User:Sammif17/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: Talk:2009 swine flu pandemic in North America
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.

- I wanted to pick an article that related to death since the course I am completing this Wiki project for is called "Death & Dying". I also picked the swine flu since we are currently going through a pandemic, and death has been a more prevalent topic in the media lately.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? Yes, it clearly explains what the article is about, what the epidemic was caused by, when it happened, and where it took place.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? Not really, it gave a synopsis of what the pandemic was and how it led to being across the content. The major sections focuses on locations of the pandemic, timeline, and resources.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article? Sort of, it gives a definition of what the swine flu was which is not really stated again in the article. Although, it does have a link for the article explaining H1N1.
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? Concise and to the point.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic? Yes, relates cases first nationally and then across the continent. Breaks down country by country cases based off statistics with visual references. Followed by a timeline of first case and first death by location/ country.
 * Is the content up-to-date? It has a header stating "this article needs to be updated", and was last updated in September of 2010.
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong? I would like to see when numbers declined, when did it die off, what vaccines or cures did they find in North America, and the overall impact of the swine flu on North America.
 * Does the article deal with one of Wikipedia's equity gaps? Does it address topics related to historically underrepresented populations or topics? Not really, it focuses more on the epidemic and the number side in North America. It doesn't discuss the populations and their struggles with the virus economically like with poverty vs financially stable. It does discuss government decisions of larger countries.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral? Yes, very data-orientated.
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position? No, but the article goes into more detail over more countries like Mexico and America more than small countries like Panama and the Bahamas.
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
 * Over: America, Mexico, Canada
 * Under: Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Trinidad, and Tobago
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another? No, it is very factual and number orientated.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information? Most of the facts and numbers are cited and use CDC, WHO, and News sources.
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic? Yes, they provide data and numbers covering the issue. Live recommendations and statistics about H1N1.
 * Are the sources current? Current, reputable sources and organizations, but since this article needs to be updated, there could be a couple older sources that could be updated.
 * Are the sources written by a diverse spectrum of authors? Do they include historically marginalized individuals where possible? Yes, authors from all over North America which is where the article is about. It isn't only one country's author, but from all over North America
 * Check a few links. Do they work? Some do and some are older links that aren't available any more. This article definitely needs to be updated with more stable links that aren't fast news sources (like ABC News).

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read? The article is clear and easy to read. Good charts and easy to read graphs are present.
 * Does the article have any grammatical or spelling errors? There are not any noticeable grammatical errors in headers and throughout the material.
 * Is the article well-organized - i.e. broken down into sections that reflect the major points of the topic? Yes, outlines and objectifies the main points clearly and efficiently.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic? Yes very good visuals with the cases per country visuals and the timeline at the bottom of the article.
 * Are images well-captioned? Not really. They are self-explanatory, but the text describes more broad numbers and what was taking place in each country.
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations? I think so. When I click on the images, the look like personal work from the researcher, but there are some maps and charts that are from reliable sources like the CDC.
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way? Yes, they go along with the text.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? Fixing links, death map and case map updates, article assessments, addressing missing content (the article was missing the map of Belize until June 2009), fixing incorrect maps and shadings, and fixing or updating external links.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects? All of the Wiki-projects rate this "C-class, Low importance" topic. Some of the WikiProjects that this article is used on are some of the following: viruses, death, disaster management, international relations, agriculture, and many projects about the individual countries involved individually.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class? Very statistic and numbers. There is a page about death, but mostly the numbers of death and not the impact of this mass death due to H1N1.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status? In the works and still needs to be updated.
 * What are the article's strengths? Good visuals, statistics, and overall understanding of the timeline of the beginning of H1N1 (swine flu).
 * How can the article be improved? Updated news, overall impact of the swine flu on North America, lasting effects on economy, what did North America do to fight it, and overall ending statistics 10 years later.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed? At the time, was well-developed, but now, as a reader in 2020, I have quite a few questions about what happened to H1N1 and how did it impact us then, and how is it now affecting North America now (did it prepare us or hurt us for the COVID-19 pandemic?). I wish there was more than statistics and more of what it did to North America.

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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