Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Davenport, Iowa/archive3

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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 23:28, 12 January 2011 [1].

Davenport, Iowa

Davenport, Iowa (edit | talk | history | protect | delete | links | watch | logs | views)

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Nominator(s): CTJF83 chat 19:32, 5 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

I am nominating this for featured article because...it's time for my annual end of year FAC of Davenport :). Anyways, I believe the 3rd time is the charm, and this time it meets WP:FA?. I believe I've addressed everything from past FACs and the recent PR. CTJF83 chat 19:32, 5 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

References
  • 88: two p's needed
  • 89: two p's needed


CrowzRSA 19:38, 5 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Fixed CTJF83 chat 19:58, 5 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Images What are the first publication dates of File:Davenport_Flag.gif & File:Davenport_Seal.png? Fasach Nua (talk) 19:40, 5 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Flag 2000, looking for seal. CTJF83 chat 19:58, 5 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
All assertions in the article must be backed up using reliable sources, this includes those assertions regarding the claimed copyright status of imagery used. I would like for the copyright status of this image to be verifiable, and I would suggest you contact the appropriate municipal authority to clarify the copyright and date of creation of this emblem. Fasach Nua (talk) 15:33, 12 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Ok, I have no problem doing that, but how do I source me asking a city official? I'll also go to the library Monday and see what I can find in books. CTJF83 chat 17:08, 12 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Either we can Assume good faith on your part, we can get the authority to submit an WP:OTRS ticket (if it is older than 1923), they may give you a reference a town charter or other device, they may point you to a civic building with the seal which was installed quite early on which you could photograph, if they give you a year it was produced typing "Davenport, Iowa coat of arms 19XX" may produce better results than "Davenport, Iowa coat of arms" in Google. My gut instinct is that it will be out of copyright as it's style seems to be a constant theme in Iowa CoAs in the 1800s, but we lack verifiability at this point Fasach Nua (talk) 17:25, 12 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Ok, I will get back to your tomorrow! :) Thanks, CTJF83 chat 17:29, 12 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I talked to the lady in the historical archives at the library, she thinks the seal is from around when the city was founded and we found a newspaper article from 1922 with an opinion saying the city needs to adopt an official flag, so it is after that. She said she remembers an older flag before the current one...other than that, not sure where to look. CTJF83 chat 22:35, 13 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Neither of the two images licensed as non-free are necessary for a reader understanding Davenport, and as such they fail WP:NFCC and consequently the article fails WP:FA Criteria 3, I believe that the seal is probably free and could be used if this could be proven. The other images are fine, and the oppose is regrettable. Fasach Nua (talk) 10:50, 2 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
Although other FAs have similar images, if that is the only oppose reason, I have removed them. CTJF83 chat 02:07, 3 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
WP:FA Criteria 3 met - One of the problems observed at FAR is editors tend to benchmark articles against other FAs, rather than the WP:FA Criteria, although in most of these articles the flag and seal are free, and the others failed to have an image review. Fasach Nua (talk) 21:07, 3 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]


More sources issues: The following arise from a spotchscking of sources:-

  • Ref 48: What is being confirmed by this source?
  • Ref 50: Is it a good idea to use Lee Enterprises's own site to confirm facts about the organisation? The site reads as promotional material.
  • Ref 60: Newspaper titles should be italicised (check for others)
  • Ref 66: The publisher here is Davenport Public Library
  • Refs 78 and 79: these are basically sites advertising services, and need to be used carefully in a neutral article about the city. Thus the statement "The Celebration Belle has river cruises from a one-and-a-half-hour sightseeing cruise to an all-day three-meal cruise up to Dubuque, Iowa" has too much specific detail, and should be rewritten along the lines e.g. "The Celebration Belle advertises a range of river cruises". This may be an issue elsewhere in the article.
  • Ref 121: I cannot find the cited quotation on this source page.

