Wikipedia:Peer review/Arbogast & Bastian/archive1

Arbogast & Bastian

• A script has been used to generate a semi-automated review of the article for issues relating to grammar and house style; it can be found on the automated peer review page for March 2009.

This peer review discussion has been closed.
I've listed this article for peer review because it has been significantly expanded over the past week, and feedback/comments for improvement and development would be appreciated. I realize the history of the company is relatively sparse for the majority of the company's history - a limitation due in part to A&B having been a privately-held corporation, so most material available has to do with either the founding and early history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, or the demise of the company in the 1980s. Anyhow, thanks in advance!

Thanks, Alphageekpa (talk) 09:53, 9 March 2009 (UTC)

Finetooth comments: This is interesting, well-organized, well-supported, and well-written. I have a few small suggestions for improvement.

Images

• The two mug shots are good. I notice, however, that the license pages are tagged with "author needed" requests. I think you could fix this by adding a note in the "Author" space on the license page that either identifies the photographer or says "Photographer unknown; scanned from the source by User:alphageekpa on 8 March 2009" or words to that effect. You could then remove the "author needed" tag and the license would probably pass future scrutiny.

History

• Although the article is well-sourced, the first paragraph lacks a source and should have one. A good rule of thumb is to source every paragraph as well as any direct quote, set of statistics, or unusual claim.
• "using meat purchased ready-cured from other suppliers" - I wondered here if it might not be helpful to add a brief explanation of "ready-cured".
• "by building a full-scale abbatoir" - Wikilink abbatoir?
• "with $200,000 in capital, on June 19, 1902. The additional capital raised by the corporation was used to purchase more land and to build larger refrigeration facilities and a power plant. By 1905, Arbogast & Bastian's revenues exceeded $1 million dollars per year." - It might be worthwhile to also express these dollar amounts in 2009 dollars adjusted for inflation. A Wikipedia template can do the math automatically if the date and amount variables are entered correctly. You can find an inflation template at Template:Inflation. It takes a little fussing to set up and source, but its effects are pleasing. The last time I used it, I noticed that the source of the inflation data, the Fed Reserve branch in Minneapolis, had moved the url to here and had to adjust my reference note accordingly.
• "processing 160 million pounds of meat a year" - Imperial measurements should also be expressed in metric equivalents. A handy template, {{convert}} will do the calculation and will use the proper spellings and the correction abbreviation for the secondary unit. With a number this big, you might prefer to enter the amounts manually as 160 million pounds (73 million kg) as opposed to having the template enter 160,000,000 pounds (73,000,000 kg).

If you find these suggestions helpful, please consider reviewing another article, especially one from the PR backlog. That is where I found this one. Finetooth (talk) 17:00, 13 March 2009 (UTC)

Alphageekpa reply: Thank you for taking the time to review this article. I agree with all your suggestions, and the recommended modifications to the article have been made. Alphageekpa (talk) 15:23, 14 March 2009 (UTC)

Further Finetooth comment: You are most welcome. I had one other thought. Another handy template, {{CURRENTISOYEAR}} can inserted in place of the phase "in present day terms" in "($4.96 million in present day terms, adjusted for inflation)") The template will insert the current year, 2009, and will automatically update when the calendar year changes. This solves the problem of vagueness inherent in "present day".