Nick,
I am not technically a "new" mapper, having
workedon several HOT projects before, But, in a sense, most of us
are new mappers because the terrain is new as is the cultural
background on what we see. When I mapped the Colorado fires, I knew
the typical configurations of roads in the suburbs I was mapping.
That is not true for Liberia or Sierra Leone.
You have highlighted nicely most of the challenges
I have encountered while doing this mapping, and I have some
suggestions to go along with yours.
--The size of the squares--They need to be smaller.
Where there are many scattered farms but few towns, there is no way
I can complete the square in two hours. Worse, it is difficult to
keep track of where I am because I have to zoom in to be sure that
what I am seeing is, indeed, a house. If the square were smaller, I
could complete it, and I wouldn't become so disorieted when I zoom
in.
--We need some geographical background on the area,
such as examples of what we might see. For example, one validator
corrected an area that I had, somewhat dubiously, marked as
"residential." He said it was, in fact, surface mining. If I had
known that there might be surface mining (blood diamonds?), then I
would have looked more critically at the bare area with what seemed
to be squares.
I think those changes would not require much effort
from the HOT people. I don't want to burden them. I would, however,
like to reduce my frustration while working on this effort.
I like your suggestion about small trial squares.
It's a good training system, but I also think some background on the
geography we are looking at would be helpful.
Best,
Charlotte Wolter
At 06:58 AM 9/9/2014, you wrote:
Hi,
I think there is a gap between the training available from the
various sources such as LearnOSM & someone reaching the stage of
feeling confident to map for HOT. Although we tend to think of new
mappers with no experience at all, it also extends to mappers who
are used to mapping their 'own back yard' but are concerned they
may not interpret the aerial imagery correctly when mapping for
HOT.
I have seen several messages appear on the HOT mailing list where
a 'new to HOT' mapper has asked where to start. I've also been
contacted by a number of mappers asking me to check / validate
their first squares in HOT. Having been involved in training new
mappers at mapathons I have noticed they are unlikely to finish
the current size of squares within 2 hours & they are also
interested in receiving feedback on their progress. Recent
discussion on this mailing list indicates many mappers are
interested in feedback, especially in the early stages.
As a test to see how successful it would be, I'm interested in
having a project / Task which is marked up as suitable for new
mappers. The squares should be much smaller in size, such that we
anticipate the new mapper can complete a square within 15 to 20
minutes. In the perfect world that square would then be looked at
fairly soon by a validator who makes suggestions if they are
needed. After completing a few of these squares the new mapper
should have the confidence to move onto any of the other general
tasks. As an aside, this need not be a 'new task' - it could just
as easily be a 'high' which has dropped down the list, but it
would need adapting with additional instructions, and exisitng
squares awaiting validation being validated & the outstanding
squares being split far smaller than normal. It would need to be
advertised so that new mappers find it - highlighted link from the
home page of the Tasking Manager?
I'm willing to validate & offer feedback on such a project /
task, but ideally several other validators need to be involved.
There are also times when I am not available.
These views are my own - it would be good to get the opinions of;
a/. New to HOT mappers (we all were once, so everyone's view
appreciated) - would it have helped with the transition, and
b/. potential validators for such a project / task. - if there
were a few squares waiting validation (potentially a new mapper
waiting for a progress report before continuing), would you be
willing to help with the validation. Because the squares are
smaller there will be problems with working out highway grades,
and an overview approach viewing several squares on occasion would
be needed.
I'm intending to present this topic at a Training working group,
but would like the views of other mappers.
--
Nick
Volunteer 'Tallguy' for
https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Humanitarian_OSM_Team [1]
http://www.openstreetmap.org/user/Tallguy [2]
Treasurer, website & Bonus Ball admin for
http://www.6thswanleyscouts.org.uk/ [3] (
treasu...@6thswanleyscouts.org.uk [4])
_______________________________________________ HOT mailing list
HOT@openstreetmap.org [5]
https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/hot [6]
Charlotte Wolter
927 18th Street Suite A
Santa Monica, California
90403
+1-310-597-4040
techl...@techlady.com [7]
Skype: thetechlady
