User:Onedayinmay/sandbox

Assignment #1
For this assignment, I chose the following topics:
 * The book Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery
 * Introduced species or alien species
 * Peter the Great
 * Shoppers Drug Mart

Wikipedia Sources
"Anne of Green Gables." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 24 Sep. 2012. Web. 1 Oct. 2012.

"Introduced species." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 12 Sep. 2012. Web. 1 Oct. 2012.

"Peter the Great." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 28 Sep. 2012. Web. 1 Oct. 2012.

"Shoppers Drug Mart." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 24 Sep. 2012. Web. 1 Oct. 2012.

Other Encyclopedias
"Anne of Green Gables." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica-Dominion, 2012. Web. 1 Oct. 2012.

Hogan, C. Michael. "Alien Species." Eds. Mark McGinley and Cutler J. Cleveland. Encyclopedia of Earth. Encyclopedia of Earth, 26 Jan. 2011. Web. 1 Oct. 2012.

Hughes, Lindsey. "Peter I." Encyclopedia of Russian History. Encyclopedia.com, 2004. Web. 1 Oct. 2012.

"Shoppers Drug Mart." The Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica-Dominion, 2012. Web. 1 Oct. 2012.

About the Search Process
My topic selection happened somewhat in reverse: I ended up finding my topics on the other encyclopedias before I looked for them on Wikipedia. There is a reason for this: The other encyclopedias seemed more limited, either by topic or by number of contributors. When I tried looking up articles on Wikipedia first, I had trouble finding information on them somewhere else, because they appeared to be too obscure.

I did not have much of a plan when I was looking for topics; rather, I did what I usually do with Wikipedia, which is browse until I stumbled upon things that were of interest and relevance to me. This is also the reason why there is no overarching theme to my choices -- they are simply things that caught my eye.

There are a few differences between the different encyclopedias that I employed in this assignment. The Canadian Encyclopedia seems to have shorter articles in comparison to Wikipedia. The articles seem more like summaries, and there are no subtopics. However, the encyclopedia does over many external links to other resources; moreso than Wikipedia does. The Canadian Encyclopedia also seems to focus on topics related to Canada in particular.

Encyclopedia.com is far more universal, in contrast. The special thing about Encyclopedia.com is that it appears to be a complication of different encyclopedias and source books. When I searched for Peter the Great, Encyclopedia.com came up with several different articles that I could switch between, each sourced from a different text. This would likely be very useful when trying to quickly cross-verify facts on a topic.

The Encyclopedia of Earth features more pictures and sleek flash applications than the other two -- it definitely appears to be a website designed to be browsed. At the same time, the website contains not only encyclopedia entries, but also essays and video. There appear to be editors, much like in Wikipedia, but there seems to be more focus on accountability and quality control -- the author and editors of the article I was looking at are listed by their full legal names.

Summary of the Wikipedia Article
Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov, also known as Peter I or Peter the Great, was a Russian tsar and, later on, Emperor of All Russia. He was born June 9th 1672 to Tsar Alexis I of Russia and Natalya Naryshkina, Alexis’ wife and Tsaritsa. Alexis died when Peter was three years of age; because of this, Peter’s childhood was marked with interfamilial struggles for power. When he was ten, he was crowned co-regent along with his older half-brother Ivan V; however, Ivan’s mental disabilities rendered him ineffective as a ruler. As a result, Peter’s half-sister Sophia Alexeyevna was the de facto head of state during Peter’s childhood. As Peter matured, Sophia’s power diminished; eventually she was overthrown and imprisoned in a convent.

Peter’s rule was marked by a thirst for innovation and modernization, but also by stark brutality in response to any challenge to his authority. Early in his life, he toured the Western European kingdoms incognito; in doing so, he learned much about European disciplines such as shipbuilding and gained much admiration for European culture and customs. Upon his return to Russia, he embarked on a quest towards reform. Peter demanded that his boyars (members of the aristocracy) and the army give up their long beards and old-fashioned clothing. He replaced the old Russian calendar with the Julian calendar, made reforms to education, bureaucracy, the army, and the church. He also worked tirelessly to make Russia a naval power. As an end to these means, he undertook a number of military campaigns with the goal of expanding on Russia’s naval openings. In his later years, having succeeded in expanding Russian territory, he took the title of Emperor of All Russia. His health began to decline in 1723 and he died on February 8, 1725 from the complications of uremia.

