The Wikipedia article I chose to evaluate was on the percussion instrument, the güiro. The article is rather short, but appears to be factual and follow the Wikipedia guidelines. It’s short so everything is relevant to the article topic. There was nothing distracting or out of place throughout the article. In addition, the tone seems neutral and unbiased. All of the links worked throughout the article. There was only one link under references that did not work. There is a subcategory on the page where all the information is from that source so that is a red flag. The other reference links were connected to books. The references seem appropriate and reliable. From what access I had to the books online, the books appear to be neutral, educational sources from a factual view.

There is a bit on the Talk page. There is talk about spelling, picture usage concern, removing a section, merging two pages, and songs with the güiro in it. I think these are really concerning to the topic. I believe some of the information could even be transferred to the main page with some minor editing. It is nice that people note the changes made or questions concerning the topic. The Talk page also includes the WikiProjects. The article is “of interest to the following WikiProjects”: WikiProject Cuba, WikiProject Latin music, WikiProject Puerto Rico, WikiProject Musical Instruments, and WikiProject Percussion. These all pertain to the topic.

One concern with this Wikipedia article is how short the article is in length. Finding extensive information for this topic can be hard. Representationally, a few questions arise. Who uses this instrument today and who used it in the past? Is this a general Latin American instrument or is it more centralized to a specific area? Perhaps the instrument may be used differently in varying parts of Latin America. The history of the uses of the güiro and the use of it today is something that could be added. Perhaps it was used in a religious ritual or governmental ceremony. The sound bite is another concern. There is no citation for it. Musically speaking, it is very bare and two different sounds are heard, one at the beginning and one at the end. Perhaps this can be explained as it may cause confusion. Hearing an instrument is extremely important to further the understanding of an instrument. I think having several sound bites would be fascinating and useful. A sound bite with minimal instrumentation would be beneficial and then maybe a sound bite of a güiro in a fuller instrumental setting.

We have not discussed specific musical instruments in class. However, we have talked about material culture and the cultural importance of items. This Wikipedia article does not reveal or analyze the value of this item in the Latin American culture. Is this item used by certain groups of people of certain economic or social status? What value is and was the güiro associated with in society? These are only some questions regarding material culture and this item.