Put 雅典 County on the map with the 库’ first Mapathon

newbb电子平台 库 will be hosting its first-ever map-a-thon event on Friday, March 29 from 3 p.m. 到5点.m. in Tupper Hall room 204. 使用 OpenStreetSource (OSM), an open source tool to generate open data for geographic features and objects in their relation to mapmaking. Participants will be creating a foundation for mapmaking, discovering information through new skills and tools 也 as pondering questions about physical space. 事件 will be in-person with a streaming option  也. It’s free and open to the public, and no prior mapping experience is necessary.

事件, titled “Mapathon with OpenStreetMap: Improving the 雅典 County Mapped Infrastructure,” is a collaboration between University 库 and 俄亥俄州’s geography department. 乔纳森荆棘, data services librarian, and Gaurav Sinha, associate professor in geography, will be leading the event and focusing on, but not limited to, mapping 雅典 County, 俄亥俄州.

Sinha wrote in an email that he hopes that anyone who is interested in mapping finds the time to experience the map-a-thon event. 

“The goal is to promote amongst our students the value of crowdsourced online mapping to create geospatial data for geographic features that remain unmapped or need to be edited to capture changes since they were last mapped,Sinha写道.

Brier added that he wishes that the event will spark more conversation and opportunities for those wanting to make a difference through mapping.

“I hope that this will make progress on mapping features of 俄亥俄州 communities that will enable new ways research can be conducted and displayed because of the open data being readily available and linked to other related objects,Brier写道.

的技能, knowledge and experiences gained from the map-a-thon can be applied to working with many types of data. 事件 is also an opportunity to discover the various tools and workflows which make open data trustworthy.

Brier mentioned in an email that the map-a-thon will help others gain the understanding and confidence to make changes to the map for incremental improvement and to take charge in doing their part in adding 雅典 County to the map.

“The end goal is to build out the map and integrate external existing data, which helps put 俄亥俄州 on the map as it makes open data available for researchers [and] entrepreneurs.”

For more information about the event, contact 乔纳森荆棘 at brierjon@俄亥俄州.edu.