User:Jde66leston1/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: Sanford Berman
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate. I selected this article because Berman is a notable figure and pioneer to the critical librarianship movement and his contributions to cataloging appeal to my professional interests.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? Yes, Berman is introduced as a noteworthy cataloging librarian. I would suggest rephrasing the first sentence to eliminate the parenthetical though.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? The Lead section provides a very brief four sentence summary about Berman. I believe that this section could provide a more clear overview of Berman's contributions— namely his advocacy for alternative subject headings. The Contents section provides a sound and logical structure for the article.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article? Yes and I found that led to some confusion what's most important about Berman. For example, it says: "His vehicles of influence include public speaking, voluminous correspondence, and unsolicited "care packages" delivered via the U.S. Postal Service. [2]" I don't think the phrasing and inclusion of this sentence leads to any greater clarity about Berman, and it never gets readdressed in the body of the article.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? The Lead is concise.

Lead evaluation
The Lead is concise but provides a fair introduction to who Sanford Berman is. I would suggest mentioning Berman's most noteworthy contributions to correcting biases in LCSH. While Berman's contributions to the LIS profession are largely positive, I'm not sure including a columnist's praise for Berman ("He makes you proud to be a librarian") is an appropriate introduction. I would also suggest some minor editing to improve sentence clarity.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic? Yes, the article has a logical organization of relevant content about Berman (Biography, Alternative Subject Headings, and Later Work). I might suggest adding an additional section on Berman's social justice work (and using that section to discuss his work with the ALA's Hunger, Homelessness, and Poverty Task Force and Social Responsibility Round Table).
 * Is the content up-to-date? No, the article does not seem to have included any information about Berman later than 2013. My own research has indicated that Berman is still actively contributing to social justice work in librarianship, and was even honored with the Tom Oye Award in 2019.
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong? I think the content simply needs to be updated for any of Berman's work in the last 7 years.

Content evaluation
The content of the article is entirely relevant to Berman. The largest section on Alternative Subject Headings could potentially be broken up so that Berman's other social justice work in libraries is highlighted separately. Additionally, the article could use some updating to reflect Berman's work and accomplishments from the last 7 years.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral? For the most part, the article sticks to the facts and maintains a neutral point of view. There are some instances where some assumptions become repackaged as facts and this needs to be corrected.
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position? There are a few claims that are unsubstantiated, where the contributor provides interpretations about Berman. For example, in the Alternative Subject Headings section, it reads: "Berman realized the continued use of biased subject headings would significantly limit the ability of a patron to access materials in the collection. Berman also thought the use of language in headings should be clear and concise, and should reflect the current use of everyday people rather than only scientific or technical terms. Overall, the use of common language in subject headings would enable prompt retrieval of materials by the end user. [citation needed]" In another instance, it reads: "With other Minnesota librarians, as well as those nationally and internationally, Berman is known for promoting activist librarianship in which personal ideals entailing social justice are part and parcel of professional work. Thanks to this advocacy the American Library Association's official policy recognizes key role of librarians in addressing social ills." In either of these cases, I don't have a clear source to know where or how those facts were derived. It leave me a little unsure about the editorial credibility.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented? The article does subtly lean towards commending Berman as an activist. As a polarizing figure in librarianship, I feel editors could show that he was an agitator and sparked controversy in the profession.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another? In general, I don't think there's any serious effort made in the article to persuade me about Berman's work.

Tone and balance evaluation
While I think the editors have the best intentions in portraying the facts about the career of Berman, they need to be more careful with including any assumptions or interpretations in their article. As such, their evaluation could be more developed to illustrate both Berman's push for LCSH reform and awareness of social justice issues alongside the opposition and controversies that his advocacy created.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information? There are some facts lacking citations.
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic? Some credible sources are provided (e.g. Library Journal, Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, etc.). Berman's Prejudice and Antipathies is also used as a primary source. Still there is more literature available on Berman that can provide a more complete biographical overview.
 * Are the sources current? While the sources still exist and are technically current, the information sourced in the article is not recent.
 * Check a few links. Do they work? The links provided work.

Sources and references evaluation
This article needs a few additional citations to support some claims made about Berman. The sources provided are credible, but the article could use more literature to help create a more robust biography.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read? I think the writing could be improved to provide more clarity on the topics. As an example, the first sentence of the Lead could be improved without parentheses.
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors? Yes, some sentences are poorly constructed. For example: "Cataloging that was outrightly erroneous or inadequate rendered material inaccessible even though it was in the collection."
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic? The article is fairly well-organized and has a logical structure. As mentioned earlier, it seems like Berman's social justice work could have its own section outside of the Alternative Subject Headings section.

Organization evaluation
This article can be improved with some editing. The sentence phrasing and language used creates stumbling blocks for readers, where information could be delivered more fluidly. Moreover, editors may want to reorganize the Alternative Subject Headings section into another topic for some of Berman's other work in social justice/critical librarianship.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic? No images are provided.
 * 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
This article may benefit from at least one photo of Sanford Berman.

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 haven't been any discussions on the Talk page.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects? This article is rated in the Start-class, with Low-importance. It is a part of four very general WikiProjects: Biographies, Libraries, Minnesota, and Chicago.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class? I think the Wikipedia article provides some basic and broad facts about Berman that readers can further explore, but lacks the rigorous review to provide authority on the subject.

Talk page evaluation
While there are some clear ways that this article can be improved, there hasn't been any discussion on how to edit the Berman page. While an important influence in librarianship, Berman is more of a niche figure and it makes sense there's not as much discussion surrounding his biography.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status? The article is active, with minor edits as recently as this year. It does seem that content could be updated to reflect the last 6-7 years.
 * What are the article's strengths? I think the article offers a succinct biography of Berman, and the editors provided some credible sources to give readers accurate biographical information.
 * How can the article be improved? The article needs some editing for grammar, clarity, and sentence structure. Some claims need citations or should be removed from the article to ensure all information is factual and delivered with a neutral point of view. The article could further divide sections to reflect Berman's variety of social justice work.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed? The article could use some more sources to demonstrate Berman's work and impact in librarianship. Since Berman is still alive and active, some updates would be appropriate.

Overall evaluation
It appears that this article on Berman has stalled in its development and could be more fully developed to include his more recent contributions and honors. The article provides some helpful and reliable resources on Berman, but the list is far from exhaustive. As mentioned above, the article could be improved with editing to improve clarity and information delivery.

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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 * Link to feedback: Talk:Sanford Berman