Introduction
This assignment will explore the different areas of how to community map by using both MapSwipe and OpenStreetMap. The purpose of the task is to gain a better understanding of user-generated spatial data and how it aids humanitarian research, work in the field and wider society. The following platforms require the help of volunteers who want to help contribute to editing and discovering unmarked locations. When you complete the mapping tutorials, tasks and real-world editing, it teaches you how important these digital tools are to wider communities, especially underdeveloped ones.
Throughout the assignment I will highlight key ideas in digital humanities, such as technology and human active interaction.
Process I undertook
I started off by downloading the app MapSwipe on my phone and completing the app tutorial. The tutorial discussed the main purpose of the app, which is to help identify when there is a building, road, or water source present. There were then instructions on how to correctly select; for example, if a building was present, tap the tile once for green, twice for yellow if unsure and three times for red if the image was poor quality.
These instructions helped me master the digital tool quickly and efficiently. I became more confident in recognising different patterns and began taking part in a number of different tasks to gain a wider lens full of different perspectives. I also found the tasks repetitive, which helped to improve my accuracy, reducing red and yellow tiles to green ones. Although my contribution may be small, I focused on how important these tasks are for the countries, which kept me motivated and focused.
Once my tasks were completed, I moved on to the app called OpenStreetMap. I started by creating my own account and used the ID editor, which is the browser tool that helps edit maps globally. I chose my hometown as an area of interest because it was easy to identify any missing or wrongly placed features. I started by adding some buildings that were not on the map before and correctly aligned some roads that needed fixing.
One of the biggest challenges I struggled with was the accuracy when I edited the West Cork map. I was aware that editing incorrectly could affect the gathering of the right amount of data. The steps I took to ensure accuracy were zooming in as much as I could and then checking the surrounding features and editing confidently. Overall, I found these processes require attention to detail, precision, decision-making, and patience.
Implications of My Contributions
When contributions are made through both MapSwipe and OpenStreetMap, they have real-world importance. In numerous areas worldwide, maps have not been complete or are outdated, which has caused implications for humanitarian organisations. These organisations rely on the mapping to be accurate to help aid, plan and act as a catalyst for ensuring emergency services can locate their rural areas. An example where this is essential is during natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes; up-to-date mapping warns people of changes and diversions and improves emergency response times.
An essential aspect that plays a vital role in this mapping process is crowdsourced mapping. The idea is that instead of relying on a low number of professionals, you can edit and contribute to creating a more detailed and accurate map. This design feature ensures that the mapping process is easy to use, fast, and more efficient. It is also accessible to individuals globally that can make contributions influencing a team effort.
Another key implication of my contributions is how they support local and underdeveloped communities beyond emergency services. From these maps being improved and updated by both MapSwipe and OpenStreetMap, it can help with navigation, tourism, delivery services and the adding of paths, rivers, ponds, buildings and roads. Local businesses in unmapped areas would benefit from these digital map contributions to help increase their company’s income for their families and overall community.
Another limitation to take note of is how crowdsourced data can differ regarding quality, which is down to the user’s experience and technique when using the digital tool. The poor-quality issue should be reviewed, fixed, and updated regularly to eliminate unnecessary problems like this. This overall highlights how essential it is to collaborate with volunteered users and more advanced mappers to maintain dependability.
From a societal point of view, the mapping tasks have encouraged digital skills and active participation. Volunteered users have taught themselves how to interpret and edit satellite pictures, understand spatial data, and think critically regarding the editing process. These digital humanities skills incorporate technical tools mixed with human critical thinking and knowledge of location and task.
Another important digital humanities aspect is how these digital tools, MapSwipe and OpenStreetMap, act as living, real-world digital archives. These tools record the changes in buildings, landscapes, water sources and human activity as time goes on. These factors aid researchers in tracking down different types of developments and environmental changes by gathering real data.
To conclude, these digital tools show the benefits our own contribution has and the valuable impact it has on communities globally. The tasks help to connect users worldwide in engaging with real-world problems using advanced technology and, overall, by staying informed about society changes.
What I learned
Throughout this assignment I have learnt and developed both practical and analytical skills while using MapSwipe and OpenStreetMap. I learnt how to correctly spot and identify buildings, roads and water sources by looking at satellite images and how to edit in real time using the map’s data using the ID editor tool. This aided my spatial awareness skills and helped me understand overall how these maps are made, work, and used in day-to-day life.
I also gained a better understanding of how to map accurately while also applying detail. Making mistakes like adding a building in the wrong place could have reduced the tool’s quality and the usefulness of the map being edited. It was evident that focusing on precision when working with spatial data is the only way to master these two digital mapping tools.
Another aspect of learning I faced was acknowledging the value of crowdsourced data. It showed me that one contribution added with others leads to a bigger and more meaningful team collaboration in these mapping projects worldwide. This gave me a positive perspective that my contribution was helping thousands of people across the world. Overall this mapping assignment improved my technical mapping skills and gained a deeper understanding of the link to digital humanities.
Applications and Future Potential
The skills I learned from using both MapSwipe and OpenStreetMap are that I can use them for my studies and a potential future career. Throughout digital humanities, spatial data has been used to help explore places, students and researchers. This is evident when using mapping to support projects and following patterns throughout areas such as population growth, weather changes and overall changes in land and buildings. This makes confusing information more understandable to interpret when focusing on these areas.
In my own studies, I would be able to use these mapping tools to help support my work, such as assignments, research projects, and presentations that require geographical findings or social issues. I could map areas in my hometown that have infrastructure missing, and this would allow me to combine my research and make a real impact on my community.
In the future, I would like to continue to use OpenStreetMap to help aid my experience and improve my accuracy and efficiency in numerous areas. Frequent contributions would help better my skills but also have significant benefits for communities globally that rely on up-to-date spatial data.
I would also like to focus more on integrating these skills into my own personal projects in college or elsewhere, implementing them into projects or assignments or presenting them to my local shops or schools to help with this initiative.
Overall, the spatial humanities and crowdsourced mapping have much future potential; it will just take time and dedication from individuals highly skilled in technology and with better knowledge on this project topic.
These skills and projects would help aid both my academic studies and future career, making them show how driven and passionate I am about helping communities worldwide.
Conclusion
Overall this assignment taught me how digital tools like MapSwipe and OpenStreetMap work and connect people across the world. My contributions are not just for learning new skills but also for helping communities globally and making a significant difference, such as aiding emergency services due to mapping, highlighting areas that have been affected due to natural disasters and fixing technical problems such as poor quality. When referring to improving my skills overall, I gained better critical thinking, accuracy and teambuilding.
Overall, these monumental experiences gave great insight into how digital humanities links with the digital tools, technology and humanistic approach when taking part in these projects, which I learnt in class. It allowed me to take part in a heartfelt project making a real-life difference and a long-lasting impact.
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