[Talk-us] Burning Man old data, publicity opportunity

[Richard Weait]

On Wed, Apr 23, 2014 at 12:18 PM, Brad Neuhauser
<brad.neuhauser at gmail.com> wrote:
> You might want to check out this thread from last year:
> https://lists.openstreetmap.org/pipermail/talk-us/2013-August/011641.html
>
> Cheers, Brad
>
>
> On Tue, Apr 22, 2014 at 11:16 PM, robmorgan78 <robmorgan78 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> Hello everyone, I am doing a project in my GIS class that involves working
>> with a shape file and exporting to a KML file. I have been going to
>> Burning
>> Man for the past few years now and thought it would be interesting to work
>> with data from BM. I stumbled across this discussion and now instead of
>> one
>> question I have two...
>>
>> First question, does anyone know where I can get shapefile data from past
>> Burning Man events?
>>
>> My second question is, I am going to Burning Man this year (2014) and
>> would
>> be very interested in helping OSM with data collection. Who and what would
>> I
>> need to do to get involved in helping OSM with data collection at Burning
>> Man 2014?

Hi Robert,

Take Brad's advice and have a look at the earlier part of this thread.
 We, OpenStreetMap contributors, love to have enthusiastic newcomers
join the project.

Your particular interest does intersect with some issues that you
should be aware of.

Firstly, OpenStreetMap is primarily for geographic information that is
permanent, verifiable and significant.  Some might find the temporary
town for BM as not-permanent-enough.  Others will disagree.  :-)

Secondly, OpenStreetMap data is supposed to be current, rather than
historical.  There is a separate mailing list for those with an
interest in OpenStreetMap and historical objects.  The two older
version of BM map are an exception in OpenStreetMap data, and
sometimes lead to confusion on that matter.

Thirdly, acquiring a shape file to put some externally curated data
into OpenStreetMap is what we commonly refer to as an import.  There
have been many past imports with poor results, even from experienced,
well intentioned contributors.  So all prospective imports must follow
guidelines carefully, and with detailed community participation.

Now, I hope that the above information does not put you off
OpenStreetMap.  I'm not sure what the timing is for BM this year and
if you'll have time to properly consult on an import.

Regarding a source of shapefile data, you can find shape files of
various portions of the OpenStreetMap data set at the Geofabrik
downloads server.  http://download.geofabrik.de/north-america.html If
you were to chose the Nevada file, you might be able to get the
historic BM data from there.

If you want to make the current burning man map data useful for
attendees this year, you might consider converting it, alone, without
any integration with OpenStreetMap data.  if you were to convert it
for use on handheld GPSes, or pre-render it into tiles for a browser,
you could offer that as a download for other users before they head to
the desert.  You might also have copies on SD card, or USB for them
you copy from you once you are on-site.

Have a great time.

Best regards anf happy mapping,

Richard