A review of OpenStreetMap: Using and Enhancing the Free Map of the World by Ramm, Topf and Chilton

This book is a great introduction to, and overview of, the OpenStreetMap project, with plenty of detail and pointers to further information, all of which is sure to get the reader hooked in the realm of open geodata.

As an open source community-oriented project, there is a lot of information already available on the OpenStreetMap wiki website, but it can be disjointed at times, and difficult to get a good overview of the project. This book provides a good alternative, condensing all the information you need to start updating the map, using the map data on GPS devices, and also gives plenty of examples to developers keen on using the wealth of map data in their own projects.

The chapters of the book are broken up into small enough chunks that readers can easily dip in and out, while also providing plenty of information to refer back to during mapping.

The first half of the book is geared towards those readers who want to get started mapping their surroundings and contributing geographic information to the OpenStreetMap project. The second half goes into more detail about the technical aspects of OpenStreetMap, introducing the data API and other ways of accessing and modifying the data for use in third party projects.

Throughout the book, readers are given links to the OpenStreetMap wiki for further information about topics, should they be interested in finding out more.

This book would be of interest to a range of different audiences, from walkers and geocaching enthusiasts keen to explore and document their surroundings, to GIS users wanting to know more about emerging sources of geodata, and web developers who are looking for maps or a new source of information to use in their projects... or anyone else who has an interest in geography and how emerging technologies are helping develop the subject.

Lately I've been flicking through the excellent Mapping Hacks book which has a set of a hundred useful things you can do with maps, from simply mapping things of interest using online mapping websites to creating all sorts of things of your own. The name hacking has bad connotations to many but in this sense it literally means making the most of services which are available (in an above board sort of a way). It's a great book which you can just pick up from time to time and find a hack or two that are of interest to you. It gives a wide range of things you can do and is suitable for people at different levels of competency.

You can read some sample hacks and excerpts from the book on its publisher's website, or see the Mapping Hacks blog.

Another book came in the post as well the other day - Web Mapping Illustrated. This one is more about web mapping using open source software and is more to do with creating systems of your own than the mix and match Mapping Hacks of creating your own and using existing systems for all sorts of ingenious things. I've yet to look through the book properly but it is looking like it may be useful in giving me some guidance when creating a web map for my dissertation project.

I'm really reading these two books out of general interest whilst also having to look into some of the more academic books and papers that will be useful for my dissertation.