User:Sydneyn23/Evaluate an Article

Article Evaluation
This is where you will complete your article evaluation. Please use the template below to evaluate your selected article.


 * Name of article: Sustainable development
 * I chose to evaluate this article because the content and information it presents is of great interest to me. Sustainable development and resource management are topics that are currently in the forefront of the scientific community. With continued technological advancements, sustainable resource use is of considerable importance for future generations.

Lead

 * Guiding questions
 * The very first sentence in the Lead clearly defines the topic the article is written about. It also identifies and provides a brief explanation for the contents that are elaborated on further in the article. However, it does include some information (i.e the Brundtland Report) that is related to sustainable development but is not included in this article. Instead, there is an article independent of sustainable development that provides more information on this topic. In my opinion, the lead is overly detailed. While it does concisely define the idea of sustainable development, it also includes lots of additional information and complex terms that an individual would need to be educated on to get the most out of this Lead.

Content

 * Guiding questions
 * All of the content provided in the article is relevant to the topic. However, I think the degree of relatedness of some of the content differs from others. Some additional information provided in the article is very close in relation to sustainable development while other bits of information seem to be more distant and less essential in relation to the main article topic. After viewing the edit history of the article it can be seen that the article has received many revisions within the last month. To me, this is a large indication that the article has been maintained over time and that the information is being reviewed and updated regularly. For the most part I think the article contains content that belongs under the topic of sustainable development. As of now, I do not think there is content missing however as the topic of sustainable development continues to be discussed and explored new information will arise that would need to be added to the article.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions

The article is very neutral when presenting information. Sustainable development is a topic that receives considerable public debate and scrutiny. While the article dedicates a portion of the Lead to acknowledge the criticism the topic receives, it also ensures the rest of the contents is presented in a neutral, unbiased manner. Although, there are many different perspectives presented throughout the contents labelled "politics", "culture" and "progress", the contributors have made sure to provide relatively equal information for each one. There have been many different political policies, cultural impacts and societal progressions related to sustainable development and the contributors have outlined both the positive and negative consequences of each. However, the contents labelled "insubstantial stretching of the arm" does present information in a way that is considered a personal reflection. It does not maintain the neutral point of view present in the rest of the article and describes the personal viewpoints and opinions of the contributor who wrote it. For the most part, after reading the contents of the article I did not feel that I was being swayed toward or away from the notion of sustainable conservation. In fact, I felt like I had better knowledge concerning both the advantages and disadvantages of sustainable development which helps me form my own opinions surrounding this topic.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions

The facts utilized and provided in this article do seem to be supported by a reliable secondary source of information. All of the links I clicked brought me to a relatively well known scientific journal that contained information written and published by those within the scientific community. Although some of the sources were dated, there are many that are from current years and describe newer developments concerning sustainable development.

Organization

 * Guiding questions
 * I think the article is clear and relatively easy to read. Some topics in the contents do seem to be overcomplicated and convoluted with information that may not be necessary to understanding the topic of sustainable development itself. I did not notice any grammatical or spelling errors and I think the organization of the contents makes the article easy to navigate no matter what level of understanding an individual is looking for when reading about sustainable development. The contents are broken up enough that an individual can read about what the desire without having to look through information that they may find irrelevant.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions

There are very few images included in this article in comparison to the amount of information on the topic. Despite this, the pictures that are included are very well captioned and have their purpose and influence outlined underneath each image. The images appear to be taken by either a contributor or are free licensed and allowed to be used by the public. They also have their own citations which provide the year it was taken and the name (if known) of the individual who took it. To me, the images are appealing and laid out in a way that only adds to the information provided in the article.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions

Behind the scenes there seems to be many different contributors suggesting ways in which the information surrounding sustainable development should be included and how it should be organized. Additional contents concerning the UN, green manufacturing and additional background information were discussed before being added to the article itself. The article is rated as C-Class and is a part of many WikiProjects.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions

The overall status of the article is a level-4 vital article in the society category. The articles greatest strength is the way in which it can be read and understood but many different individuals with different understandings of scientific/social topics. While there is a lot of information in the article, it is presented in such a way that it is accessible to those with both lower levels and higher levels of sustainable development understanding. The article can be improved by adding more pictures and ensuring that contributors present information in a neutral way. I think the article is very well developed. It has been added to by many different contributors and revised many times over the years. As this topic continues to develop, it seems the article continues to develop in the amount and extent of information.

Optional activity

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