Brianboulton (talk) 01:20, 6 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

All your concerns have been addressed. CTJF83 chat 04:28, 6 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
I've returned at your request for another look at sources. It would help if you could summarise how you addressed my earlier concerns, since some of the numbering has changed (there isn't a 121, for example). Refs 78 and 79 both carry strange messages saying that the page I'm looking for doesn't exist, yet they both carry information, so I'm ignoring that. Brianboulton (talk) 15:12, 28 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Diff of work I removed ref 48, and sourced it to a current ref, so that's why 121 was lost, found a Reuters source instead of Lee Enterprises, italicized the newspaper, missed the library publisher fix, so fixing that now, and won't be in above diff, made the cruise info less like an advertisement, and removed the info not in the source from old ref 121. CTJF83 chat 15:21, 28 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Oh, removed Celebration Belle stuff, as it isn't really Davenport related. CTJF83 chat 15:27, 28 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
Fine; sources issues resolved now. Brianboulton (talk) 19:13, 31 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Dab/EL check - no dabs or dead external links anymore- you had 2 links redirecting, of which one was marked in the article as dead. I fixed them both for you. --PresN 03:48, 6 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you, CTJF83 chat 04:07, 6 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • Prose review – oppose - we have some problems here.
    • Past tense should be used at all times.
    • Are trying to cite every sentence? Otherwise you can reduce a lot of these to one citation at the end of a paragraph.
    • In 1803, The United States acquired land from France under the Louisiana Purchase.[2] "land"? There was a lot of land. This gives us no idea of how large the purchase was, nor where it was. Lieutenant Zebulon Pike was the first official United States representative to explore the Upper Mississippi River which runs through the newly acquired land.[2] Past tense. Why should we care about this part of the river? Does it run near Davenport? On August 27, 1805, Pike camped on the present day site of Davenport.[2] hyphenate present-day
    • In 1832, Sauk Indian tribe chief Keokuk and United States Army General Winfield Scott signed a treaty to end the Black Hawk War.[3] Does this treaty have a name? Antoine LeClaire, who was part French and part Pottawattamie, served as translator. Why is there no link here to the man's article? Who cares about his ancestry? Chief Keokuk gave a generous portion of the land to Antoine's wife, Marguerite LeClaire, who was the granddaughter of a Sac chief.[3] Wouldn't the treaty have done this? I'm guessing Keokuk forfeited this land to the US (but I can't check because there is no link to the treaty). No last name for the wife is needed, it's implied by "wife". Antoine built his home on the exact spot where the treaty was signed, as stipulated by Keokuk or he would have forfeited the land. Again, Keokuk or the treaty? Also we have a Antoine -> Marguerite -> Antoine flow here. Did Antoine actually build the home? Wouldn't it be their home? Antoine did so, finishing the Treaty House in the spring of 1833. "Antoine did so" -> just said the same thing in the sentence before. Davenport was established on May 14, 1836 by Antoine LeClaire, and named after his good friend Colonel George Davenport and incorporated on January 25, 1839.[3] Blindsided with this colonel. What's his story? Seems an important part of the history of the town if it was named after him.
    • In 1837, shortly after Scott County was formed, Davenport and neighbor Rockingham both campaigned to become the county seat.Why was it formed, and by who? What is a county seat? The city with the most votes in the February 1838 election would become the county seat.[4] Who is voting for this? On the eve of the election, Davenporters secured the temporary service of Dubuque laborers so that they could vote in the election and Davenport won. Did these laborers make the difference? This sentence needs to be read aloud and rewritten. Rockingham supporters protested the elections to the territorial governor, who refused to certify the results of the election. Protested on what grounds? The laborers? A second election was scheduled for the following August. To avoid another import of voters, the governor set a 60-day residency requirement for all voters. Davenport was again the victor by only two votes.[4] The close results lead to a third election in the summer of 1840. Past tense? As the August election drew nearer, Rockingham residents grew tired of the county seat cause, and the efforts of Davenporters were difficult to challenge. How did they grow tired of it? What efforts? Davenport easily won the third election. Sentence needs a transition, like "Consequently, ..." To ensure that the county seat issue would not be played out again, Davenport built the first county courthouse.[4] Why would it play out again when they had already won?
    • My advice is to reread the whole article, reading the sentences aloud, and try to address issues like these throughout the article. Ed [talk] [majestic titan] 04:13, 29 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]
  • Comprehensive? - as I indicated in the AfD for African Americans in Davenport, Iowa and on Talk:Davenport, Iowa, this article should be expanded to cover race relations, buildings on the NRHP regardless of race, Bix Biederbecke and the local jazz scene. The Davenport, Iowa article is well-done and very close to FA, but it needs to cover all of Davenport without relegating 9% of the population to a POV-fork. Racepacket (talk) 14:16, 31 December 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Reluctant Oppose by Ruhrfisch - I was asked to review this by Ctjf83. While what is here is a very good article, I do not find that it meets several of the FA criteria. Please note that this is not a complete list of problems with the article, but that I find these issues sufficient to oppose (albeit reluctantly).

