Types of Contributions

Wikipedia and OpenStreetMap are where I have made contributions. I found that it is best to stay in the small local areas where you grew up or have lived. These spots you know better than anyone else and can confidently make contributions. For me, this was businesses, roads, and the local airport in the west of Calgary, Canada.

Challenges

The biggest challenge for me was making sure that I did not commit any mistakes. I was worried that I might submit a spelling mistake or misinformation and have it publicly available on the web forever (yikes).

Another challenge was learning to use the OpenStreetMap interface. I had to use a tutorial initially to better understand how to edit roads, buildings, and business information.

Most proud of…

Finding a mistake on OpenStreetMaps in my local community was a lot of fun. The road had a turn off into the middle of nowhere, which is not accurate. I edited it to be a straight road connecting to a driveway. The city did construction a few years ago on this intersection, and it seemed to never be updated correctly (until now!)