User:Mnoble13/Evaluate an Article

Which article are you evaluating?
American River

Why you have chosen this article to evaluate?
I chose this article because the American River flows right next to campus and I have always lived near it. I wanted to read more about its history and present-day information.

Lead section:


 * The introductory sentence is concise and gives a very simple definition of what the American River is.
 * It includes a brief description of the main features of the American River and mentions topics that will be discussed in further depth throughout the article.
 * The information present is very generic and doesn't include anything that doesn't pertain to the American River.
 * The lead is very brief and concise.

Content:


 * The article contains relevant information to the American River.
 * I think there may be a bit of excess information in the Middle Fork section regarding recreational activities, specifically about one event.
 * As far as I'm aware, the information is up-to-date. The last edit was made on 1/31/2022.
 * I think this article does a good job of providing detailed history of the American River region's inhabitants. The article highlights native tribes who have lived in the region for 5,000 years before colonizers arrived and claimed the land. While the history on native inhabitants is brief, it still has been included and their land claim has been acknowledged.

Tone and Balance


 * I think this article is written in a neutral point-of-view. There were plenty of opportunities to push an agenda or make a statement claiming that some action was considered negative, but the article stays neutral and only reports the facts/events.
 * Since native tribes have historically inhabited the regions of the American River, I think their perspective in modern times is underrepresented.

Sources and References


 * The references list shows that the majority of sources cited in this article are from governmental agencies (USGS, CA State Parks, NPS, etc.) or peer-reviewed journals. Some sources listed are .com's or newspaper articles, but they aren't used in relation to scientific facts and more so for recreation (i.e. whitewater rafting).
 * The links I selected worked and sent me to pages with the appropriate/listed information.

Organization and Writing Quality


 * This article is well-written and easy to read. It also provided links to topics that were confusing or for subjects I'm not well-versed in.
 * I didn't find any grammar errors while reading the article.
 * I enjoyed the breakdown of sections in the paper. It was easy to follow and made organizational sense.

Images and Media


 * The images included are mostly just pictures of the river at different points and a couple of maps. While these are great to include, I think other photos emphasizing recreation along/in the river would be good additions to the article.
 * The images are well-captioned in my opinion. They are brief, but provide enough detail about the picture.

Talk Page Discussion


 * The talk page has a couple of suggestions/critiques about certain aspects of the article. For example, one person mentioned how the river was redirected through a tunnel for gold miners -- which seems notable -- wasn't included in the article.
 * Users also asked questions about why/how the river was named and asked for a source clarification for a certain piece of information.
 * This article is rated as a Class-C article and is a part of multiple WikiProjects: WikiProject California, WikiProject United States/American Old West, and WikiProject Rivers.

Overall Impressions


 * I think this article is well-developed to an extent. I think more information could be added in regard to current native tribe presence and how/if their lifestyle still involves the American River. More information could be added if studies have been conducted/data is available regarding certain characteristics of the river. Overall, this article has a good amount of information about the American River and its ecosystem.