Welcome to the Census Academy OpenMapping Series. This is Module 1 of the OpenStreetMap
learning path, creating your OpenStreetMap account, and mastering the OpenStreetMap interface.
In this Module, you will create your OpenStreetMap account so you can start mapping on OpenStreetMap.
You will also learn to navigate the key functions of the OpenStreetMap interface including searching
for places, moving around the map using the pan and zoom controls, finding help and changing
the looks of the map. With breaks for self-paced learning, it should take you about 15 to 25
minutes to complete this module. Part 1 creating your OpenStreetMap account. Creating your
OpenStreetMap account is the very first step in getting started with OpenMapping. Point
your browser to openstreetmap.org. You'll find the signup button in the upper right-hand
corner. Go ahead and click this button. On the sign-up page, enter your email address,
and choose a username and a password for your account. Once you've completed these steps,
click the sign-up button at the bottom of the page. Now check your email and click the
link to accept the creation of your account. Congratulations, you've taken the first step
to joining a worldwide community of citizen mappers.
Part 2, the OpenStreetMap Interface. To of OpenStreetMap get to know the interface and
spend some time learning your way around. Starting in the upper left-hand corner, you'll
find the OpenStreetMap logo and label as well as the Edit, History, and Export buttons.
Let's examine how each of these work. The OpenStreetMap label serves as a home button.
Clicking it takes you back to your current map view. The edit button calls the ID editor
which we'll be using in Module 2 of this Series. So, let's set it aside for now and move to
the history button. The history button will show recent changes to the map in the area
you're viewing. To try this zoom into a small area such as a city or town. Then click the
history button to reveal a map with boxes that show the contents of recent map edits.
If you click on one of the boxes, you can examine the contents of the changeset which
is useful for data quality monitoring. The export button allows you to extract small
amounts of data directly from the map, try this by zooming into a small area and click
the export button. By default, the tool exports everything in your map view, but if you click
on manually select a different area, you can adjust your area of interest. Once you click
Export, your file in OSM format will download to your computer. Again, bear in mind that
this works best for small amounts of data. On the left-hand side of the OpenStreetMap
page just below the Edit history and export tools, you'll see a search box and a blue
arrow. The search box helps us find places on the map, and the blue arrow is used for
simple routing between two places. Let's take the search box first; the OpenStreetMap search
box is linked to a gazetteer which is a list of place names and their associated locations.
OpenStreetMap uses the gazetteer to return a list of place names that match your request.
Let's see how this works by typing in a place name, we'll type Fargo in this example, and
then we'll click the Go button. The map will re-center on the first entry, and you'll also
be presented with a list with all the entries with Fargo in their name. Now let's try routing
between two places, click on the blue arrow. You'll be presented with two boxes labeled
from and to. Enter the name of your starting location in box 1 and your ending location
in Rte. Box 2 then hit go. The map will highlight the route between the two places. Note, that
you can route for car, bicycle, or foot by selecting your method from the drop-down list.
Pause the video here and use the search box to Center, the map on an area familiar to
you, then use the routing control to find directions between two nearby places. When
you've finished, resume the video, on the right-hand side of the screen, you'll see
additional controls used for adjusting your view of the map. The plus and minus buttons
are the zoom controls used to zoom in and out of the map. To pan around the map simply
click the map and drag until your new area of interest is in view. Below the zoom, Tools
is an arrow used to center the map at your location. Pause the video here, to try each
of these controls when you finished resume. Below the zoom controls is another group of
controls for layers, the map key, and for sharing links and images of your mat. The
layers button allows you to change the look of the map using four predefined styles. In
addition, there are three tick boxes you can check to display
additional information useful for monitoring data quality. Clicking on the icon that looks
like a small letter I, will bring up the map key, which describes key map features. The
share button opens a panel from which you can share a link to your map, create a Geo
URI, or simply download an image of your map in several well-known image formats. Each
of these panels can be dismissed by clicking the X in the upper right-hand corner. Pause
the video here and try each of these controls resume once you've finished. Now, let's look
at the last two controls on the right side of the map. As mappers, we often add notes
to the map to indicate areas where something is outdated, missing, or where fieldwork is
needed to verify the feature. The map notes button allows you to drop a marker at a location
and describe what work is needed. Lastly, the query features button, has a little question
mark on it. It enables you to get a short description that any feature on the map and
what features enclose it. Practice using these features reviewing these instructions if necessary.
Congratulations, you've set up your OpenStreetMap account and know your way around the OpenStreetMap
interface. You're ready to proceed to Module 2 Editing and Tagging with the ID Editor.