tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5708531310496833007.post6525831091705724140..comments2023-10-21T15:13:32.859-01:00Comments on wait... what?: Is This Map Better than That Map?Lindahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16444753189036288192noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5708531310496833007.post-57865713146390993862009-12-27T02:18:18.888-01:002009-12-27T02:18:18.888-01:00Thanks for reading. And your comment's not off...Thanks for reading. And your comment's not off topic at all! One of my favorite quotes is "We're not trying to build a bridge, we're trying to get across a river". It seems to me that if you lose sight of your end goal, try to implement a pre-packaged solution, and your end users are not involved in the process, you'll run into trouble, whether it's technology or something else!Linda Raftreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00653393198528502051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5708531310496833007.post-83068216283121057262009-12-26T17:27:02.990-01:002009-12-26T17:27:02.990-01:00I had to laugh when I read this post because at my...I had to laugh when I read this post because at my not-for-profit workplace we were told to implement an electronic "solution" as a cost-savings measure. It made more work for everyone and didn't end up actually saving money because we had to spend so much time and effort finding ways to get around the ill-conceived measure. The solution to this problem was for the company to hire an expert in change to coach us in full-day sessions as to how to handle change, what the stages of change are, how to deal with those who resist change, blah blah blah. At the end of the half day session I was required to attend, I raised my hand and said "I wonder if there is any part of implementing change that describes how to follow up on whether the change accomplishes the purpose intended." The speaker looked at me as though I had 3 arms and an extra eye. "That's not our purpose here." <br />Kind of off the topic of maps but maybe good for a laugh?Martha Cookhttp://marthacook.typepad.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5708531310496833007.post-54214012359255400042009-12-21T01:36:44.927-01:002009-12-21T01:36:44.927-01:00Hi Ismael, really good point. Thanks for your comm...Hi Ismael, really good point. Thanks for your comments!Linda Raftreehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00653393198528502051noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5708531310496833007.post-56770391486307218592009-12-20T08:19:34.831-01:002009-12-20T08:19:34.831-01:00I agree that both maps are useful and that one is ...I agree that both maps are useful and that one is not better than the other one, but a matter of purposes, goals and users.<br /><br />That said, there are two things I definitely love of digital maps (and digital content in general):<br />- being online, sharing and collectively contributing to its improvement is universally made available (provided you have hardware and connectivity, of course)<br />- being stored as data on a database, reusage and remixing is made possible in infinite ways<br /><br />In this sense, I really liked the examples of Map Kibera and Map Warper as ways of bridging, back and forth, analogue and digital maps :))ismael peña-lópezhttp://ictlogy.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5708531310496833007.post-41038048562708847722009-12-17T11:36:21.531-01:002009-12-17T11:36:21.531-01:00Hi Mikel and thanks a lot for reading and commenti...Hi Mikel and thanks a lot for reading and commenting! We're hoping to expand the project (funding permitting) to additional communities over the next couple of years, so I really appreciate your ideas and input. I hadn't heard of Walking Papers or Map Warper before. I'd also love to continue the conversation and learn from your experiences in Kibera and elsewhere. cheers and hope to speak soon, LindaLindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16444753189036288192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5708531310496833007.post-27092119527751788312009-12-17T06:11:04.085-01:002009-12-17T06:11:04.085-01:00Hi
Mikel from Map Kibera here, thanks for the th...Hi <br /><br />Mikel from Map Kibera here, thanks for the thoughtful post. <br /><br />The question of appropriate technology and benefits are something we constantly evaluate, and the outputs you see now from Map Kibera are only one way this community collected information will be available back in the community.<br /><br />Paper rocks! We used Walking Papers in the data collection. Walking Papers (walking-papers.org) is basically a paper based GPS, you can draw right on the map, scan in the drawing, and it automatically georectifies that paper. It combines the familiar and very human map making process, with technology that let's it double as a digital data. <br /><br />And soon we will be printing several hundred paper maps, to distribute around Kibera. The maps will list details on the project, website address, etc, in case someone wants to contribute digitally. But we are also considering having more traditional ppgis forums with these printed maps, to get participation from people who would never use a computer.<br /><br />The drawn map above is just beautiful. There are ways to store and community those kinds of maps too .. I'm particularly thinking of Map Warper (warper.geothings.net). You could scan and upload the maps, set control points, and get a georectified version for use online.<br /><br />A large part of the strategy is to get the maps used. We have also set up an Ushahidi instance which uses Map Kibera, to aggregate community media. http://kibera.ushahidi.com/<br /><br />It would be great to continue the conversation, perhaps all these OpenStreetMap techniques could be useful to your projects as well.<br /><br />Cheers<br />Mikel<br /><br />contact at mapkibera dot orgMikel Maronhttp://mapkibera.org/noreply@blogger.com