[Talk-ca] OSM

[Sam Vekemans]

Hi Alan,
im happy that Frank could answer your question MUCH better that i can. :)

I've met a few mappers around, and yup, i'll plan for a mapping party
soon, and hope that other experienced mappers will be able to attend
(and host it) :-)

Great to hear from you again, and yup the trail mappers around here
are doing an awesome job!

Hopefully in the spring i'll have my bike and be able to map out the
route relations that Frank mentioned.

Cheers,
Sam

On 12/9/09, Frank Steggink <steggink at steggink.org> wrote:
> Alan Philip wrote:
>> Hello, Frank:
>>
>> My name is Alan Philip. I am a retired cartographer currently living in
>> Duncan, BC. Sam Vekemans has forwarded to you an email from another OSM
>> mapper (Dr. Brian Grady) who has been in touch with me about trail maps
>> I have made in the Victoria area when I lived there. I have those trails
>> in a GIS and am willing to make them available to the public.
>>
>> I am wondering, first of all, what classification system OSM uses for
>> trails, so that I can match it. Secondly, what is the process for
>> getting data into OSM? I have joined OSM but have not been able to get
>> down to any meetings in Victoria.
>>
>> I have a friend who has also done a lot of trail mapping west of
>> Victoria who would probably be interested in this.
>>
>> Most of my mapping was done by compass and pacing, with the occasional
>> GPS tie in openings, so I do not have GPS traces. I just bought a better
>> GPS so I am now doing trail mapping using that in the Duncan area.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Alan Philip
>>
>
> Hello Alan,
>
> Thank you for showing your interest in OpenStreetMap. First of all I
> would like to express that there is actually not a single person in
> charge responsible for organizing all data in Canada. OSM is a community
> effort, so it would have been more appropriate if you were redirected to
> the talk-ca list. Many people are following this list, all with their
> own unique skills and interests, but with a common goal of making OSM a
> freely accessible repository of geospatial data. In case you haven't
> already subscribed to the talk-ca list, it can be done here: [1].
>
> Anyways, here are some answers for your questions. The core
> classification system can be found on the Map Features page in the wiki:
> [2]. This classification system is not fixed, so if a particular feature
> type isn't well represented, it is possible to add your own tags. This
> is a rather large difference from classical GIS systems, which have
> strict feature definitions with a fixed set of properties. However, over
> time consensus grows for many different feature types, and those are
> listed on the Map Features page. A single tag consists of a key with a
> value.
>
> As you see, there are multiple options. One possible option is
> highway=track. These are predominantly used for roads for agricultural
> or forestry usage. It is possible to tell something about the track
> quality with the tracktype tag. Another option is highway=footway. This
> tag is more intended to be used an urban environment, like parks,
> footpaths, etc. Furthermore there is highway=path which is more intended
> in a rural setting. The precise details can be found on the MapFeatures
> page. If a name is available, the 'name' tag can be used. There are also
> several tags available if the trails are a part of certain routes, or
> they have special designations (like a trail number). Eventually a
> relation can be used, which is a method to combine nodes and ways, for
> example to form a route.
>
> Regarding your second question: if the data is already available in a
> popular GIS format, then it is possible to convert this to an OSM file.
> This is the internal data format of OSM Such a file can be opened by
> JOSM [3], which is an OSM editor. If there are attributes alongside it
> (like the name, etc.), they can be made available too. In what GIS
> format is the data actually stored? If it is not in a popular GIS
> format, it might be necessary that the data is converted first to one of
> the more popular formats like SHP, and after that the data can be
> converted to OSM format. Once this has happened, and the proper tags
> have been set, this data can be uploaded with JOSM. Can I ask how much
> data you have? And is it possible make a sample available?
>
> Finally I would like to remind you that the copyright of the data is an
> important issue. If maps, aerials or other data sources have been
> involved in creating this data, which has a license which is
> incompatible with OSM (currently CC-BY-SA), then I'm afraid that it
> can't be used. Judging from your description (the data is all coming
> from you), this likely isn't the case. Since NRCan has given us
> permission to load their data into OSM (the Geobase / Canvec import
> processes), it is no problem if their maps have been used.
>
> About meetings in Victoria and surroundings: I'm not well familiar with
> those, since I'm living in Quebec myself. There are several mappers from
> Vancouver Island subscribed to this list. They can get in touch with you
> in order to attend any local meetings. Several of them have listed
> themselves on the wiki: [4]. There is even a separate city page for
> Duncan: [5], listing another local mapper.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Frank Steggink
>
> [1] http://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/talk-ca
> [2] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/Map_features
> [3] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/JOSM
> [4] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Canada:British_Columbia
> [5] http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Canada:British_Columbia:Duncan
>
>
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