User:Rivervalleybike/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: (link)Maskwacis
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate. -- I know as part of our study we are looking at decolonizing the internet. It's not something that I had honestly considered before entering this course. I was aware that individuals working on wikipedia would be predominately western, white and likely affluent given that working on wikipedia is generally a volunteer duty. It takes a level of privilege to even view wiki, and an additional level to have the time to work on it for free. I chose Maskwacis because I felt I may be able to pick up on the potential biases of the creator of the page.

Lead

 * Guiding question


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?

Lead evaluation
I believe the lead does have summarize the article, however, it is not until the second sentence that the Indigenous communities that make up Maskwacis are mentioned. The lead does not include a description of some of the major sections, notably "crime" and "education."

I also had a little bit of trouble understanding where the "lead" ends and "content" begins, I would assume at the point where the first header "Georgraphy" comes in. The lead speaks about how some old priest came through the area and picked out a name for it. They don't really speak about any Indigenous origins...

The lead is decently concise, speaks alot about the European origins of the name.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
 * Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics?

Content evaluation
I think the article's content is somewhat relevant, although there is quite a bit missing here. I thought perhaps that the Nations that make up Maskwacis would have more details in their own articles. This was not the case. The geography, population, demographics are all relevant of course. The content is somewhat up-to-date? The population demographics have not been updated since 2016. I honestly am not up to date on the goings on in Maskwacis, so there may be pertinent information that I am missing. I apprieciate that there are some important notable people that are mentioned. This includes Willie Littlechild, the first Indigenous person of status to obtain a law degree and was also a member of parliament.

There is also an education and culture section that is rather barren. There is an "annual pow-wow" noted, which just links generally to the main pow-wow article. It also makes brief note of the Ermineskin Residential school that was present in the area.

I think this article certainly has some serious equity gaps. The entire lead focuses on the name of the area created by colonizers. I was unaware the "Maskwacis" means "Bear Hills" in Cree. This name "Bear Hills" was given by a pastor who came through the area. Hobbema was the last name of a Dutch painter/colonizer in the area. I think, in a way, because Maskwacis was a town created by colonizers, there may be a representation gap as a result. There is little to know information regarding the culture and origin of the Indigenous groups in the area, how the area changed during colonization, and what the area was like pre-colonization.

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
As I have spoken about above, the article contains a heavily western bias. It is clearly written for a western perspective that focuses more on the western colonizers than the Indigenous peoples who make up the area. The section "crime" comes directly after the typical Town/City information, prior to any information involving culture, or really anything else about the area. The arrangement of the article makes it seem as though crime is the most important part. While crime is an unfortunate reality in the area, I think putting it first as far as real information regarding the area is quite telling of the perspective of the creator of the page. It is clear that there is simply a lack of information or knowledge in relation to the surrounding Indigenous communities by the creator. While I don't think there is blatant persuasion in this article, a close look shows some of the biases that we have begun to speak about in class.

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?
 * Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible?
 * Check a few links. Do they work?

Sources and references evaluation
Something I noticed immediately when looking through the article - the colonizers who took part in naming the area, Father Scollen and the Dutch Painter Hobbema both have their own articles. The elder or "chief" in the area - Chief Bobtail, does not have his own page, and he is mentioned one single time with Father Scollen for their part in convincing young men in the area to not join the Northwest Rebellion. None of this history surrounding the name or the colonizers of the area has a link source. The only linked sources in the lead surround the name change in 2014.

I don't think that the sources are thorough, mostly surface level news articles from 10 years ago. All seem to be from large western media corporations or the federal government. Most have a tone surrounding the problems of crime in Hobbema. There appears to be no Indigenous authors, sources or journalists present here. All white western media. The links work for the most part.

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 don't notice any spelling areas or grammar issues. As I have spoken about above, the ordering of the topics with "Crime" at the top sticks out. I think some of the major points of the topic are covered, but on a very very surface level.

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 images are somewhat helpful. All but one is to do with the geography of the area. The only actual image is of a grain elevator. Nothing to do with the Indigenous culture of the area. They appear to be following the regulations correctly. As I said, most of the images are maps so the look is very plain and quite boring.

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
I was encouraged by the talk page. It appears there is an individual who is working on changing some of the problems with the article that I have seen. There are also some people complaining from a long time ago that Hobbema was a painter and that they don't care about the Hobbema in Alberta. The article is rated as "start-class" and of "low-importance." It apepars to be part of the "wikiproject Canada," which aims to improve the coverage of Canada on Wiki.

We haven't really discussed Maskwacis in class, but as I have mentioned above, there are certainly issues present that we have discussed above.

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
Again, the status is "start-class." I guess a strength of the article would be explaining the nomenclature behind Maskwacis, although it is all uncited. The strongest part of the article in my opinion is the inclusion of important people of Indigenous heritage who come from the area. As I have spoken about at length above, there is a startling lack of content related to Indigenous peoples in the area. I think really how this article should work is have links to seperate articles that focus on the Nations within the area. However, the Nations mentioned are completely unrepresented on wiki at this point. This article could use development of the education and culture section, as well as an update to the "crime section"

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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