User:SStevens97/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: Celtic brooch
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.
 * This article is a C-class article that pertains to medieval art. After viewing some medieval belt buckles in class, I was interested to see if there were different styles of fasteners between the geographical migrating tribes in Europe. I settled on looking up Celtic brooches in hopes of trying to identify some key similarities and differences.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
 * Yes, the introductory first sentence mentions the purpose of the Celtic brooch, as well as where, and when it was developed.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
 * The lead touches the surface of the historical background of the brooch and how it was used before the development of this particular style. This ties into the next major section, which covers the history of the Celtic brooch specifically.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
 * No, most if not all of the topics in the rest of the article appear to be briefly introduced in the lead.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?
 * This lead section is well thought out, but I can tell right away that it's a bit wordy and leans heavily on giving opinions (not what we want in our Wikipedia articles). It definitely could be shortened significantly to be more concise.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
 * Yes, it covers the development, usage, and cultural importance of Celtic brooches.
 * Is the content up-to-date?
 * Yes, the last time this article was updated was 10 February 2020. Before that, the article had not been edited since July 2019.
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
 * No, all of the content is relevant and important to understanding the topic.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral?
 * The article is fairly neutral.
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
 * No, this does not apply.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * There is a large portion of the article that is devoted to brooch terminology which might benefit from being shortened so that the topic relates strongly to the Celtic origins rather than discussing/addressing ALL brooch styles.
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favour of one position or away from another?
 * No, there is no argument the author is trying to push on the reader.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
 * Yes, the source and note section is thorough and easy to read/gather information from
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
 * Yes, all of the listed references seem to be from articles and books that are written by people who are knowledgable on the subject.
 * Are the sources current?
 * Many of the sources look like they are dated to around the 1980s, with some being more current in the early 2000s. I think this article could benefit from a few more up to date sources.
 * Check a few links. Do they work?
 * Some are not working, and many of the links revert to google books where you can look at the book referenced, but not the section the information was taken from specifically.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
 * Although the language is a little wordy at times, the article is well-written and fairly easy to follow.
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors?
 * From a quick read, I did not notice any glaring spelling errors or typos.
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic?
 * I wish that the author had chosen to put their history section first and not the section on how to fasten brooches--it seems a little out of order, especially with the article's intro focusing so much on history.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
 * Yes, each section aside from the terminology section has an image to go along with it.
 * Are images well-captioned?
 * Yes, the name of the object and the rough estimate of a date is provided for most images included.
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
 * Yes, they are from the Wikimedia Commons.
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?
 * Yes, they alternate so they aren't all on one side of the article.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
 * There is one section giving an alternate way to fasten a brooch with a circle, as well as a Wikipedian fixing some external links and communicating the changes.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
 * It is a C-class article of low-importance. It is a part of these WikiProjects: Fashion, Gemology and Jewelry, Visual Arts, Archaeology, Ireland, and Scotland.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
 * The talk page conversation is super specific as well as technical and applicable to the Wikipedia format. In class, we haven't had the chance to get into the technicalities of the formatting and such.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status?
 * This is a c-class status article.
 * What are the article's strengths?
 * It is very thorough and brings the subject up to date with the modern era, giving it a sense of a linear beginning and ending which makes it easier to follow.
 * How can the article be improved?
 * It's very wordy and might need to be reorganised in order to keep up a better flow.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?
 * I think the foundation of this article is well-developed with just some minor issues. It doesn't seem like it's a very controversial/hot topic, but obviously a community of Wikipedians have done their best to provide a fleshed out article, which is great!

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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 * Link to feedback: Talk:Celtic brooch