User:Gruzsa/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: Utopian studies
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.
 * I chose the article because I have an interest in Utopian literature. When I was in my undergrad program, I took a course on Utopian/Distopian literature.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Lead evaluation
While the lead does concisely explain what the article's topic is, there is not a description of the major sections. The lead is only a couple of sentences describing what Utopian studies are and where the term "Utopia" came from.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Content evaluation
While the article's content is relevant to the topic, I would argue that there is a lot missing from the article. The lead mentions that Utopian studies look at utopianism in all forms, including utopian literature. However, most of the content seems to be related to utpian theory and the actual study of utopainism. The content really just consists of three lists, one for scholars of utopians, one for awards, societies, conferences, and journals, and one for significant works. The article might be improved by expanding to more than just lists. The article was last updated in October of 2018, so the article is not up to date.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Tone and balance evaluation
I would say that the article is neutral, only because the article is made up entirely of bulleted lists, rather than paragraphs with written content. I would say that Utopian theory is overrepresented, while utopian literature is underrepresented.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Sources and references evaluation
Nothing in this article is backed up by outside sources, and nothing is cited. There are a few external links to societies as well as a journal, although one of the links no longer works because the domain name expired.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Organization evaluation
The article is organized well, the lists are concise and easy to read, but I wish there was more content.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Images and media evaluation
The article contains no images.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Talk page evaluation
There are two comments in the talk page, both questioning why certain things were or were not included in the article. As far as I can tell it isn't part of any WikiProject. This isn't a topic we've discussed in class, but the article is different than classes I've taken related to the topic in that it talks about the theories about utipias rather than examples of utopias.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * 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?

Overall evaluation
Overall, this is a good start to an article, but I really think it could be improved by adding more content. It is underdeveloped in that it does not discuss the topic so much as it gives lists of content related to the topic. Offering a discussion of some of the Utopian scholars that are listed within the article, or an overview of some of the texts that are listed would do a lot to improve the article, as well as including more than just Utopian theory, since the lead specifies that the article includes Utopian literature, but does not deliver on this promise.

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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