User:Willottbrandeis/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: Geography of Angola
 * Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate. A necessity to complete this exercise, as well as just an opportunity to learn more.

Lead

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic? No.
 * Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections? No.
 * Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article? No
 * Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed? It is neither concise nor detailed. It is certainly short, but it doesn't seem to have a defined goal.

Content

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article's content relevant to the topic? Yes
 * Is the content up-to-date? Yes
 * Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong? No

Content evaluation
The content is generally good and topical, but it seems to be mostly formatted within bullet points, and is brief at best.

Tone and Balance

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article neutral? Yes
 * Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position? No
 * Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented? No
 * Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another? No

Tone and balance evaluation
The tone and balance of this article is generally neutral.

Sources and References

 * Guiding questions


 * Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information? Yes
 * Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic? The sources utilized generally seem appropriate and informative, but there could be more information that they just don't use. For example, it's possible that there are books on the geography of Angola, land surveys, etc. that aren't utilized in this article. Also of note is that the sources utilized come from the United States as opposed to Angola.
 * Are the sources current? Yes
 * Check a few links. Do they work? Yes, but they generally do not link to any specific information, just to directories of web pages such as the CIA World Factbook or the Library of Congress.

Sources and references evaluation
Although the sources utilized appear to be impartial, they generally seem to have a Western skew, and the links don't direct the reader to anything specific either. Although Western skew may not matter as much in, say, listing what the highest point of a country is, it could matter insofar as more controversial issues such as the environment, as well as potentially leaving out other information which may be important.

Organization

 * Guiding questions


 * Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read? Yes, it is relatively easy to read.
 * 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.

Organization evaluation
The article is generally well-organized, but some sections could use expansion.

Images and Media

 * Guiding questions


 * Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic? Only at the start.
 * Are images well-captioned? Yes
 * Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations? Yes
 * Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way? Not really, they're all clumped together at the top right side of the page.

Images and media evaluation
There are only a few images in the article, and they're all located near the top right corner of the page. Furthermore, they are all maps, which is understandable in an article about geography. However, this means that the article lacks visually appealing elements such as photos of landscapes, which could also work.

Checking the talk page

 * Guiding questions


 * What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic? The conversations on the talk page are relatively minor in scale, and only address small issues with the article, such as disputes over which map to use, or certain sections of the article missing information.
 * How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects? It is rated as 'C', and is part of WikiProject Geography and WikiProject Africa.
 * How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class? There isn't much discussion over potential source bias.

Talk page evaluation
The talk page also appears to be relatively minimal, and is not really focused on expanding the article or the scope of the sources.

Overall impressions

 * Guiding questions


 * What is the article's overall status? The article, overall, average. It rates a 'C' on the article scale and that rating is justified.
 * What are the article's strengths? The article is fairly concise, and does contain a decent amount of basic information on the topic.
 * How can the article be improved? It could use more information just in general, as well as a greater breadth of sources.
 * How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed? It is underdeveloped.

Overall evaluation
The article is average, but could use more information and a greater variety of sources.

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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