[Tagging] POIs

Dave Sutter sutter at intransix.com
Sat Dec 8 18:26:59 GMT 2012


Oops, I was reading on my iphone and missed bit of the email sent by
Steve Bennett and other parts of this thread.

Address/ref is a good link obviously only where there is an address or
some other references like a room number or ferry route. If there is
not, something else must be done. I agree with what Steve said that ID
of a map object is problematic, particularly in OSM where an ID can be
changed.

In the example of an ATM, I would draw that on the map as either a
polygon or a point, and label it as an ATM. It could have added
attributes telling what kind of ATM it is and it may be given a
reference tag of some kind to allow for further identification by an
external database. For example this may be Wells Fargo ATM 234234.

In the case of a shop, I would draw the building or unit as a geometry
and label the geometry with the address. Then the POI database would
have the shop with the address, forming the link.

In the case of the business, the business might move to a different
address and another business may move into this location. It is in
principle easier to update the POI database for this than the map. The
business owner can update his address rather then editing the map. At
least this is how it works in many other places. One of the main
reason for this is that the big databases for businesses are managed
separately from maps - Yellow Pages, Hoovers, InfoUSA, Factual etc

Admittedly, OSM may be different. Maybe it is better to just rely on
the "boots on the ground" to update the POI's directly in the map.
However, when it comes to details like the schedule for a ferry (a
discussion that came up a ways back), I think this type on information
is just too difficult to maintain directly in OSM.

I think it would be good to create an external database and move some
things to it. But if we do this, there will always be a fuzzy line
between and a debate about what goes in the external database and what
goes in the map. I don't have a good answer for that.

Dave



On Sat, Dec 8, 2012 at 9:46 AM, Tobias Knerr <osm at tobias-knerr.de> wrote:
>>> On Sat, Dec 8, 2012 at 1:37 AM, Janko Mihelić <janjko at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> How would you connect POIs that have no address?
>
> You still haven't really answered this question which points out the
> (imo) most obvious flaw of the idea.
>
> Perhaps it would help if you gave us a definition of what you consider a
> POI. With many things that I'd classify as a POI - an atm, a bench, or
> even some kiosks housing a shop - there isn't an easy way to describe
> their location except as coordinates, which is what we are currently doing.
>
> Tobias
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tagging mailing list
> Tagging at openstreetmap.org
> http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/tagging



More information about the Tagging mailing list