[Imports-us] Problems with the NYC building import

[Frederik Ramm]

Hi imports-US,

  DWG is observing a rising number of problems with the NYC building
import. If this is not rectified then the import is in danger of failing
and we might ultimately have to stop and rethink the whole import.

The import was well planned and (in my eyes) almost everything was done
right, people were instructed to double-check the data they're
uploading, etc.

However, in the past 24 hours alone we had four different users
uploading much more data than could conceivably be checked with the
diligence required.

It seems that many people are either misunderstanding, or deliberately
ignoring, the available instructions, and trying to "get it done as fast
as possible", limiting their data checks to a quick look at the JOSM
validator. This is undesirable, and undermines all the good work that
has been put into the planning and execution of this import.

I was really looking forward to use the NYC building import as an
example of "how to do it right" in the future, but I currently fear that
it might yet go down the drain because of a few people who may have good
intentions but didn't understand what is asked of them.

I would hope that the US imports group could perhaps get a handle on
these problems so that DWG doesn't have to barge in and play the bad cop ;)

It is possible that existing documentation needs a couple fat red
banners explaining that this is *not* an "who's the fastest JOSM button
clicker" contest. Maybe it would also help to make statistics available
about who took how many tasks from the tasking manager in what time,
publish these numbers among the imports-US and/or NYC community, and
talk directly to those who might be overdoing it.

Currently DWG is employing their own metrics about "how much one person
can possibly do without becoming a blind upload machine" and we're
rather lenient, placing only zero-hour blocks on those who apparently
misunderstand the documentation and reminding them politely (*). We'd be
interested to hear a proposal from you - how many houses can one person
import in 24 hours while still applying the required diligence?

Bye
Frederik

(*) Of course if someone chooses to ignore our message and plod on we
might have to get our message across more persuasively.

-- 
Frederik Ramm  ##  eMail frederik at remote.org  ##  N49°00'09" E008°23'33"