1. Know your source data.
2. Map only what you know.
3. Your goal is improvement, not completion.
4. Fewer, more accurate nodes are better than many less accurate nodes.
5. All lines are straight, all curves are circular, and all corners are perpendicular until proven otherwise.
6. Map one thing and map it well.
7. Don’t be afraid to delete inaccurate nodes imported from TIGER. The import from 2007 won’t care.
8. Make your editor work for you.
9. Satellite imagery can hide mistakes and missing features. Take a step back and look at the rendered map.
10. Validate and sync often.
11. Nothing is ever named “State Route”
12. Structural and semantic accuracy are more important than visual accuracy.