Summary of the Encyclopedia.com Article
Peter I, also known as Peter the Great, was a Russian tsar and emperor. He is regarded as a force of major change in Russia. His lifelong goal was to modernize and westernize the country, although there is disagreement on whether the changes made were positive or negative. In 1682, after a violent uprising of the Moscow musketeers that saw members of his family killed, he was crowned Tsar alongside his half-brother Ivan V, who was severely disabled. Peter spent his youth largely away from the throne and pursuing personal interests. Only upon Ivan’s death in 1696 did Peter finally enjoy full autocracy.

He embarked on an incognito tour of Europe, where he learned shipbuilding. Upon his return, he began his quest to bring Western customs and culture to Russia; many of these cultural changes were met with reluctance from his subjects. He also worked to expand Russian territory, waging wars against both the Ottoman Empire and Sweden. After winning the Great Northern War against Sweden, he was declared Emperor, along with receiving several other titles. His domestic reforms focused on supporting the war effort as well as increasing efficiency in economy, production, and many other aspects. One of the consequences of Peter’s reforms was the poll tax, which made serfs out of many free peasants. He was also the founder of St. Petersburg, which he intended to become a Western European metropolis. Throughout his life, he aggressively pursued progress while mocking and eschewing old traditions; when resistance arose, he met it with merciless force. Historians are, therefore, divided in their opinion of him: some regard him as the father of Russia, while others criticize his preference of Western values over traditional Slavic ones. He died in 1722 from a bladder infection and was succeeded by his widow, Catherine I.

Article Comparison
Both articles provide more or less the same information: A biography of Peter I of Russia. They both discuss the Tsar’s childhood, his political and military engagements, his domestic reforms, and his private life.

The Wikipedia article is around a thousand words longer than the Encyclopedia.com article; however, this does not necessarily mean it is more detailed. Unlike the Encyclopedia.com article, the Wikipedia article contains graphics (mostly paintings and portraits of Peter I) as well as tables detailing his ancestry and issue. The article also contains an “infobox” at the top right of the article, which lists statistics. I believe including this section is standard practice for Wikipedia. There is a table at the bottom of the article, detailing his Regnal and Royal titles (and the time period in which he held each of these) as well as his predecessors and successors for each of them. This area also lists Wikipedia collections that the article is part of (such as “Tsareviches of Russia” or “Saint Petersburg.”)

As mentioned above Encyclopedia.com is shorter; it also, technically, contains fewer subsections (ten to Wikipedia’s eleven.) However, certain topics (such as Peter’s personality and ruling methods, his associates, and historical views of his reform) are addressed in much more detail. Encyclopedia.com does not use as many in-text links as Wikipedia does; it does provide two related articles in a column left of the article, along with related YouTube videos. There is also an assortment of tabs at the top of the article, allowing the user to choose between four different encyclopaedias (albeit I have chosen to evaluate only Lindsey Hughes’ article for the purpose of this assignment.) The Encyclopedia.com article also offers the ability to print the article, print all articles on the topic, cite the article, and various options for sharing it through social networks, blogs, and so on.

Both articles offer lists for further reading and related subjects. A notable difference concerns the variation of name spellings and transliterations from the Cyrillic: Alexis on Wikipedia versus Alexei on Encyclopedia.com, for example. Both are arguably valid, but may be confusing for someone cross-referencing information. A similar issue crops up with certain translated terms: Although “Streltsy” does literally mean “musketeers”, the difference may mislead readers unfamiliar with the term.

Source Analysis
Interestingly enough, the Wikipedia article references the author of the Encyclopedia.com article, Lindsey Hughes. She was a professor of Russian history at the University College London and had written several books about Peter I and his time period. Two sources are also shared between the two articles: Paul Bushkovitch (a history professor at Yale University, he “specializes in Russia before the eighteenth century.” ) and James Cracraft (former history professor at the University of Illinois, who specializes in Peter I ) Aside from these, both articles boast authoritative sources, including Robert K. Massie, whose book Peter the Great: His Life and World won the Pulitzer Prize in 1981 for the Wikipedia article and E. V. Anisimov, who is an acclaimed Russian historian for Encyclopedia.com. Interestingly, Encyclopedia.com also sources The Book of Poverty and Wealth by Ivan Tikhonovich Pososhkov, who was a contemporary of Peter I.

