User:Msfoli/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: Guitar
 * I have been playing the guitar for a few years, but I have never learned the history of the guitar. I selected this article because I wanted to learn more about the instrument I play.

Lead evaluation
I believe the Lead includes a concise description of what a guitar is and how it is played, as well as a brief history of its predecessors. I think the way this lead was written is well developed because it gets straight to the point with how it is played and what it looks like, which I believe to be the most important info regarding a guitar. The lead also includes the wide variety of guitars and accessories that exist as well as gives a short description of each topic. This allows the reader to gain simple info on each topic and decide which part of the article they find important to read first. None of the information included in the lead is left out of the article. I believe the lead is concise, but goes to far in depth on electric guitars especially since it does not go as in depth in any of the other topics. I believe that much of the info in the lead regarding electric guitars can go later in the article.

Content evaluation
I believe that the article does a great job in including content that is relative to the article. It also goes very much in depth on each topic with many resources such as videos and photos. I think that this article is up to date and doesn't leave out any details that may be unpopular or deemed "unimportant"

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?

Tone and balance evaluation
This article does a good job at remaining neutral and does not favor one type of guitar or style of guitar over another. I think that the focus shines a little more in the electric guitar genre than anywhere else, but it is not enough to warrant any change. I think this article includes the social impact/aspect of the guitar that is incredible important to the history of the guitar. While this article is about the instrument, I think more details on how the guitar has influenced music and culture would only add to the article.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * Are the sources current?
 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Sources and references evaluation
I think that this article is backed up by reliable sources, many of the links I tried work and many of the sources are up to date and reliable.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?

Organization evaluation
I think the article is well organized and has a good flow from history, to the types of guitars, to the different parts of one quite well. I think it goes into detail quite a bit which is good, but it can make it hard to pull out certain facts and details that people want/need. I think the media towards the end gets a little sloppy. There are a lot of photos that are placed in the text and to the right of the text. I think it would be better if the media was all in one area of the article ie. to the left/to the right

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?

Images and media evaluation
The media was a great addition and offers a variety from sounds, photos, and videos

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?

Talk page evaluation
There are lots of discussions on things that were left out and discussions on correcting paragraphs for clarification, or biased. It also looks like many of these comments have been put into consideration and changed

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * How can the article be improved?
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?

Overall evaluation
I very much enjoy this article and I think that the community around the page has done a great job at keeping it in good condition. The talk page is active and the writers are making changes based upon the talk page. This is the ultimate way in which good articles are written, and the guitar article is a product of that.

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

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