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User:Carcharoth/Criteria for war memorial articles

< User:Carcharoth

An attempt to list some criteria and things to look for in articles about war memorials. Some of these are general criteria that can apply to any article, while others are specific to certain topics. For the general criteria, the application is noted for the topic that inspired this list (the Memorials to the Missing on the Western Front of the First World War). Some of the criteria only apply to the best-known memorials, as some have had more written about them than others.

General criteria

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These apply to any article on any topic.

Composition and layout

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  • Well-written lead section.
  • Standard article sections.
  • Strong ending to the article.
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  • Check balance of outgoing links is right.
  • Check incoming links are appropriate and the context of the links is accurate.
  • Search other articles for mentions and add links if appropriate.
  • Add reciprocal links to other articles if appropriate.
  • Consider what redirects are needed.
  • Add interwiki links both ways if articles exist in other languages.

Information and sources

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  • Search Wikipedia and links from other articles for ideas of what information to source and add.
  • Check articles in other languages (if they exist) for ideas and sources.
  • List standard sources for the topic area and consult them and look at their sources (if provided).
  • Do comprehensive searches on Google, Google Books, Google News and Google Scholar.
  • Do comprehensive searches of non-indexed library, newspaper and academic databases.
  • Consider writing to relevant institutions and organisations for information.
  • Consider writing to subject matter experts for more information, advice or reviews.
  • Use the Five Ws (and 'how?') as a basic checklist for completeness of information.
  • Assess the reliability of sources and the age of sources.

Collaboration with others

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  • Talk to the other editors of the article(s).
  • Add relevant WikiProject tags and ask at WikiProjects for help if needed.
  • Submit the article for various review processes on Wikipedia.

Media

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  • Photos and artworks and Commons categories and other sister project links.
  • Wikisource can also be a good source of extra material.

Specific criteria

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These apply to the topic of memorials, and are intended to ensure the standard questions posed by the Five Ws (with the extra 'how' question added as well). The concept of a basic set of 'circumstances' questions is age-old, and applies to all articles.

Who

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  • Names of proposers, planners, committees, architects, sculptors and engineers.
  • Names of people at the unveiling (and why they are relevant) and later events.
  • Victoria Cross recipients named on the memorial.
  • Other notable soldiers named on the memorial (both notable as soldiers and otherwise notable).

What

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  • Size and dimensions.
  • Materials used in the construction.
  • Details of all inscriptions, in all languages.
  • Details of any regiments or other units particularly represented in great numbers or large proportion.
  • Section about the architecture, the plans, themes, motifs, inspiration, style and critical response.
  • Details of visitor centres and museums and educational plaques (if any).
  • Details of number of site employees and staff (if known).

When

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  • Dates of the war.
  • Dates of planning.
  • Dates of construction.
  • Date of unveiling.

Where

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  • Geographical location (country, region, nearest settlement, co-ordinates) and context (countryside, city, roadside, riverside).
  • Mention any nearby cemeteries and memorials, especially if related to the one in question.

Why

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  • State which war is being commemorated.
  • Figure for number of people commemorated in the listings.
  • Details of the memorial registers on the site and as published by the war graves commission.
  • Details of ground ceded in perpetuity (either general or specific or both).
  • Details of the sector of the front covered, the period covered, and which forces are listed.
  • Give historical geographical context (which battlefields are nearby).
  • Give historical military details (of battles relevant to the memorial), plus any battles mentioned on the memorial.

How

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  • Cost of materials and construction.
  • Details of funding and planning permissions granted.
  • Details of the engineering done during the construction, if known.

History

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  • Quotes from unveiling speeches.
  • Numbers at the unveiling and details of the ceremonies.
  • Newspaper reports before and at unveiling.
  • Newspaper reports after the unveiling up to the present.
  • Reaction from critics and supporters and others.
  • What happened to the memorial in World War 2.
  • If the memorial is associated with a Tomb of an Unknown Warrior, mention that.
  • Visitor numbers over the years (if known).
  • Details of historic site designations (if any).
  • Details of any maintenance or restoration programs undertaken.
  • Details of major and regular anniversary, re-dedication and commemorative events.
  • Find cultural depictions and legacy of the memorials: stamps, coins, medals, artworks, books, poetry, fiction, documentaries, films, replicas, imitations.
  • Future plans for the memorial (if any).

Media

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  • Try and obtain a good selection of photos and other media (photographs at a distance, whole object, close-ups, architectural features, inscriptions, event photographs, event videos, and historical photographs and videos), and arrange as a gallery plus a Commons Category link if too many photographs or some not selected.

Article layout

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  • Standardise common memorial links and layout and phrases across all memorial articles.
  • Infobox with good primary picture and information filled in consistently across all memorials.

Other

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  • Details of alternate names (and create redirects).
  • For each memorial, identify the very best and most comprehensive and authoritative source(s).

Sources

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Listing and assessment of sources used for war memorial articles (in this case, the sources are specific to the memorials in France and Belgium for the missing British Empire dead of World War I). These include books, library catalogues, websites, newspaper reports, and databases. One-off or sporadic uses of a source are not included here - sources are only listed here if they can be used across all articles, or used intensively for one or more articles.

General

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Official sources

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WWI websites

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Association websites

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Travel websites

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Other websites

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Books

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  • Official History of the Canadian Army in the First World War: Candian Expeditionary Force, 1914-1919 (link to pdf download)
  • Australian World War I Official Histories (links to pdf downloads)
  • Remembered - The History of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (Julie Summers, 2007)
  • The Immortal Heritage : an account of the work and policy of the Imperial War Graves Commission during twenty years 1917-1937 (Fabian Ware, 1937)
  • The Silent Cities (Sidney Hurst, 1929)
  • Lutyens and the Great War (Tim Skelton and Gerald Gliddon, 2008)
  • Silent Cities (Gavin Stamp, 1977)
  • The Middlebrook Guide to the Somme Battlefields (Martin and Mary Middlebrook, 2007 edition)
  • Courage Remembered (T. A. Edwin Gibson and G. Kingsley Ward, 1989)
  • The Unending Vigil: a history of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, 1917-1967 (Philip Longworth, 1967)
  • Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning - The Great War in European cultural history (Jay Winter, 1995)
  • Battlefield Tourism - Pilgrimage and Commemoration of the Great War in Britain, Australia and Canada 1919-1939 (David W. Lloyd, 1998)
  • Commemorations - the politics of national identity (ed John R. Gillis, 1994)

Specific

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Websites

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Books

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  • Neuve Chapelle - India's Memorial in France 1914-1918 (Stanley Rice, 1927)
  • From the Uttermost Ends: A Guide to Sites of New Zealand Interest on the Western Front in Belgium and France (Ian McGibbon, 2001)
  • The Fighting Newfoundlander: A History of the Royal Newfoundland Regiment (Gerald Nicholson, 2006)
  • Vimy Ridge: A Canadian Reassessment (eds Geoffrey Hayes, Andrew Iarocci, Mike Bechthold; 2007)
  • The Memorial to the Missing of the Somme (Gavin Stamp, 2006)
  • Springboks on the Somme - South Africa in the Great War 1914-1918 (Bill Nasson, 2007)
  • Menin Gate and Last Post (Dominiek Dendooven, 2003 edition)

Other

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