[OSM-talk] Implement tutorship for newbies

mail at marcos-martinez.net mail at marcos-martinez.net
Fri Feb 12 23:55:32 UTC 2021


Hi everybody, 

I am resending this mail which apparently got stuck waiting for
moderator approval. I apologize If I did anything wrong... 

Am 03.02.2021 14:58, schrieb mail at marcos-martinez.net:

> Hi everybody, 
> 
> based on a debate in the Telegram Group regarding pros & cons of limiting newbie contributions an idea came to my mind which I'd like to share for discussion. 
> 
> Openstreetmap is a very complex universe. Although doing your first edit as a newbie is very easy, it seems that the more you dive into OSM the more intricate and confusing it becomes. When I remember the old days (more then 5 years ago - nothing in comparison with others here) one of the strong feelings I had was loneliness. There were no friends or relatives you could ask. As anybody else I presume, I basically had to read through wikis and threads, watching tutorials and How-tos. Some were more useful than others at that point but eventually I have now reached a certain level of confidence and understanding of the project. But heck, how much quicker would I have reached this level if there had been somebody clarifying just a few basics, may that be tagging basics or internal OSM process basics. And how many mistakes would I have avoided, done in good faith. Fair to mention that at that point I felt reluctant to join mailing lists or social media groups/chats. Call me naive but
it took me YEARS to really become aware that people are perfectly allowed to use other tags than those appearing in the wiki, which I considered the bible, just to mention one point. 
> 
> My suggestions aims at making newbies feel comfortable, confident and make them understand those things that are OSM idiosyncratic. I'd like to make them feel part of a great community from the very start, reducing a huge amount of typical beginner mistakes, which wastes time of others who have to clean it up, creates unnecessary inconsistencies in the database for data consumers, and in parallel increases contribution quantity and quality. At the same time it probably also would increase the number of people that not only contribute but also actively participate in the community. 
> 
> How can we reach this? I have no technical background so forgive me the plain language. 
> 
> 1. First edits usually are done with ID. We already have the following clickbox: "I would like someone to review my edits." Maybe we could add another one such as "I'd like to get a tutor assigned", in case the box is ticked the newbie has to select the languages which he/she understands/speaks and optionally state the location he/she is mapping, maybe also the topics he/she is especially interested in (highways/tracks, public transport, POIs, 3D buildings etc) 
> 
> 2. We establish a voluntary tutor list or platform, probably applying minimum requirements regarding contribution time/days and number of edits/changesets, in which the tutor also states the languages he/she is fluent, as well as maxim number of assigned newbies. 
> 
> 3. Either automatically or manually (maybe creating a specific Working Group) those two list are matched so newbie and tutor can get in touch. 
> 
> I strongly believe that having someone the personally helps guiding through our jungle of tools, lists, data consumers, OSM use cases, processes, hierarchies etc will make attract more people which then really become part of the community and thus invaluable contributors and defenders of the cause. If something like this existed I'd immediately sign up for it: Languages: English, German, Spanish and Catalan. 
> 
> Looking forward to receiving feedback, 
> 
> Marcos Martinez (username: Mar Mar)
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