Today’s Mapping PARTY is canceled due to icy conditions. Thank you for your interest and we hope you can join us for another event soon!
What: Third Annual ISU OSM Mapping Party
Where: ISU Campus, Durham Computing Center Room 206
When: January 16, 2017 (Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
Time: 10am to 1pm Lunch will be provided.
Please RSVP by January 14 to
iowamapgive@gmail.com. Please include your name, OSM username, if you need a computer, and pizza preferences.
Why: Even in this era of Internet everything, there are many places that do not have up-to-date maps, especially in a digital format for free.
To remedy this situation, we are joining a worldwide volunteer effort called Open Street Map (aka OSM – www.openstreetmap.org/) that is creating a crowd-sourced map of the world that is open source, free and available for any use. OSM provides online web mapping tools for people to map roads, buildings, water bodies and features of interest using satellite imagery as a base. Volunteers use their own computers to map places all over the world. Other OSM participants check the accuracy of the mapping and add names to roads and other features. The completed and checked areas are distributed through the OSM web mapping site and can be downloaded.
Humanitarian groups like the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders are working with OSM to coordinate mapping in areas with a critical need for new maps, including areas affected by malaria, hurricanes, earthquakes, or other emergencies or disasters around the world. Good maps are desperately needed by aid workers in these areas, right now! Current areas in need of mapping are listed at the OSM task manager: http://tasks.hotosm.org/
If this sounds interesting, you and your friends are invited to participate in the 3rd ISU OSM Mapping Party at Durham Computing Center, on January 16, 2017, Martin Luther King Jr. Day between 10am and 1pm, convening in room 206. Mapping training will be provided at the start of the session, there are good online training videos that you can watch before you come – see links below. Bring your own laptop or let us know and we can have one provided for you. We are planning to focus our international efforts on a Missing Maps project. *Important – no previous experience is necessary to participate.*
If you are interested in participating in the ISU OSM Mapping Party, or have questions, please send an email to iowamapgive@gmail.com. The OSM Mapping Party is sponsored by the ISU GIS Facility and the IowaView remote sensing program.
Related links:
