BASIC INSTRUCTIONS FOR NEW YOUTHMAPPERS

2. SIGN UP

To contribute to OpenStreetMap you must have an account. Accounts are free and only take a few moments to set up.

Create your own OSM login here.

Click the ‘Sign Up’ button in the upper right corner to start the process.

TIP: DO NOT USE INTERNET EXPLORER!

After you create your account in OpenStreetMap: Login.

3. PRACTICE TRACING MAP FEATURES

We will be using iD Editor. To see a demo watch this video.

STRONGLY RECOMMENDED FOR NEW USERS: Do the WalkThru tour. Then Close OSM.

4. GET A TASK

You can edit anywhere at any time in OSM, but, when a large group are mapping in a collaborative manor, to ensure optimal coverage, and minimal overlap, we use an additional web based platform call the OSM Tasking Manager, to divide up the work into a grid based tasking system among all participants.

Open the Tasking Manager to find a project if you do not already have a task set up for you.

* In the search box, use a key term or your country name to find a task of interest to you. Read the Description.

* Agree to user restrictions if prompted.

* Click Instructions tab and read.

* Click Contribute tab and select a box to map or let the manager get one for you randomly.

* Select iDeditor, which opens OSM again.

• Log in with your OSM account information.

• Zoom in, choose a square by clicking on the green button "Yes, I want to work on this task."

• Remember to choose iD Editor as you favorite editing tool, and iD will launch automatically in a new tab.

5. START MAPPING

Zoom in to start mapping/editing features in OSM.

IMPORTANT: SAVE your edits after each piece of infrastructure to avoid mapping conflicts. Tag every piece of infrastructure. If you do not know something, do not make up information, just leave it general (like tag buildings as buildings, without guessing what kind of building it is).

Please make sure to pay attention to the Commit Message and add it to each piece of information that you save:

#USAID #youthmappers

You can add your own hashtag for your chapter or university, too.

When finished mapping in OSM, go back to Tasking Manager. unlock your box. DO NOT mark as DONE

Log out from OSM. Close OSM and Tasking Manager.

HERE IS SOME MORE BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF INTEREST:

What is Open Geospatial Data?

With the growth of the internet, information and data can be shared and exchanged on a massive scale. When this is done without payment or obligation in exchange, the data is considered open. When that data is georeferenced, or associated with a particular place on earth, it is generally considered open geospatial data. Much of the open geospatial data available today is traditional data that has subsequently been made public by the federal agencies, governments, and private organizations who created it through traditional mapping activities.

However, a new way that open data is being created has revolutionized our societies. When people create and share data online, the content sources are the users themselves. For open geospatial data, this has been revolutionizing the way we look at and use maps over the past decade. When people everywhere have the ability to create spatial data and share it freely, it is called "volunteered geographic information."

What is OpenStreetMap?

Among the various projects and platforms created in recent years to facilitate this sharing and exchange of open geospatial information, OpenStreetMap (or OSM for short) has emerged as one of the most widespread and impactful efforts.

"OpenStreetMap is a free, editable map of the whole world that is being built by volunteers largely from scratch and released with an open-content license.... it is also a project that creates and distributes free geographic data for the world."

Read the main text on the about OpenStreetMap wiki page.

Organizers say they started OSM in 2004 because "most maps you think of as free actually have legal or technical restrictions on their use, holding back people from using them in creative, productive, or unexpected ways."

Read about how OSM came about in the main text given in the project's account of their history here.

Just for fun (optional): Learn 10 more things you should know about OSM from Directions Magazine.

Who uses OSM?

The OSM community consists of over 2 million users and contributors around the world. Learn more about who they are, including some of the organizations that have developed around this map / project by reviewing this page on OSM contributors.

This community communicates over many listservs, some organized by country, and others organized by topic or interest area. Check out this index of OSM listservs and find one that interests you.

Together this community has accomplished a great deal in terms of making a map of the world that is free and open to everyone You can check out the before and after images to see what contributions have been made by using this tool. However, there are still many places in the world where the data is not available or does not exist in an open, shared and accessible public platform.

Just for fun take a LIVE LOOK at who is doing what on OSM RIGHT NOW.

Who are youthmappers?