User:Metroidm/Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine

ARTICLE EVALUATION


 * Name of article:
 * Cybernetics: Or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine
 * Reason for Choosing Article:
 * I was assigned to read and review this article for my Senior Seminar, not only did I find it interesting but highly informative concerning the origins of Cybernetics. I hope to evaluate this article as best as I am able in order to help others who may come across this article to understand what Wiener was trying to convey.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * The page includes an introductory sentence that names the book, the author and the date of publication and then moves on to explain the significance of the book in the world of science.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * The lead goes into brief detail of some of the topics presented in the book before moving on to show a table of contents for the page.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * The lead states everything that is in the page and does not exclude any information.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?
 * The lead is very concise and is a great way for a reader to understand briefly what the book is about before moving on to the full page.

Content

 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * The article only discusses Wiener's book, what ideas it presents and the impact it had on the world.
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * The latest source in the bibliography was written between 1994 and 1995 but considering the book was written in 1948 with a follow up book written about a decade or so later, I would deduce that the information presented is up to date (though if I can find some more recent articles discussing the book I would very much like to include them.)
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
 * All content that is presented pertains to the article and does not seem to add anything unnecessary.

Tone and Balance

 * Is the article neutral?
 * In the past the article leaned more towards Wiener being the sole inventor of cybernetics but has since been edited to be neutral.
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * When the article was first written it was biased toward Wiener being the sole creator of cybernetics as seen in the talk page but this has since been fixed.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * The article discusses the book and what critics (and later mainstream audiences) had to say concerning what the book presented.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?
 * The article remains on topic and does not deviate to any sort of persuasion.

Sources and References

 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * All sources are from reliable scientific critics of the time the book was published or by scholarly sources reviewing the book decades later.
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * The sources are thorough about what book discusses and its potential implications on the world.
 * Are the sources current?
 * The latest source was written in the mid 1990's.
 * Check a few links. Do they work?
 * Two of the six sources do not have hyperlinks but the other four have working hyperlinks.

Organization

 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * The article is written in very easy to understand language.
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * It has a few grammatical errors but these have been mostly fixed.
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?
 * The article is very well organized, each point in the table of contents leads to every part of the article and each section focuses solely on what the section entails.

Images and Media

 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * The only image is a picture of the original version of the book and what its cover looked like.
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * The only caption explains that the image of the book is a first edition of the book.
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * The image follows copyright regulation.
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?
 * The image is placed at the start of the article and to the right drawing the reader's eyes to it.

Checking the talk page

 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * The talk page hasn't been used since 2016 and the only conversations discussed the creation of the article and changing the emphasis of the article.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * The article is rated as a Start-Class article and is located in the Wikiproject Books section of Wikiprojects.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * The article focuses on the whole book instead of just the one section we had to read for class.

Overall impressions

 * What is the article's overall status?
 * It is rated as a "start" article.
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * The article presents the information in an easily digestible manner and covers everything discussed in the book as well as the reception surrounding it.
 * How can the article be improved?
 * Other than continued grammar checking I think the article is just fine the way that it is, perhaps finding some newer sources would be good too.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?
 * This article is very well developed and covers all bases concerning Wiener's book.