User:RomilyC/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)Lapita culture
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate - The article is lacking in citations, the article is lacking information under several sub-headings, the topic is of great interest to me

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? Yes
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? This area is somewhat lacking
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article? No
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? It is concise almost to a fault

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic? Yes
 * Is the content up-to-date? Yes, however more information and more recent information could be added to help support the material
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong? Yes, more recent studies into the DNA of Oceanic peoples has been conducted as is not included in the article.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions

The overall tone of the article is neutral, however some of the content is theory based as opposed to fact-based and there is no indication of opposing views. There is also zero representation of any oceanic peoples or their view on the Lapita. Far too much of the article is based on speculation by Western scientists. However, I don't see evidence of persuasion.


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

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information? No and opinion is stated as fact as well.
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic? No
 * Are the sources current? Some, not enough.
 * Check a few links. Do they work? Some, not all.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read? Yes
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors? No
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic? Yes and no. The information is broken into nice categories but within those the information is fragmented and not backed by reliable sources.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic? Yes there are images, no they do not enhance my understanding of the topic.
 * Are images well-captioned? Yes
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations? No - some images do not indicate a source
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way? No -although they are under the correct heading- are not the best 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? Lots of opposing views about origin stories, DNA and conspiracies about Lapita Culture
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects? The article is not verified due to lack of citations
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class? Archaeologists seem to be making a lot of assumptions about these people based solely on the fact that similar pottery has been found across islands in Oceania. In class we discussed the ability of Archaeologists to do just that and whether or not it is in fact a good idea; I think it is not. I believe very little can be said about a people based on the pottery they used and these types of assumptions by western thinkers have led to a "superior culture introducing superior ideas" theme that is apparent here with the Lapita Culture theories.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status? It has potential but needs more information and less opinion
 * What are the article's strengths? It is discussing a topic most people know very little about
 * How can the article be improved? More citations, more recent studies and at least one source being from the descendants of the Lapita
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed? Under-developed

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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