All of the sources are fairly old: the most recent source for the Wikipedia article, The Revolution of Peter the Great, was published in 2003. Although the Encyclopedia.com article itself is slightly more recent – having been published in 2004 – the sources for it are even older (the most recent one being from 2002.) However, since the subject matter deals, for the most part, with distant history, this should not impact the quality of the articles greatly. It is worth noting that one of the references for the Wikipedia article is a website in Russian.

Both articles have “Further Reading” sections; Wikipedia suggests an entry in the Encyclopaedia Britannica, while Encyclopedia.com offers the World Encyclopedia.

Assessment of Both Articles
Both articles provide a great overview on the topic. The Wikipedia article has a notice at the top saying that it has too few inline citations, which is somewhat of a drawback (although it must be noted that the Encyclopedia.com article also largely lacks inline citations.) Where Wikipedia really shines, however, are the tables and graphs containing statistics; thanks to the infobox on the right-hand side of the article, it is extremely easy to find whom Peter succeeded, who his successor was, who his consorts were, when he ruled, and so on. Wikipedia also provides many links within the article: For example, finding out more about Peter’s father, Alexis I, is as easy as clicking his name in the paragraph on Peter’s childhood. The embedded images in the article are nice, but not essential. On the other hand, the list of categories and collections the article belongs to (at the bottom of the article) is extremely helpful, should the reader be seeking to broaden the scope of their research. Wikipedia’s structure is excellent for browsing and exploring.

The weaknesses of the Wikipedia article are only truly noticeable in comparison with the Encyclopedia.com article. Although shorter and featuring fewer extras, this article has a much better structure. Although neither article describes events in fully chronological manner, the Encyclopedia.com article separates and categorizes topics much more neatly and efficiently; the result is much easier to understand. For example, in the Wikipedia article, the sub-headings under “Life” were as follows: “Early years”, “Children”, Early reign”, “Great Northern War”, “Later years”, “Death”. In comparison, the Encyclopedia.com headings are much less vague: “Childhood and youth”, “The Great Northern War, 1700-1721”, “Domestic Reforms”, “The Church”, “St. Petersburg and the New Culture”, “Peter’s Vision and Methods”, “Associates and Opponents”, and “Views of Peter and His Reforms”. The Wikipedia subtopics each attempt to encompass a larger amount of information than the Encyclopedia.com subtopics do, and end up being more confusing for it. Additionally, the impact of Peter’s life is outlined much more clearly in the Encyclopedia.com article, and whereas Wikipedia touches on his personality and associates, they are addressed much more clearly by Encyclopedia.com. Also, although both websites offer services such as ready-made citations and the ability to share the article, these services are much easier to find on Encyclopedia.com.

Overall, I think the two articles suit different purposes. For someone looking up quick facts or trying to find out more about Russian monarchy in general, Wikipedia would be more suited. For someone looking for a coherent, clear overview of Peter’s life, Encyclopedia.com is the answer.

Additional Resources
"Czar Of Russia Peter I." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2011): 1-2. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Nov. 2012.

"Peter I: Introduction — Infoplease.com." Infoplease. Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease, 2000–2007. Web. 17 Nov. 2012

Boeck, Brian J. "When Peter I Was Forced To Settle For Less: Coerced Labor And Resistance In A Failed Russian Colony (1695-1711)." Journal Of Modern History 80.3 (2008): 485-514. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Nov. 2012.

Hingley, Ronald. The Tsars, 1533-1917. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1968. Print.

Hughes, John R. "The Seizures Of Peter Alexeevich=Peter The Great, Father Of Modern Russia." Epilepsy & Behavior 10.1 (2007): 179-182. ''Academic Search Complete. ''Web. 17 Nov. 2012.

Lewitter, L.R. "Peter The Great And The Modern World." History Today 35.2 (1985): 16. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Nov. 2012.

Marasinova, Elena N. "The Russian Monarch's Imperial Title (The Formation Of Official Russian Imperial Doctrine In The Early Eighteenth Century)." Russian Studies In History 45.3 (2006): 9-30. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Nov. 2012.

Smith, David. Russia of the Tsars, 1796-1917. London: Benn, 1971. Print.

Wilson, Derek. "Poltava The Battle That Changed The World." History Today 59.3 (2009): 23-29. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Nov. 2012.

Winkler, Martina. "Rulers And Ruled, 1700-1917." Kritika: Explorations In Russian & Eurasian History 12.4 (2011): 789-806. Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Nov. 2012.