I've probably done more validation than most.  There is often no record of
my involvement with a project.

I tend to be pragmatic, I’ve been into projects were I’ve changed close to
a thousand area=yes to buildings=yes.  You don’t need a degree in Rocket
Science to do this.  JOSM validation will pick them out, select by mapper,
after the first twenty by the same mapper have been checked I may just
convert the rest.

Blake thought my methods of validation in Nepal left much to be desired.  I
agreed but given that 70% of the mappers were new even the basic validation
I did improved the data quality quickly.  I also had a couple of mappers
who were visually checking tiles and finding 30% more buildings sometimes.
Which comes back to the quality of the video system and screen you’re
using.  “Why does your laptop show the image in JOSM better than mine in
iD?”  The lap top I was using was an old Dell professional grade one and my
desktop screen at home shows an even clearer image.  So the equipment the
validator has available might be an important factor on the quality of the
validation.

To me validation is a form of coaching being good at something doesn’t mean
you make a good coach.  To me Maperthons are a source of a dozen new
mappers and really questionable data.  The faster we can get in and give
feedback the better.  When you need to add 50 settlements to a tile it
takes resources and to do this I’ve used sensible mappers with a month’s
experience and delegated.  If its just highway=unclassified and
landuse=residential that’s fine.  I’ve also seen mappers with a thousand
edits to their name who don’t make good validators, the project asks for
settlements and connecting highways, they like to map all the tracks as
well.  I’ve seen tiles invalidated for missing things that were not
requested in the project instructions.

It also needs tact, a European mapper who has been mapping locally will
almost certainly use the wrong tags in Africa for highways.  They’re high
quality mappers of the type Africa needs but invalidating the tile because
the tags are wrong may not help with the retention rates.

http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OSM_Tasking_Manager/Validating_data is a
start, I’m not certain I agree with every statement but it’s a good start.

There is a problem with iD mappers they tend to have more crossing ways and
highways that almost meet than others.  Probably because there is no easy
way to check for these in iD. So whilst I would comment JOSM validation
detected six crossing ways normally, if I know they’re an iD editor I just
correct and don’t comment.

If it’s a more complex project, map and tag everything in sight I don’t
even bother validating these days.  I’ll let someone else with more
experience than I go and do it.  I only have 8,000+ edits to my name. These
projects certainly could do with a certified validator and to be honest I
have no interest in getting a badge.

Cheerio John

On 5 April 2016 at 05:37, graham <gra...@klunky.co.uk> wrote:

> Dear Hi,
>
>
>
>
> With the subject of validators in that last few emails, and past emails 
> thread discussing how to know when some one can start validating or not. How 
> much experience does one need? One may think that they are good, but other 
> may not etc..
>
>
>
> So, I thought to just suggest an idea. I am not sure what people might think 
> about it, maybe it has already been discussed before.
> Maybe the issue has been solved already.
>
>
>
> The idea:
>
>
> I think that maybe if there was a process to become officially recognised as 
> an"Validator", then it would be a "position" worth achieving, it would make 
> it a challenge. For now, I do not think that there is any solid pre-requisite 
> to be a validator?
>
>
>
> Below I am suggesting a potential avenue to become an official validator:
>
>
>
>
> 1) To complete a minimum number of tiles, as proof of commitment to HOT and 
> direct experience with HOT mapping (regardless of one's professional career), 
> then 2) to take a short test of proficiency.
>
>
>
> Details:
>
>
> 1) Can members the HOT team determine the number of tiles each user has 
> completed? I know that more that one user can complete one tile, but perhaps 
> if one user completes a high percentage of a tile (of all the points, line, 
> and polygons), that would be considered a "complete tile" for this purpose. 
> As for another users then reworking the tile, this is another discussion 
> point.
>
>
>
> 2)
> The test might be to review a number of tiles from previous projects and they 
> need to comment on the quality of the digitalisation and complete any 
> reworking that is needed. A minimum number of tiles need to be correct, (to a 
> certain standard), in order to pass the test. In each test, a random subset 
> of tiles for a complete selection of tiles could be used, so that not 
> cheating could occur.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Additionally, these official validators could have a symbol next to their 
> users names. This way, when a mapper asks for advise regarding their mapping, 
> the mapper would know if a "validator" is responding or not.
>
>
>
> Just an idea...
>
>
>
> Regards,
>
>
>
> Graham
>
> _______________________________________________
> HOT mailing list
> HOT@openstreetmap.org
> https://lists.openstreetmap.org/listinfo/hot
>
>
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