On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 3:57 PM, Carol Kraemer < [email protected]> wrote:
> Serge et al, > > Has there been discussion yet about creating a list of base layer datasets > (imports or survey) that OSM would encourage contributors to focus on? > Imports are only shortcuts for getting data in that we already would collect manually. Also, creating a list of datasets considered inappropriate for the main > map might steer contributors and their communities into a direction that > would help reduce some of the friction, especially during the import > approval process. > > This would be an exhaustive list, since we can't possibly know every dataset that is inapropriate, just as we can't don't have an exhaustive list of what is appropriate for OSM, but generally the data we want is independantly observable and "generally useful". The "generally useful" category is pretty flexible- we have people collecting data on power lines and the various utility cabinets on the side of the road, but the observable one is pretty hard and fast, which is why we aren't a good map for people doing birdspotting, for example. Political boundaries like land plots and voting districts are similar. They're potentially interesting, but they're not something that an OSMer is going to be able to improve upon, or observe on the ground. They're centrally managed and if the government is releasing the data to the public (which is how we'd get it in OSM) then OSM is not needed for collection either. - Serge
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