User:Brooklynbiology/Choose an Article

Article Selection[edit]

Is the article's content relevant to the topic?
Is it written neutrally?
Does each claim have a citation?
Are the citations reliable?
Does the article tackle one of Wikipedia's equity gaps (coverage of historically underrepresented or misrepresented populations or subjects)?
Check out the article's Talk page to see what other Wikipedians are already contributing. Consider posting some of your ideas to the article's Talk page, too.

Please list articles that you're considering for your Wikipedia assignment below. Begin to critique these articles and find relevant sources.

Article title
Billion Oyster Project (S/17)
Article Evaluation: The article provides a rather superficial precis of the Billion Oyster Project, and reads a bit like a press release published by the project itself. It includes a number of quite impressive claims concerning the progress of the BOP, unfortunately without any verifiable references. There is undoubtedly room for improvement here, though much of the research likely remains unpublished, which may make sourcing difficult. In line with the preliminary state of the article, the talk page contains only a single bot comment.
Sources: The majority of published articles deal with the didactic effectiveness of the BOP, with very little information on its ecological impact. This article will likely be difficult to flesh out until more primary research is published by the project and its collaborators.

Article title
Gateway National Recreation Area (C/52)
Article Evaluation: The article provides background on the history and structure of Gateway National Recreation Area in New York City. One fact that is lacking in the current article is the difference between a National Park and a National Recreation Area. In light of the fact that there are so few National Recreation Areas, these details would be helpful. The article does not appear to have been recently updated, and discussion of Shirley Chisholm State Park, one of the newest additions to the Jamaica Bay Unit, has not been updated since 2019. A few of the details in this section of the article are lacking citations. Coverage of the Staten Island and Sandy Hook Units of the National Recreation Area are superficial, and could also benefit from updating and expanding. The talk page is empty. * These details have been posted to the talk page.
Sources: Articles to secondary sources are appropriate, but somewhat out of date.

Article title
Jamaica Bay (B/96)
Article Evaluation: The article provides a very thorough introduction to Jamaica Bay, its history, ecology, and protection status. While the article is well written, the section on ecology is especially poorly developed, and lacks any references - upon further review, the entire section appears to have been copied from a 1997 government report^[1], and has been flagged as such and deleted. The article is unbiased in its presentation of the bay, and provides interesting background on the etymology of the Bay and the neighboring Jamaica township. There are some comments on the talk page, though these are somewhat out of date (2009/2010).
Sources: See above. The article is generally well referenced, but the section detailing with the ecology of the bay lacks any references, and is relatively poorly developed. An excellent project for an ecology class!; ^[2]; ^[3]; ^[4]

Article title
Interborough Express (NEW)
Article Evaluation: This topic is presently included as a short 4-line passage a part of a larger article on the Proposed expansion of the New York City Subway. A feasibility study of this project has been completed, and a federal grant for the required environmental assessment has been submitted. In light of the potential impact of this new rail line to the populations of Brooklyn and Queens, a more extensive article is warranted.
Sources: As the Interborough Express project moves forward, a central location for reliable information on its status and the positions of community, governmental and business stakeholders concerning its construction would be a valuable addition to Wikipedia. If the project is ultimately completed, this information will be valuable as a historical record of this major engineering and construction project.

Article title
Microbiomes of the Built Environment (C/4)
Article Evaluation: This article is surprisingly rudimentary, given the topicality of this area of research. The article has a good foundation, but is currently just a collection of reference stubs without a clear structure aimed at organizing the available research into a clear introduction to the topic. The lead section itself is especially poorly developed and will require significant editing to achieve the expected standard of a Wikipedia article. The article is well-referenced, but as indicated above, these references are provided in the form of lists without any elaboration. Significant work is needed here.
Sources: Many sources are cited from the primary literature, but little effort has been taken to use these references to explain the underlying topic.

^ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) (1997). Significant habitats and habitat complexes of the New York Bight watershe. Charlestown, Rhode Island: Southern New England – New York Bight Coastal Ecosystems Program.
^ Sanderson, Eric W; Solecki, William D; Waldman, John R; Parris, Adam S, eds. (2016). Prospects for Resilience. doi:10.5822/978-1-61091-734-6. ISBN 978-1-61091-829-9. S2CID 56156594.
^ "Jamaica Bay will be urban-ecosystem lab". New York Post. 2013-08-13. Retrieved 2022-09-24.
^ Benotti, Mark J.; Abbene, Irene; Terracciano, Stephen A. (2007). "Nitrogen Loading in Jamaica Bay, Long Island, New York: Predevelopment to 2005". Scientific Investigations Report. doi:10.3133/sir20075051. ISSN 2328-0328.