User:Mre88135/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: Quesnel, British Columbia
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.
 * I was born and raised in Quesnel, British Columbia. In the introductory materials we read for this class, the author suggested we review the Wiki entries for the areas we live in, so I looked up Quesnel. I was shocked at what was included in this article, but just as shocked about what has been excluded. I am very much looking forward to editing this page to reflect some of the history and the culture of Quesnel.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * While the Lead includes some introductory information that generally describes the topic, it is done in a very colonial way (i.e. the geographic location as it relates to other metropolitan areas, the population, etc. nothing about the surrounding First Nations).
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * No, brief descriptions of the major sections appears to be missing from the Lead.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * Yes, the information about Shirao, Japan is included in the Lead but missing in the article.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?
 * The Lead is concise, but not overly detailed. There is much room for improvement here.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Yes, most content is relevant to the topic. It was interesting someone took the time to add the neighbourhood breakdown in the main article (Quesnel is pretty small) without a map or further information. This information seems a bit unnecessary without further context, but I think this is another indication that the article is missing a lot of information.
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * Much of the content can be updated (i.e. it has the population from 2016, there is more recent data available).
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
 * Lots of content is missing. There is next to nothing about the surrounding First Nations, and important historical events such as the hanging of Tsilhqot'in Nation Chiefs in 1864.
 * There is also nothing about the history of resource extraction that Quesnel is known for, and the dependance on Chinese and other workers to build the CN rail that runs right through the city.
 * There is nothing listed about the politics in Quesnel, or how the area tends to vote/who they vote for either municipally, provincially, or federally.
 * Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?
 * Absolutely not. As indicated above, there is much room for improvement.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?
 * Yes, the article is neutral.
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Not so much claims, but the information included is very much skewed to Quesnel's connection with hockey and sports.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * In the "Notable People" section there are a bunch of men listed (no women) and all are hockey players with the exception of one MMA fighter. I can rattle off many, many notable people from Quesnel, many women, who are not on this list.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favour of one position or away from another?
 * No, this article seems to be a relaying of information and statistics, and does not necessarily employ persuasive writing.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * Yes, the census data is all properly cited, and the portions of the article that reflects culture and sports and cited with the local newspaper source.
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * There is room for more current sources (i.e. Statistics Canada) but overall, yes the sources are thorough. It doesn't appear to be missing any substantial citations.
 * Are the sources current?
 * The most recent sources are from 2019, so there is room for improvement.
 * Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?
 * There doesn't appear to be any diversity in the authors. If articles are cited, they have been written by men.
 * Check a few links. Do they work?
 * Yes, the links I have clicked work.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * Yes, the article is concise, clear, and easy to read.
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * I cannot see any spelling errors, and the grammatical errors I see are minor (i.e. missing an Oxford comma, which is an argument for another day).
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?
 * It is a short article, so it is as well-organized as it can be. The organization will come in handy when more information is added.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * The article includes images which are a nice touch, but doesn't enhance the understanding of the topic (i.e. the images of the fire hydrants which, I'm sorry, do not adequately represent the City of Quesnel).
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * Yes, the few images are well-captioned.
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * I believe so. They are cited, and the citation link brings us to the official City of Quensel webpage, where a PDF (which can be downloaded) contains the images provided in the article.
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?
 * Yes, it appears some thought went into the lay out of the images.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * Interesting conversations are happening in the Talk section. It appears that someone edited some content out because "Quesnel ain't that great".
 * The usual conversations about how Quesnel is pronounced is included (it's kwuh-nel).
 * Discussions on past edits is also useful to see how people use this section to communicate with other editors.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * This article is rated as a start-class of mid-importance.
 * The article is supported by the following WikiProjects: Canada, British Columbia, Geography of Canada, and Canadian Communities.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * This article is very cursory. It does not go into near enough detail to accurately describe Quesnel.
 * This article is in line with our discussions on Wiki being dominated by white male voices, prioritizing some content (hockey, pulp mills, important men) over others (First Nations, culture, history, women and POC).

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * This article is rated as "Start Class", "An article that is developing but still quite incomplete. It may or may not cite adequate reliable sources."
 * The information included is very preliminary, and has many gaps
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * The article's strength is that is has some basic organization set up that will allow a future editor (me!) to add content and fill it out with more relevant and up-to-date information.
 * How can the article be improved?
 * This article can be improved simply by adding more information. This information should include Quesnel's problematic history with the surrounding First Nations, the history of sending children to one of the most notorious residential school's (St. Josephs), information about the gold mining industry, the development of the CN rail and the resulting mistreatment of Chinese immigrants. This is just a cursory list off the top of my head, there is a very large amount of information that is missing that will improve this article.
 * More diverse links and resources can help fill out this article.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?
 * This article is severely underdeveloped. I don't believe there is enough information to classify it as poorly developed, unless you base this assessment off the exclusion of important information related to Quesnel's history.

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

with four tildes — ~


 * Link to feedback: Quesnel, British Columbia
 * I'm not sure what this link should be. I've completed the optional activity, and added evaluation on the Talk page.