Talk:Allen Mawer

Allen Mawer has been listed as one of the Language and literature good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Review: February 8, 2021. (Reviewed version).

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A fact from Allen Mawer appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 20 March 2021 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that Allen Mawer was the driving force behind the establishment of the English Place-Name Society, which conducted a systematic survey of English place names?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2021/March. The nomination discussion and review may be seen at Template:Did you know nominations/Allen Mawer.

Wikipedia

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Allen Mawer/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: Whiteguru (talk · contribs) 06:02, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Starts GA Review; the review will follow the same sections of the Article. --Whiteguru (talk) 06:02, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Lead

Is it reasonably well written?

Crisp, sharp, simple with appropriate links.

Early Life

Is it reasonably well written?

Noted.

Education

Is it reasonably well written?

Links are good.
Note the reference to Viking activity in England

Early Career

Is it reasonably well written?

Note: served as the standard English language work on Vikings and the Viking Age
Do we need a link to English language?
Why are there different references to Viking activity in England / Vikings / Viking Age?

Founding the English Place-Name Society

Is it reasonably well written?

Noted.

Provost at University College London

Is it reasonably well written?

Succinct.

Personal Life

Is it reasonably well written?

Noted.

Selected Works

Is it reasonably well written?

Noted.

Citations

Is it reasonably well written?

Noted.

Sources

Is it reasonably well written?

Ekwall, E. (first entry) does not reference Alan Mawer
Remaining sources validated, OK
Referencing style is excellent.

End Matter

Is it is Broad in its coverage?

Yes, a crisp, sharp overview of the life and works of Alan Mawer, important as they are for the understanding of Medieval England.

Is it Verifiable with no original research?

No original research is noted.

Does it follow WP:NPOV Neutral Point of View?

Neutral Point of View is followed.

Is it stable?

This page started life on 30 August 2019.
125 page views in the last 60 days;
A total of 9 editors for this page

Top editors are

    * Krakkos  
    * Tom.Reding 
    * Arjayay
    * Ira Leviton

It is illustrated by images ?

Image is from one of the sources (Stenton) and is a public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 70 years or fewer.

Overall

He was one of the best and most lovable of men, gifted with a wide humanity, a sympathy as ready as it was understanding, a constant cheerfulness, and a delight in the company of his fellow-men, which made the College a better and a happier place. (DNB)

Conclusion

A neat article, fills all the spaces. There is a query above about use of different references to Viking activity in England / Vikings / Viking Age; may we seek a clarification?
The Ekwall, E (mis)reference needs sorting. --Whiteguru (talk) 06:47, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for a fine review, Whiteguru. I have now made an attempt at improving the article in accordance with your recommendations. The Ekwall URL does include an obituary by Eilert Ekwall on Allen Mawer, but one has to get behind the paywall in order to read it. Krakkos (talk) 09:07, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for your quick response and edits to the page. We'll take this GA Review as sorted. --Whiteguru (talk) 09:31, 8 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Great!

Passed

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by Cwmhiraeth (talk) 06:55, 15 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

(

Comment or view
Article history

)

Allen Mawer

... that Allen Mawer (pictured) was the driving force behind the establishment of the English Place-Name Society, which conducted the first scholarly survey of the toponymy of England? Source: Stenton, F. M. (2002). "Sir Allen Mawer". In Lapidge, Michael (ed.). Interpreters of Early Medieval Britain. British Academy. pp. 238–241. ISBN 9780197262771.; Ekwall, E. (1942). "Notes and News: Sir Allen Mawer: In Memoriam". English Studies. 24: 169–171. doi:10.1080/00138384208596736. There had long been a feeling in England that it was time for English scholarship to undertake a systematic survey of English place-names on lines similar to those followed in Scandinavia. It was now obvious that Mawer was the scholar to take the lead. He began paving the way… Thanks chiefly to Allen Mawer's untiring efforts the English Place-name Society was founded in January 1923 in order to finance the great survey planned. The Society met with a remarkable response from the public… The chief burden of the immense preparatory work lay on Allen Mawer's shoulders, and so no doubt did the task of drawing up the plan for the survey… It is really a feat of no small magnitude to have kept this great undertaking going without a hitch for so many years, and the chief credit is due to Allen Mawer. His organizing skill, his indefatigable energy, his infectious enthusiasm and unselfish devotion, his capacity for enlisting the interest and co-operation of other scholars and for frictionless collaboration, have been invaluable assets for the undertaking, as has been his scholarship, his etymological acumen, his sound method, and his experience as a place-name student. It will indeed not be easy to replace Allen Mawer.

ALT1: ... that Allen Mawer (pictured) was the driving force behind the establishment of the English Place-Name Society, which conducted the first scholarly survey of English place names?
Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Antique Bakery

Improved to Good Article status by Krakkos (talk). Self-nominated at 10:02, 8 February 2021 (UTC).[reply]

Reviewing... Flibirigit (talk) 16:48, 26 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

General: Article is new enough and long enough
New enough: Long enough:

Policy compliance:

Adequate sourcing:
Neutral: - ?
Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:

Hook eligibility:

Cited: - ?
Interesting:

Image: Image is freely licensed, used in the article, and clear at 100px.
Freely licensed: Used in article: Clear at 100px:

QPQ: Done.

Overall: The article achieved GA status on February 8 and was nominated the same day. Length is adequate. No plagiarism issues were detected, and the article meets DYK sourcing requirements. The photo of Mawer is freely licensed to the Commons, clear at a low resolution and would enhance the hook. The QPQ requirement has been completed. The hook is interesting, but I find it confusing that the term toponymy of England is not used in this biography and I do not feel the hook can be verified without more similar language used. I am concerned there may be weasel terms used in the biography. In the "Early career" section it says "he also published two notable papers", but it is not apparent to me why these papers are "notable". The statement "It established him as one of the major experts in this field of study" is not attributed to anyone, so the context is not apparent. In the section "Founding the English Place-Name Society", it says "It quickly became apparent that Mawer was the right man for the job". This statement should be attributed to someone who felt it was apparent. The statement, "Following a memorable speech" is not clear why the speech was notable nor who it is atributed to. In the statement "most notably Eilert Ekwall, Frank Stenton, Percy Hide Reaney, Albert Hugh Smith and John Eric Bruce Gover", it is not clear to me why these scholars are "most notable". The statement, "his highly important article "The Redemption of the Five Boroughs" seems very grandiose and does not attibute who said this nor why the article was important. In the "Provost at University College London" section, the statement "Although a man of great physical strength and energy" seems grandiose and would be better just to say he had a heart condition. Lastly, it is not apparent to me why any of the people listed in the "See also" section are related to this biography. Overall, the article is in decent shape but the tone could be improved. Flibirigit (talk) 17:20, 26 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for this thorough review, Flibirigit. I have adapted the hook to the content of the article. Unattributed statements have either been removed or sourced with quotations. Krakkos (talk) 14:24, 12 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I have inserted the revised hook as an ALT1 to make it easier for a promoter or other reviewers to see the changes mentioned in the reply above. I also pipe-linked [[Toponymy of England|English place names]]. I will follow up on the review shortly. Flibirigit (talk) 15:32, 12 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

ALT1 is approved as interesting, mentioned in the article and verified by AGF on the multiple sources provided. The changes mades to the article are sufficient to improve the tone, and the nomination now adheres to all DYK criteria. Flibirigit (talk) 15:51, 12 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Great! Krakkos (talk) 16:01, 12 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]