[OSM-talk] OSM book in English published

[Peter Wendorff]

  On 16.09.2010 02:54, Dave F. wrote:
> Personally, I want facts on how to use OSM, not opinions (Lord, as if 
> i don't get enough of those on this forum :-) ).
>
>> [...]
>
> I bet there's something in the wiki I haven't discovered yet, but I'm 
> not going to have to fork out £$ to find it.
>
>> 4: Books can go into University libraries and onto GIS course reading
>> lists. A big one, I would imagine, for OSM.
>
> Really? Apart from some really old fashion kudos, why?
> Who thinks, "Hmm... i need to learn about OSM, so I'm off to my Local 
> Uni library."
> Who, apart from the students, is actually allowed to enter said library?
>
> Anyway, surely Universities have online library reading lists? If not 
> then they're a bit out dated.
>> Books are a massively positive thing - they demonstrate a healthy and
>> productive OSM ecosystem and a growth in adoption. More books please!
> I fail to see how charging for regurgitated data (as confirmed by 
> Frederik) is positive or productive.
You are right in one way - and completely wrong in another.
The "Scientific community" often relies on "secured facts" and while of 
course the wiki contains everything and more than a book can tell, books 
published and edited in the old fashioned way are considered by these 
people as more reliable, while the OSM wiki - like wikipedia and lot 
more internet sources - is seen as unreliably: "You don't have an author 
you can point on by name".

In that sense sources are accepted often with the minimum requirement of 
having
- real name of an author/editor responsible for the facts.
- publishing date
- where to get the information to check back.

I know of permanent links in mediawiki - the science community seems to 
know not.
I know of totally wrong book contents - the science community likes to 
ignore that cases, wherever possible, while comparing (mostly 
uncommented) books and papers to living, commented wikis.

I think, that will change in the next tens of years - but I'm sure, 
books are a good thing to spread knowledge about OSM and usages wider.

If a book motivates a scientist - or a reading mapper with less internet 
activity to start contributing, it's a good thing.
If the content is out of date he/she has to get more actual knowledge in 
the wikis, but it's not wrong because it's a book.

regards
Peter