User:Kyra Robertson/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
(Provide a link to the article here.)

Bushveld Igneous Complex

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
(Briefly explain why you chose it, why it matters, and what your preliminary impression of it was.)

I chose this article to evaluate because it is one of Earth's largest and richest deposit complexes. The Bushveld Igneous Complex contains massive quantities of natural resources. It has one of the largest reserves of platinum group metals and elements extracted and used in our daily lives. This article matters because it is an excellent example of natural resources of the Earth, which ties in with the content in the course. Initially, I thought it gave a good overview of the complex and resource deposits found. It provides information that would be beneficial as a starting point for researching the complex and is looking for a non-science approach. In my opinion, with a geology background, it lacked a little and could have focused and have added information in particular areas.

Evaluate the article
(Compose a detailed evaluation of the article here, considering each of the key aspects listed above. Consider the guiding questions, and check out the examples of what a useful Wikipedia article evaluation looks like.)

Lead Section:

There is a well-defined introduction sentence that provides the necessary information about the complex. Also, this section states a brief sentence or two about most of the areas. Some of that information is out of date, sources from the late 20th century, and we have conducted more research since. One of the more critical sections, geology, isn't adequately defined in terms of geological history. The lead section is concise and portrays essential and useful information without having to read the major sections.

Content:

The information in this article is all very relevant. The majority of the content is up-to-date, but not all of it is. The geology section could be expanded with the most up-to-date proposals of how the complex formed. Another major topic, such as the mining section could be reformed to include present-day information such as the number of operational mines, locations, what their mining for and how the companies are doing it. Updating the table under the reserves section because it has been approximately ten years since new data was added. Overall the sections on the topic were equally weighted on content and length and weren't bias.

Tone and Balance:

The article was conveyed with a neutral tone. There is no specific section that I deemed biased or out weighted another section. All the viewpoints are adequately represented using different sources and data, which are all primarily up-to-date. This article does not attempt to persuade the readers in any one position since the topic is outlying information on the Bushveld complex.

Sources and References:

The majority of facts within the article are backed up by reliable secondary sources or information. There are areas where a citation should be needed, such as in the social issues subsection, still, it states that a citation is required. Sources can be found throughout the article, one particular section, origin and formation under the geology, lacks sources to back up the specific information. The majority of the sources are current. Some are not, and they date back to the late 1900s, and since then, much has changed in the mining, geology and resource extraction industry. The sources that are present are written by a range of authors, companies and institutions. There are better and more current peer-reviewed sources that could be used to update the article since science is continuously being modernized.

Organization and Writing Quality:

The article is well written, and it does not portray a science tone, which is beneficial for the public to read but not great for people who are well versed in the topic. The overall organization of the article is well laid out, easy to follow and read. All the main sections are followed by an informative subsection that contains details.

Images and Media:

Some images visually aid one's further understand, showing the location of the complex, the stratigraphic units and images of rock outcroppings found at the complex. All the captions are well elaborated and describe what is being shown while adhering to the copywriter regulations.

Talk page discussion:

The majority of the conversations are about how sources are out of data, and more new information should be added. There are three wiki projects that this article is part of, wiki project geology, mining and South Africa. It is rated as mid-importance.

Overall Impressions:

The overall status of the article is relatively complete there is one section, Industry, which is empty. Some of the article's strengths are the neutral conveyance that allows the general public to understand the topic and learn about the Bushveld complex. Some improvements are updating sources, providing new scientific research and data and more information for the mining sections. Overall the article is sufficiently developed but can use revising and new components to make it well developed.