User:Laurenmacky/Choose an Article

Article Selection
Please list articles that you're considering for your Wikipedia assignment below. Begin to critique these articles and find relevant sources.

Option 1

 * Article title
 * Sphalerite


 * Article Evaluation
 * The sphalerite article is missing many references, there are multiple paragraphs and article sections that do not contain a single citation. There are claims to what minerals are associated with sphalerite, its crystal structure and physical properties, which need reliable references. Some contain online mineral databases as references that can be replaced with reliable sources like textbooks and peer-reviewed journal articles. Four out of eight references are from the same author, so there should be more diversity in the citations so that it does not just reflect one author's ideas. All of the material is relevant to the topic, but the writing redundant words and it could be written more concisely. Overall, there is not a lot of material in the article. Certain sections only contain a sentence or two, where a lot more information could be added, especially on economics and uses on sphalerite. The article has been rated as Start-Class, is a level-5 vital article in Earth Science and is a part of three WikiProjects (Mining, Gemstones, Rocks and minerals). There is little discussion on the Talk page, only brief comments about adding properties such as melting point, lustre, etc. The most recent activity was August 2018. To improve this article, I would add new sections and add material to the existing ones. The following sections would be added: formation and types of deposits, uses (the only use mentioned in the article is being a gemstone), how it is mined, zinc extraction and industry.


 * Sources
 * Nesse (2013) : contains information of composition, structure, physical properties, alteration, occurrence, cleavage, etc.
 * Cook et al. (2009) : what trace elements and minor elements are in sphalerite.
 * Richard and Law (2016) : distribution of sphalerite deposits, how deposits form and properties.
 * Davis et al. (2012) : sphalerite distribution, petrography and geochemistry from the Sterling Hill Mine.

Option 2

 * Article title
 * Chonolith


 * Article Evaluation
 * The chonolith article is rated as Stub-class, meaning that it contains little content. This article only has two sentences defining a chonolith and then examples of known chonoliths around the world. Despite the lack of material, the references provided for the chonolith examples are all reliable, they are textbooks, peer-reviewed textbooks and papers from the USGS. There is no discussion on the Talk page and the article is of low-important for two WikiProjects (Volcanoes and Geology). Since there is little content, the main improvement to this article would be to add more relevant information with reliable references. Potential topics to add to the article include origin (multiple theories), ore deposits, size and shape, distribution and locating them.


 * Sources
 * Lightfoot and Evans-Lamswood (2015)
 * Barnett et al. (2018)
 * Evans (2018)
 * Daly (1905)

Option 3

 * Article title
 * Galena


 * Article Evaluation
 * There are not enough references for the quantity of material in the galena article and the ones given are not reliable; many of the references are websites and online mineral databases. To improve the article, references need to be added to all of the information lacking and the unreliable ones need to be changed to peer-review journals, textbooks or other reliable sources. The article is not entirely neutral, there are multiple times that the phrase "most important" is used, which suggests that author's opinion on galena. Many of the sections of little text and need to be added to so that the sections balance out in terms of amount of information; some sections of multiple paragraphs, whereas others have one or two sentences. More sections could also be added because there are important topics about galena missing, such as industry, properties, formation, history and environmental impacts. All of the information in the article is relevant and none should be taken out. The article has been rated as C-Class, is a level-5 vital article to Earth Sciences and is a part of four WikiProjects (Rocks and minerals, Mining, Wisconsin and Missouri). The Talk page is not extensive, the main discussion revolves around combing the galena article with the lead sulphide article because they have the same chemistry.


 * Sources
 * Nesse (2013) : contains information of composition, structure, physical properties, alteration, occurrence, cleavage, etc.
 * Lar (2013) : health impacts of galena mining
 * Manutchehr-Danai (2009) : general information
 * Makoundi (2015) : galena occurences, sample descriptions, trace elements, lead isotopes

Option 4

 * Article title
 * Article Evaluation
 * Sources
 * Sources
 * Sources

Option 5

 * Article title
 * Article Evaluation
 * Sources
 * Sources
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