  • 1a, well-written - I agree with the oppose above on prose problems in the History section. I also found a number of prose and MOS issues, with examples just from the lead.
    • For example, the first three sentences in the lead all start with Davenport (and it seems to me that the first two could probably be combined).
    • The third sentence could be switched from passive voice to active voice and thus made more concise, perhaps something like Antoine LeClaire founded Davenport on May 14, 1836 and named it for his friend, George Davenport, a colonel stationed at nearby Fort Armstrong during the Black Hawk War. (not sure if the fort needs to be in the lead, could just be "stationed nearby during the Black Hawk War")
    • The last two sentences of the first lead paragraph could surely be combined to something like Davenport is the largest of the Quad Cities, which also consists of Bettendorf, Iowa, and the Illinois cities of Moline, East Moline, and Rock Island, and had a total population of 379,066 [as of YEAR]. Is Quad Cities singular or plural, by the way?
      • Depends on context....I guess. Several references to both ways. I don't know how else to answer. CTJF83 chat 04:55, 7 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
        • Makes sense - if you are referring to the region, then "The Quad Cities is a region in Iowa and Illinois on the Mississippi River..." makes sense. If you are referring to the cities themselves, then plural makes sense "The Quad Cities are actually at leat five in number..." Ruhrfisch ><>°° 14:18, 7 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
    • Besides these issues in just the first paragraph of the lead, I note that the lead mentions and links to Bix Beiderbecke twice. The lead needs to be a concise summary and avoid needless repetition.
    • There are several other examples of WP:OVERLINKing - Illinois and Mississippi River are each linked twice in just the lead. The usual rule for linking is once in the lead and once more on first occurrence in the body of the article (with some exceptions). Links to common terms like city also seem like overlinks to me.
    • At the same time, my rule of thumb for the lead is to mention every section header somehow - I am not sure the current lead does this.
  • 1b, Comprehenisveness - there is no mention of history prior to the US purchase in 1803, but what of the Native Americans in the region before this, or the French owners who sold it to the US?

Sorry, Ruhrfisch ><>°° 03:24, 6 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Oppose - a tough choice in the face of your continued optimism, but I don't feel this article is yet at FA quality.

  • Organization: I would suggest putting Government earlier, and potentially moving Arts, Sports and Media later. I also don't feel that "Livability Award" merits its own level-2 heading, especially given the very short length of that section. In general, one-paragraph sections or sub-sections should be merged or expanded
  • I agree with several of the concerns raised by Ruhrfisch and Theed17 regarding prose, MoS, and comprehensiveness. In particular, I suggest a thorough copy-editing of the article to deal with grammar and prose clarity issues
  • Multiple issues with reference formatting and accuracy ("QRivers of Life"? "City of Davenport="?). Nikkimaria (talk) 16:20, 8 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]
  • Why is "city" linked? Why is a list of countries in the world linked in the infobox? Why is "Mayor" linked? "County seat" linked twice, close by. Linking every component of town, county, state, country bunches the links in a way that is discouraged by WP:MOSLINK. Why not focus the blue link-indicator on the most specific, from which the other, more general items can be linked (if anyone really wanted to visit "United States" from the opening of this article ...). Same for County Carlow, Ireland.
  • What does pp. 7-1 mean?
  • Numbering: 600 but twenty-three?
  • Minus temperatures need minus signs, not hyphens. (Could you get this across to whatever Wikiproject is responsible? Same for map coordinates.)
  • 101,360 in the prose, but no commas in the demographics table? Tony (talk) 02:52, 9 January 2011 (UTC)[reply]


The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.
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