Bittner C (2016)
Publication Type: Journal article
Publication year: 2016
Publisher: Kluwer Academic Publishers
URI: http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10708-016-9721-3
DOI: 10.1007/s10708-016-9721-3
While the term “volunteered geographic
information” (VGI) has become a buzzword in
debates on the geoweb, online cartography and
digital geoinformation, the scope and reach of VGI
remains underexplored. Drawing on literature on
social implications of VGI, this article, firstly,
explores differences between VGI initiatives at the
example of a comparative case study on social biases
within data of OSM and Wikimapia in the fragmented
social setting of Jerusalem, Israel. The results
of this analysis turn out to be highly contradictive
between both projects, which challenges widely
accepted assumptions on the imprint of social
inequalities and digital divides on VGI. This observation
guides, secondly, a discussion of diversity
within the category of VGI. Arguing that mapping
communities, data formats and knowledge types
behind VGI are extremely dissimilar, the paper
proceeds by questioning the consistency and utility
of VGI as a category. Seeking for a more comprehensive
typology of VGI, Edney’s notion of
cartographic modes will be presented as an approach
towards a more contextualized understanding of VGI
projects by embracing their underlying cultural,
social and technical relations. Consequently, the
paper suggests empirical research on the cartographic
modes of a broad series of VGI projects through
qualitative and quantitative methods alike.
APA:
Bittner, C. (2016). Diversity in volunteered geographic information - Comparing OpenStreetMap and Wikimapia in Jerusalem. Geo Journal. https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10708-016-9721-3
MLA:
Bittner, Christian. "Diversity in volunteered geographic information - Comparing OpenStreetMap and Wikimapia in Jerusalem." Geo Journal (2016).
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