User:HAHoffmanUAA/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: (link)
• Briefly describe why you have chosen this article to evaluate.
  • I chose this article because I found it interesting to see how nicknames vary based on location, as well as whether or not they are offensive and how they were formed.

Guiding questions

• Does the Lead include an introductory sentence that concisely and clearly describes the article's topic?
  • Yes
• Does the Lead include a brief description of the article's major sections?
  • Not really a description, but since the article is a list I think the organizational choice of A-Z works for the article.
• Does the Lead include information that is not present in the article?
  • No
• Is the Lead concise or is it overly detailed?
  • Concise

Guiding questions

• Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
  • Yes
• Is the content up-to-date?
  • Yes, it was just updated September 21st of this year as well.
• Is there content that is missing or content that does not belong?
  • I don't know all the regional nicknames for people, but I'm sure this list is missing some. For example, there aren't any terms related to Alaskans.

Guiding questions

• Is the article neutral?
  • Yes
• Are there any claims that appear heavily biased toward a particular position?
  • Not really, everything is very unbiased.
• Are there viewpoints that are overrepresented, or underrepresented?
  • No, there isn't any view at all.
• Does the article attempt to persuade the reader in favor of one position or away from another?
  • No

Guiding questions

• Are all facts in the article backed up by a reliable secondary source of information?
  • Assuming each list item is a fact, then yes each are backed up by a source, mostly Wikipedia articles related to the region specified.
• Are the sources thorough - i.e. Do they reflect the available literature on the topic?
  • Yes, most link to other pages on the subject.
• Are the sources current?
  • Yes
• Check a few links. Do they work?
  • The links work, however the author only provided a few links to sources seemingly at random and it does appear that some are missing despite having links within the text.

Guiding questions

• Is the article well-written - i.e. Is it concise, clear, and easy to read?
  • I think it is very well-written. The list format makes it clear and easy to understand.
• 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. Each point in the article is organized in the same fashion which helps give a uniform appearance which in turn helps to better the format of the article as a whole.

Guiding questions

• Does the article include images that enhance understanding of the topic?
  • No
• Are images well-captioned?
  • No images
• Do all images adhere to Wikipedia's copyright regulations?
  • N/a
• Are the images laid out in a visually appealing way?
  • n/a

Guiding questions

• What kinds of conversations, if any, are going on behind the scenes about how to represent this topic?
  • I don't see much conversation, but there are many edits made to the article.
• How is the article rated? Is it a part of any WikiProjects?
  • I couldn't find a rating anywhere, but this article doesn't seem to be a glowing and raving piece.
• How does the way Wikipedia discusses this topic differ from the way we've talked about it in class?
  • This article provides more of an informal informative list whereas there is a lot more at play in the way we speak of people and assign meaning to words, which wasn't discussed in this article.

Guiding questions

• What is the article's overall status?
  • Active with some revision
• What are the article's strengths?
  • I like how the article provides links within the text to define and give example of what they are discussing without having to leave the page.
• How can the article be improved?
  • Better sourcing, expanding research and finding more examples to fill the list.
• How would you assess the article's completeness - i.e. Is the article well-developed? Is it underdeveloped or poorly developed?
  • I would say the article is under/well-developed. The article as is, is good. I think it would benefit from more information though.

• 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

with four tildes — ~~~~

• Link to feedback: Talk:List of regional nicknames#Addition of "Lower 48" into list