openstreetmap

OpenStreetMap by Jonathan Bennett and published by Packt Publishing is a book that outlines what OpenStreetMap is and how to navigate its various offerings and terminology. Perhaps more importantly, it provides the information you need to become an active contributor to this community mapping project and how to get help beyond what the book offers.

First a brief note about OpenStreetMap. OpenStreetMap is an open source community driven mapping project that comprises data, tools to edit the data, and tiling services and other services to view and reuse the data. It is built on PostgreSQL, our favorite relational database. Unlike other tile services such as Google Maps and Microsoft Bing, the tools and various backup mirrors available allow you to download all the data for your region and setup your own customized tiling service in house. This is actually the main reason we are interested in using it. Many of our clients have networks where because of firewalls, portability, general security concerns, need for further zoom in options for their area of interest, or just need to hide/add more layers to the tiles than what OpenStreetMap or other tile services provide out of the box, they need to be in control of the whole process.