[OSM-talk] The OSM Crossroads Challenge

Steve Chilton S.L.Chilton at mdx.ac.uk
Thu Nov 16 11:15:30 GMT 2006


I like the idea! Anything that challenges folk to get out and map
particular areas has got to be good, and will have benefits for the
project. What this leads on to of course is the need to be able to use
the increasing amounts of accumulated OSM data selectively. For
instance, once the E2 route was completed it would be neat to be able to
extract the data just for that and map it. For instance if you go to the
page Andy highlighted you get a very small scale map of where the E
routes go across Europe. Going to the E2GB page
(http://www.ramblers.org.uk/info/paths/e2.html) you get no map but a
list of paths that it encompasses. Not easy info to assimiliate or use
for planning purposes. Whilst not suggesting for a moment that the
project should necessarily expect to be map producers the data will soon
be available for anyone who wants to get into that. It would then need
data selection capabilities, and ideally data buffering as well
(typically GIS software allows selection of data within say 3km either
side of a linear feature). This would allow the compilation of "strip
maps" - maps showing not only the alignment of the linear feature (in
this case the path itself), but also the context in which it immediately
sits. There would be a niche, for instance, for a map of the London Loop
(the capital's orbital footway) - Arum Pressn produce a book based on
copyrighted OS mapping. The first feature would also allow extraction of
the complete motorway system for UK for instance (apologies for being
very UK-centric), or the canal system once more of this is mapped. So, I
look forward to the wiki page, and will contribute in any way I can.
Maybe doing part of the Thames Path, or other further afield bits on
holiday etc. Also, anyone with ideas on selective data extraction is
welcome to share them with the list.

Cheers
STEVE

Steve Chilton, Learning Support Fellow
Learning and Technical Support Unit Manager
School of Health and Social Sciences
Middlesex University
phone/fax: 020 8411 5355
email: steve8 at mdx.ac.uk

Chair of the Society of Cartographers:
http://www.soc.org.uk/
Mind the (Map) Gap:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5413010.stm




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