Talk:Newcastle upon Tyne/Comments

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[edit] Assessment

Article grade: B
Reviewer: User:John_the_mackem
Date & Time: February 20 2007, 22:00

Pros:

  • Concise lead-in paragraph.
  • Good use of "iconic" image in top-right of article.
  • Places of interest in Newcastle is a useful summary.
  • Feature-rich article with a good balance of detail and readability. Good use of breakout articles, e.g. History of Newcastle.

Summary: Definitely a Featured-Article candidate with a little bit of work, some suggestions highlighted below. A huge improvement in only a couple of months. Well done to the contributors.


Cons:

  • Major lack of in-line citations for an article of this size (16, although 10 are in the Culture chapter alone), especially on facts. Too many to list all of them here. Citation warning banner at the top of the article is justified.
  • Images should be broken out of the gallery and put in-line with the text where they belong - some of the images in the gallery are in breach of WP:NOT#REPOSITORY - i.e. Wikipedia is not an image repository. Good use of images can enhance an article tremendously, e.g. Theatre Royal, Gray's Monument, St. Nicholas Catherdral. Other images such as Central Station and Centre for Life should be moved to the relevant place in the text to improve readability of the article. There is no need for three images of the Millenium Bridge, two of the civic centre, etc. - and the Sage is in Gateshead anyway! Consider moving some to the Wiki Commons.
  • Some unecessary small sub-headings (e.g. Science City, Music Television) which break-up the readability of the article and make the table of contents too long.
  • Seems to be some feature-creep as it occasionaly drifts into a "Tyneside" article, rather than specifically Newcastle. E.g. references to the North Shields ferry terminal, the A19, sport at Tynemouth, etc.
  • Is the "places of interest in the surrounding area" necessary? I think it is out-of-scope and slips the article into more of a tourist information than an encyclopedic article.

Summary: Major issues with citations and imbalance of image locations.


Further Suggestions:

  • Photos: Something in the history section, perhaps a sketch or artist impression of Pons Aelius? Photo of the Town Moor or Leazes Park in the Open Spaces section. Photo of St James' Park in the Sport section. Photo of Eldon Square or the Gate? Photo of Metro Arena in the Music section. Photo of the Pink Palace in the TV section.
  • A map would be useful, particularly in the Administration section to identify the wards.

John the mackem 22:44, 20 February 2007 (UTC)