Sarah Hoffmann

OSM has an unrestricted tagging model. Mappers can invent and use any tags. While this is part of OSM's success story, it has lead to a database where the globe is described in ever greater detail. In this talk we want to explore how users of OSM data handle a tagging model with so few constraints. Richard, the owner of cycle.travel, and Sarah, maintainer of Nominatim, team up to share their experiences of a decade of working with, and occasionally fighting against, OSM's ever evolving tagging schema.

The OSM tagging model has significantly evolved since the first streets of London were put into the database. Not only are more and more different objects in the database, we also capture more of their properties and want to model ever finer nuances. This clashes with our goal to have one database for the entire planet. The closer we look the more differences between different regions there are. And to capture those the tagging has to become even more complex. Using the examples of the cycle tour planning site cycle.travel and the search engine Nominatim, we explore the evolution of OSM tagging from a data user's point of view. Looking at questions like * where do data users get their information about tagging * what kind of tagging can be practically used in software * how to handle local defaults and assumptions * how should OSM ideally document its tagging

Other people: Richard Fairhurst

Nominatim, the well-know OSM search engine, has recently received a major update of the algorithm that computes addresses from the boundaries and places in OSM. This talk first introduces the new algorithm, explains the background and how it translates to tagging. We'll then take a step back and explore the larger picture what the evolution of tagging scheme of OpenStreetMap means for the users of the data.

Nominatim is the search engine that powers the search box on the main OSM site. One of the fundamental steps of preparing OSM data for searching is the extraction of information about their location, commonly known as their address. This is not a simple task because OSM data is much less structured than traditional databases and many users revert to using external data for this reason. However, the data is there and should therefore be usable. In the course of the last year the address algorithm of Nominatim received a major overhaul to improve how addresses are generated from OpenStreetMap data. The first part of the talk introduces the new algorithm and how it came to be. We'll look into the current state of tagging of boundaries, the problem of the urban/rural divide and the difficulties of country-specific mapping. The second part of the talk deals with the more general question what the evolving tagging schema of the OpenStreetMap database means for data users. The free-form tagging is one of the big strengths of OpenStreetMap. But the lack of rules does not necessarily have to mean lack of order. Using the example of address extraction, I'd like to discuss the future of the tagging schema from the point of view of a data user.

This talk discusses different ways how to improve the search experience for domain-specific maps.

No map comes without a facility to search for places. As a result quite a few open-source geocoders using OpenStreetMap data have been developed and have matured in the last years. Nominatim, Pelias, Photon, Carmen, there are many to choose from. They all have in common that they offer a general purpose search for addresses, places and, to a more limited extent, places of interest. OpenStreetMap has inspired the creation of many domain-specific maps. Be it maps for specific features like brew pubs, camping or power infrastructure or for activities like cycling, hiking or child entertainment. A general purpose search on these maps is often not satisfying. The special features might simply not be available in the generic geocoders. And when they exist, they do not get the prominence appropriate for the map. This talk explores ways to improve the search experience for such special-interest maps. We start with simple approaches to boost results using existing web APIs and then look into different ways for creating a small custom domain-specific search engine. We discuss advantages and disadvantages of the different approaches and show common pitfalls for implementations. Although some knowledge in system administration and programming is expected, the focus is on solutions for small and medium projects that are realized with limited resources.

Diskussionsrunden zu diversen Themen rund um OSM. https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/FOSSGIS_2019/OSM-Samstag

Diskussionsrunden zu diversen Themen rund um OSM. https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/FOSSGIS_2019/OSM-Samstag

Other people: Holger Bruch

Zum zehnjährigen Bestehen der Wanderkarte waymarkedtrails.org blickt der Vortrag auf deren Entwicklung zurück und stellt vor, was sich beim Mapping für Wander-, Rad- und andere Routen in OpenStreetMap getan hat.

Vor 10 Jahren ist die erste Version der OpenStreetMap-basierten Wanderkarte waymarkedtrails.org entstanden. Damals wurde sie als kleines Hilfsmittel für das Mapping in der Schweiz entwickelt. Heute zeigt sie Wanderwege, Rad-, Ski- und Reitrouten in der ganzen Welt. Mit der Weiterentwicklung von OSM hat sich auch die Karte entwickelt, immer wieder neue Features erhalten und Mappingtrends aufgenommen. Der Vortrag blickt auf diese Entwicklung zurück, zeigt, wie sich Karte und OpenStreetMap gegenseitig beeinflussen und gibt eine Ausblick, wohin sich das Mappen von Wander- und Radwegen noch bewegen könnte.