Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Harrisburg, Illinois/archive1


 * The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was not promoted by SandyGeorgia 16:28, 11 April 2009.

Harrisburg, Illinois

 * Nominator(s): Ruhe1986 (talk) 03:54, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

The article of Harrisburg, Illinois I think is a "good representative" for articles about small towns in the United States on Wikipedia and believe that there are no articles of it's caliber for a town of its size. Ruhe1986 (talk) 03:54, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Oppose I'm sorry, but there are long sections that go unreferenced. What refs there are are questionable in terms of reliability, and are desperately in need formatting (publisher, date, access data, etc.). That doesn't go into any other of the FA criteria. Noble Story (talk • contributions) 11:14, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Oppose - unreferenced sections, embedded links in the text of the article, bare urls in the references, unreliable references. Ealdgyth - Talk 16:51, 6 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Extreme Reference fixes done for this page. Take another look. 96.230.239.172 (talk) 21:12, 6 April 2009 (UTC)

Oppose from Dr pda. While almost all sections now appear to have references, some still need formatting as mentioned by Noble Story above. Some references do not support the claims they cite, for example reference [2] does not contain any mention of Harrisburg being named after James Alexander Harris. The sentences Many business owners faced a daunting task as they assessed damage and began cleaning up. Some needed waders to make their way through the mess. Others were able to reopen fairly quickly after suffering only minimal damage or waiting for floodwaters to recede so customers could reach their businesses. Harrisburg officials reported 74 businesses affected by flooding, but businesses along Commercial Street (U.S. Route 45) and the city's east edge seemed to be hardest hit. Kroger, which had just undergone a major renovation, reportedly had two or more feet of water inside. are cited to reference 14, which supports none of these facts except for the figure of 74 businesses affected. This reference is only about the Kroger store, and doesn't even mention the figure of two feet of water. The first couple of sentences seem to be verbatim from here or some other mirror on the web. I found other examples of plagiarism in some of the references I checked. For example


 * Reference number 2:

In 1854, the first slope coal mine began operations southeast of the community. At first, the coal was carried by wagon to area homes and businesses and used for heating. After the Civil War, coal production became an important industry in the county. The first shaft mine was sunk in 1873 or 1874. This was followed by the creation of several more shaft mines and by an influx of settlers drawn to the area to work the mines. By 1906, the county was producing more than 500,000 tons of coal annually, with more than 1,000 miners at work.

Early the 1870s, Harrisburg residents raised $100,000 to pay for construction of a railroad through the city. In 1872, the Cairo & Vincennes Railroad, later the New York Central, was completed and provided the means needed to haul coal to distant markets.
 * Article:

Early the 1870s, Harrisburg residents raised $100,000 to pay for construction of a railroad through the city. In 1872, the Cairo and Vincennes Railroad, later the New York Central, was completed and provided the means needed to haul coal to distant markets.[2]

Coal mining was the city's biggest industry. In 1854, the first slope coal mine began operations southeast of the community. At first, the coal was carried by wagon to area homes and businesses and used for heating. After the Civil War, coal production became an important industry in the county. The first shaft mine was sunk in 1873 or 1874. This was followed by the creation of several more shaft mines and by an influx of settlers drawn to the area to work the mines. By 1906, the county was producing more than 500,000 tons of coal annually, with more than 1,000 miners at work.

I suggest having a look at FCDW/Plagiarism, which will shortly appear in the Wikipedia Signpost. Dr pda (talk) 23:46, 6 April 2009 (UTC)


 * I'm gonna need help with this. Been improving the article throughout the day96.230.239.172 (talk) 04:50, 7 April 2009 (UTC)


 * Tech. Review
 * *Fix the 6 disambiguation links
 * Fix the 2 dead external links
 * Using WP:REFTOOLS
 * The following ref (code pasted below) is duplicated and appears more than once in the ref section, use a ref name instead
 * *The following ref name is used to name more than 1 ref, it should only name 1 ref.
 * FLOOD -- T ru  c o   15:27, 7 April 2009 (UTC)
 * FLOOD -- T ru  c o   15:27, 7 April 2009 (UTC)

Oppose The article just isn't, well, encyclopedic. Just skimming, I saw: "This ended the reign of big coal in Harrisburg." This sounds a bit, not POV, but not like something that should be in an encyclopedia article. And to start the very next paragraph: "In 1984, horror struck the community when a respected local physician, Dr. John Dale Cavaness, was charged with the murder of his two sons for insurance money. The case was chronicled in the book by Darcy O'Brien." I'm pretty sure that's POV, and the article doesn't mention the title of the book by Darcy O'Brien. Mm40 (talk | contribs) 02:08, 10 April 2009 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.