[OSM-talk] What to call OSM data?

[Joseph Reeves]

>I think crowdsourced is accurate.

Playing Devil's Advocate, "crowdsourced" isn't appropriate for large
swathes of OSM data: Europe, for example, is dominated by imported, not
crowdsourced, CORINE data.

I'd describe OSM data simply as "open".

Cheers, Joseph





On 26 November 2012 12:55, Greg Troxel <gdt at ir.bbn.com> wrote:

>
> Kate Chapman <kate at maploser.com> writes:
>
> > Hi All,
> >
> > So I met with a group looking to link OSM data to other data. Meaning
> > have a link that says this village in OSM is equivalent to this
> > village in these 3 other datasets. Part of this process involves
> > having metadata for everything.
> >
> > The people I met with asked me a question I hadn't been asked before:
> > "What do people prefer the OSM data be described as in the metadata?"
> >
> > So for example crowdsourced infromation, volunteered geographic
> > information, non-authoritative data, or something else?
>
> I think crowdsourced is accurate.
>
> Volunteer is not quite right, because we don't know how many people are
> being paid to put information into OSM.  Certainly that happens, and
> it's not a problem.   In looking at the essence of what makes OSM
> unique, the non-paid status of most mappers is not really the point;
> it's that anyone can map.
>
> I would avoid non-authoritative, because it's a loaded word that drags
> in all sorts of connotations, particularly about accuracy.  Certainly
> there is a meaning where data is authoritative if published by the
> entity responsible for setting the facts, e.g. street names in towns.
> Then there is road centerline data from state DOTs, which is one step
> removed.  The elephant in the room, however, is data like NAVTEQ and
> Tele Atlas, which is similar to OSM in that it is produced privately (or
> imported from DOT sources).  However, I would expect that some like to
> claim that NAVTEQ data is "authoritative" and OSM data is
> "non-authoritative", and I think OSM should avoid self-labeling as
> non-authoritative.
>
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