[TCMUG] Use OpenStreetMap for Landmarks?

[Steve Lime]

Made me think immediately of a recreation inventory project the DNR is involved with and being led by 
the UMN. The goal is a set of data that depicts recreational opportunities across different levels of
public government. OSM as a middle-tier could make a lot of sense if their data model could 
accommodate it.

I'd be very interested in hearing more about Matt's test experience.

Steve

>>> On 11/5/2009 at 4:23 PM, in message <9E39A15D4EFE4BD1AB5D8699E75C2E10 at NANCY>,
"Nancy Read" <nancread at mmcd.org> wrote:
> Greetings - got this from Matt, thought you-all might have some useful
> ideas (and got Matt's ok to share!) 
> Upkeep of landmark data is a huge task, seems ripe for massive
> collaboration.
>  
> Your thoughts? 
>  
> - NR
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> From: McGuire, Matthew [mailto:Matthew.McGuire at metc.state.mn.us] 
> Sent: Monday, November 02, 2009 12:14 PM
> To: 'John Hoshal (ADM)'; 'nancread at mmcd.org'; 'Joel Koepp'
> Cc: Kotz, Mark
> Subject: Landmark strategy idea
>  
> Here at the Council, we have at least three very different sets of
> landmark data. They all have different original purposes, none of which
> completely meet my landmark data needs, which is for base mapping.
>  
> The other day, Joel mentioned on Twitter that he was editing
> OpenStreetMap (OSM). I also know that he uses our basemap (or has used
> it in the past anyway). I was frustrated for Joel and myself that his
> efforts on OSM would not go to improving our basemap.
>  
> Then I had an idea. Suppose we load our landmarks into OSM, and then
> edit them from there. Periodically, we can pull down OSM data and
> incorporate it into our Basemap. When Joel (or anyone else) makes a
> change, it will (eventually) be reflected in our basemap. Applications
> that use our basemap could include a link to OSM for people who take
> issue with landmarks on the map. And internally at the Met Council we
> could focus on editing OSM landmarks instead of our internal landmarks.
>  
> This also has the potential of making a reality some difficult landmark
> issues we've been dealing with for a while. Basically, how do we create
> and update a landmarks dataset that is current, broad and
> multi-functional at a regional level? Perhaps this idea has value from
> the Geocoding, and Emergency Response perspectives as well?
>  
> Certainly there are questions. Here are some:
>  
> 1.	How do we mitigate unexpected content that could show up on our
> map? 
> 2.	How is this managed from a technical perspective? 
> 3.	How do we (or can we) maintain the attributes that we've already
> invested in? 
> 4.	Can a gov't institution make OSM a part of its operations
> without violating the spirit? 
>  
>  
> Some notes:
> 1.	I've tried to contact OSM in accordance with their guidelines on
> a bulk import. While it is a possibility, they are very sensitive to
> this type of behavior. I haven't heard back from them. See the import
> guidelines. 
> 2.	Some data from datafinder has already been imported into OSM. 
> 3.	OSM describes a rich set of map feature attributes (tags). I
> encourage you to check it out.
> http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Map_Features 
> 4.	Tags from specific data sources can include additional tags
> specific to the original data source like datasource:key=value, for
> example "tiger:cfcc=A10" 
>  
> I'd love to hear your comments, if you have any. In the meantime, I am
> working out some internal technical issues to make this happen on a test
> basis for the Met Council. I'm also introducing myself to the OSM
> community.
>  
>  
> Thanks,
>  
> Matt
>  
>  
>  
>