Talk:Barra Head/GA1

Latest comment: 14 years ago by Nick Ottery in topic GA Review

GA Review edit

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Reviewer: Nick Ottery (talk) 14:59, 29 October 2009 (UTC)Reply

Hello Ben Macdui! I saw this on the Wikipedia:WikiProject British and Irish hills page and thought I would help out by giving this article a review. Bear in mind this is my first GA review so I would welcome any feedback you might have on my approach. Nick Ottery (talk) 14:59, 29 October 2009 (UTC)Reply


Based on a first read through this seems like an excellent article, broad in coverage and passing all the usual points with regard to references, no clean-up tags, no signs of edit warring and so on.

On to a detailed review against the GA criteria:

GA review (see here for criteria)
  1. It is reasonably well written.
    a (prose):   b (MoS):  
  2. It is factually accurate and verifiable.
    a (references):   b (citations to reliable sources):   c (OR):  
  3. It is broad in its coverage.
    a (major aspects):   b (focused):  
  4. It follows the neutral point of view policy.
    Fair representation without bias:  
  5. It is stable.
    No edit wars, etc.:  
  6. It is illustrated by images, where possible and appropriate.
    a (images are tagged and non-free images have fair use rationales):   b (appropriate use with suitable captions):  
  7. Overall:
    Pass/Fail:  

With regard to my fail against 2b there are only a couple of issues here with which I have a problem:

  • Traditional economy and culture… Isabella Bird's quotations need in-line cites directly following them I believe  
  • Traditional economy and culture… who described the children as "scholars at home"? Also need to ref this quote inline I believe.  

I believe these comments can be addressed within a week and once done the article will pass the GA criteria. I've placed the review On Hold until they are looked at. Thanks. Nick Ottery (talk) 15:27, 29 October 2009 (UTC)Reply

Thanks Ben MacDui - I am satisfied with the changes you've made and am now happy to pass this article - it fulfills all the GA criteria. Nick Ottery (talk) 08:53, 30 October 2009 (UTC)Reply

General comments (not affecting the GA review but could do with being looked at):

  • Given this is listed under the British Hills project I would expect to see a bit more coverage of the topology of the island, and in particular the lone Marilyn - coverage does seem sufficiently broad for a GA (criteria 3b) though
  • Traditional economy and culture… After the sentence about Duncan Sinclair the next sentence starts ‘She…’, presumably this is Isabella – needs to be clearer
  • "From 1931, the island was inhabited only by the lighthouse keepers and their wives but the lighthouse is now automated and the island completely uninhabited.[7]" Consider moving the in-line citation out of the lede and breaking this sentence into two.
  • Third paragraph of the lede seems a bit choppy. Consider adding in a small amount of additional context. “The island’s lighthouse…”
  • In Etymology…the phrase "fairly straightforward" seems to be author’s opinion – remove or rephrase?
  • Lifeboat goes to a DAB presently – pipe to Lifeboat (rescue)
  • In Lighthouse link fresnel lens to Fresnel lens
  • In Geography and geology… "From there a track winds its way across the island" doesn't sound encyclopedic…consider rewording
  • References alternate between initials and full names – choose one and make consistent
  • Consider adding alt text for the images
  • In Etymology and Natural History consider moving the final one sentence paragraph into preceding text.

If you can also address these that would be great but the article will pass GA regardless. I also aim to give it a general copy-edit as there are a few places where grammar and punctuation can be tightened up. I hope this has been useful for you. Nick Ottery (talk) 15:27, 29 October 2009 (UTC)Reply

Many thanks for taking this on. It seems like a perfectly good review to me, and thanks for your offer of further copy editing. If you want more detailed comments on the review I am not really the person to ask and you might consider asking say Malleus Fatuorum. He sometimes claims to dislike the "dreich" Scottish islands, although I am sure I saw him gamboling about on Ailsa Craig not so long ago.

I have (I hope) completed the corrections you suggested except where identified below.

"scholars at home" - I have added a note about this, which I hope covers this base.
Sotan. I added a bit about access to the summit, but whilst the views are presumably spectacular the walk looks, from the OS map, fairly straightforward.
References alternate between initials and full names – this is the way the authors describe themselves and does not I believe need to be changed.
Consider adding alt text for the images. I will consider this. It's a task I quite enjoy but I have just completed two rather lengthy alt-text exercises on Skye and Orkney and have run out of steam a little for now.

Ben MacDui 20:58, 29 October 2009 (UTC)Reply