I had never heard of OpenStreetMap until a few weeks ago, but I can see that I will be frequenting this site. This sort of user interface is exactly what I had in mind when I imagined what an open street map would look like.

The very first things I added when I first created my profile were all from memory. This included places that I was familiar with at SFSU like Cafe Rosso and “The Fairy Circle”. I also added Mary Ward, and a number of minor points (mostly restauraunts). I found it easy to drift away from the campus. I was soon adding features at Lake Merced (paths, lookout points) and Sloat Shopping Center (more businesses).

For my second round of adding features, I walked around campus and recorded ever fire hydrant, informational sign (gardens, welcome maps etc), and set of trash bins I could find. The resulting field map was used as a reference when digitizing these features.

I had few difficulties, although I found myself hesitating every time I went to edit a feature somebody else had created. Any difficulties I encountered were soon overcome as I became familiar with the interface.

I have done a small amount of digitization using ArcMaps and Illustrator. This is by far the most “loose” digitizing experience I have had. It was more comparable to interacting with googlemaps, and it was pretty informal for such a powerful tool.

I wonder if anybody has thought about integrating some sort of program that would capture points from gps data? With the widespread use of smartphones, a mobile app that performed this function could be an interesting addition to OpenStreetMaps.

Changes made based on field map Changes made from memory/image Changes made from memory/image Changes made from memory/image