[OSM-newbies] Restaurant closed by health dept

[Richard Weait]

On Fri, Sep 10, 2010 at 8:46 AM, Donald Campbell II
<donaciano2000 at gmail.com> wrote:
> I just noticed the shutdown notice in the news this morning.
> I currently have the restaurant showing at the place noted in the article.
> So how do I handle that?  It seems closed for at least a month or so until
> they make needed repairs and apply to be re-opened if not permanently. In
> the meantime we don't want people searching OSM for "chinese food in Guyana"
> (okay honestly the Nominatim doesn't work that good, but in THEORY HERE ;-)
>  and going to the now closed Seiko Garden.  But I don't want to remove the
> point since it will probably open back up in a while.
> Any ideas how to handle that?

Hi Don,

I suppose that the best way to handle this would be with a "mash up"
using OSM for location, and the local health department web site for
status reports.

I see a couple of things for you to consider before you decide how you
want to deal with this.

1) Permanence.  OSM does better with things that are permanent.  Some
OSM consumers grab data once, then use it for a long time.  I do this
too, as I don't update my GPS map every week.  I might update a
highway construction area that is planned for a month.  But the end
date for this change is unknown.

2) Scale.  OSM does better with things that are larger.  Is it really
important that one restaurant is closed temporarily?  Would it be
important to update OSM if three city blocks were closed for a month
for water main replacement rather than just one restaurant?

3) Attention.  OSM is best where there are local mappers.  I'd be more
inclined to make a change to this restaurant if I knew that I would
notice and update when it changes again.  So if I saw the closed sign
during a random visit I'd be unlikely to change it in OSM.  If
traveling past the restaurant was part of my daily routine, I'd be
more inclined to update it.

4) Context.  The best-mapped areas of OSM show context and some degree
of uniformity  All restaurants are mapped, not just one cuisine or one
corner.  Sidewalks are shown for a neighbourhood, not just one street.
 Are there other local health code warnings for you to apply to the
map as well?  Is this restaurant a "bad guy" because no local
restaurant has ever had a health code violation or are they a "hero"
because no other local restaurant has ever honoured a health code
order?  ;-)