryland, Pax is relatively close to DC and many other interesting, historical sites and museums. One of my favorites to visit was the National Cryptologic Museum, near Fort Meade. Southern Maryland also offers many other activities if you like being outdoors. The hunting is great, there are many hiking trails, and since Pax is at the meeting of the Patuxent River and Chesapeake Bay, the fishing is great. The museum is very easy to find if you are familiar with NAS Pax. It is just outside of Gate 1.

Staff
The PRNAM is staffed by mostly volunteers from Pax and the surrounding community. Many of the nearby high schools require community service to graduate. The museum is a popular place for students to serve those hours. The most visible group of volunteers, to the community, is the Board of Directors. It is composed of men and women with deeply-rooted professional networks in area. Their connections bring visitors and donors, and help PRNAM get publicity from the press.

Acquisition
The museum is full of exhibits that show the history of U. S. Naval aviation, including ejection seats, communication equipment, and retired aircraft. Fundraisers are a big part of raising money to acquire and maintain displays. Events are held throughout the year with special guests, speakers, and performers. Raffles, auctions, and vendor events also help bring in much needed money. Some items, such as the aircraft on display, are donated by the squadron from which they were retired. They are towed to the what is affectionately known as the “petting zoo”, just next to the building, where they can be viewed by visitors to the museum.

Summary
In general, I think the page is a good start. The location is shown on a map, but it doesn’t talk about anything else in the area that might encourage someone to come visit. Nothing is mentioned about who runs the museum, and while aircraft are listed, nothing is mentioned about the other items on display. I was glad to find that the museum already has a page. It does have some good information, but it is lacking a lot of information, and has some misstated facts. I look forward to following this page and its progress.

(As required for this assignment, I posted a question on the Patuxent River Naval Air Museum's talk page. Please click here to check it out.)