Key:source
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 source
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| Description |
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For indicating the source of all tags added to the OSM database. 
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| Group: annotations |
| Used on these elements |
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| Documented values: 36 |
| See also |
| Status: de facto |
| Tools for this tag |
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The source=* tag can be used to indicate the source of some information (i.e. meta data) added to OpenStreetMap. This tag could be useful for verification and to assist future editors who may wish to understand the origins of the data they are modifying.
With modern editors, the source=* tag is typically added to the changeset when a change is made, not as a tag on a piece of information which may be updated at different times based on different sources. However it seems the historic practice of tagging objects or individual attributes has not been officially deprecated yet, so don't go around deleting those source tags indiscriminately.
If possible, try to split modifications based on the source being used to properly attribute data, and allow easier validation. If that's not possible, just use the standard OSM multivalue convention of separating them with a ";" (semicolon) e.g. source=survey;https://www.mapillary.com/map/im/... (when combining information from your own surveying and a mapillary image).
How to use on changesets
When uploading/saving your edits to the public osm database, your uploads are always marked as a changeset with your username, the time of change etc. To this changeset you should add an explanatory comment and also a source=* tag how the details were captured. When you update or change an existing object (node, way, area, relation etc.), just specify the source of your changes, since the previous changesets and their sources can still be seen in the history of the object. But do mention a source even if it is the same as in a previous edit, because this is not implied.
Historic usage on objects and attributes
When this page was originally created, it was normal practice to put the source=* tag on the objects being edited rather than on a changeset. This section describes the specifics of that usage. As usual don't start deleting those tags indiscriminately unless and until there is a general project decision to do so.
The most common way to do this old-style source tagging is/was to simply add a source=* tag on the object being edited, such as a building or a road.
It is often preferable to use separate source tags for each of the main tags, for example source:name=*, source:ref=*, source:addr=* detailing how the information for name, ref and address information was collected.
- In the Potlatch editor a source tag can be added to a feature by pressing 'b'.
How to use (historic)
Add a source tag detailing how the details were captured. Please also update the source information if you check or update a tag value based on a new survey. For example, a feature may have originally been captured from out-of-copyright imagery, being tagged 'source=NPE'. If you then later improve the alignment using Bing imagery then change the source value to 'source=Bing'. If a tag value is based on information derived from multiple sources use 'source=NPE;Bing' or similar.
Single source tag (historic)
A single source tag is used when all tags associated with a feature have the same source. For example:
- source=survey - to indicate that all tags were added based on a survey
- source=Bing - to indicate that all tags were added based on Bing Imagery.
Multiple source tags (historic)
If a feature has multiple tags you may want to make use of the source namespace to indicate precisely which tag your source refers to. For example:
- source:geometry=Bing to indicate that the geometry (shape and position) of an object was based on Bing Imagery.
- source:name=survey to indicate that the name was added based on a survey.
- source:name=OS Locator to indicate that the name added from OS Opendata Locator.
- source:name=massgis to indicate that the name was added from a Massachusetts open data source
- source:addr=massgis to indicate that the address was added from a Massachusetts open data source
Other tags exist or can be established within the source namespace.
A note about maxspeed (historic)
Note that source:maxspeed=* is frequently used to give information about the type of the speed limit. If you wish to tag both the type of the speed limit and also source information for how the information was collected then either use source:maxspeed=* in the way described on this page and use maxspeed:type=* for the type of speed limit (for example maxspeed=40, source:maxspeed=survey source:maxspeed:date=2012-11-20 and maxspeed:type=sign would indicate that a numeric sign showed a speed limit of 40 km/h based on a ground survey done on 20 November 2012, or use source:maxspeed=*. Please note that currently most usages of source:maxspeed=* are indicating the type of maxspeed, and that by the time this tag was introduced there were 0 occurences of sources like documented here!
OpenHistoricalMap
- Main article: OpenHistoricalMap/Good practice#Verifiability
Unlike OpenStreetMap, OpenHistoricalMap continues to tag source=* on individual features. In fact, you are generally expected to add source=* to each individual feature to avoid the appearance of plagiarism. It is not necessary to cite a built-in background imagery layer that you trace the geometry from, since that is already recorded in imagery_used=* on the changeset, but you should use source=* to provide a citation regarding start_date=*, end_date=*, and other attributes.
Specific values
General sources commonly used by human mappers
| Value | Country(ies) | Meaning | Website | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| survey | worldwide | The OSM user was there and saw it firsthand. The user may or may not have done any precision measurement of the location etc. using a device such as a GPS receiver. | ||
| extrapolation | worldwide | The information was extrapolated from other information in OpenStreetMap, but is still better than pure guesswork | ||
| GPS | worldwide | Someone measured the location using a GPS, GLONASS, Galileo, ATLAS or other satellite navigation receiver but did not copy the information from a map that might be installed in that receiver. Either the OSM user editing the object did this (and may or may not have uploaded a GPS track), or the OSM user downloaded one or more GPS track from the OpenStreetMap database (doing both is also possible). | (This was the default value in ancient versions of the JOSM editor) | |
| mapillary | worldwide | Information was photographed and can be checked by everyone using a plugin for Mapillary photos. Mapillary is a service for sharing geotagged photos (open data alternative of Google Streetview). It is also possible to be more specific by pointing to a specific photo id (see mapillary=*) | ||
| image | worldwide | Information was photographed / video filmed (not from the air or space) | Indicate from which image it's from, or survey if you did take the pictures. | |
| aerial imagery | worldwide | General tracing of aerial imagery | Indicate from which imagery it's from, to make that verifiable and follow most sources' requirement of attribution. | |
| common knowledge | worldwide | The OSM user knows this from many informal source and believes it to be commonly known by most people who care. For instance most people know that the huge ocean between Europe, Africa and the Americas is called the Atlantic. | Prefer verifiable sources such as survey | |
| local knowledge | worldwide | The OSM user has some affiliation with the area (resident, place of work, frequent visits...) and knows this first hand or from others in the area | Prefer verifiable sources such as survey |
Specific sources commonly used by human mappers
| Value | Country(ies) | Meaning | Website | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bing | worldwide | Tracing of Microsoft Bing aerial imagery; image capture date not specified. | Commonly written in lower case (bing) for consistency with most other single-word tags. | |
| Bing 2011 | worldwide | Tracing of Microsoft Bing aerial imagery; image capture date sometime in 2011. | ||
| Bing 2012-10--2013-05 | worldwide | Tracing of Microsoft Bing aerial imagery; image capture date between October 2012 and May 2013 (for example). | Use ISO 8601 notation for dates and periods. | |
| cuzk:km | CZ | Manual or semi-automatic tracing of Czech cadastral map | http://www.cuzk.cz | |
| digitalglobe | worldwide | Traced DigitalGlobe / MapBox aerial imagery. | some use Mapbox as source, as suggested by MapBox themselves | |
| Fugro 2005 | DK | Tracing of Fugro's aerial imagery from 2005 | http://www.fugro.com/divisions/survey/geospatial-services/aerial-mapping | |
| landsat | worldwide | Tracing of Landsat low resolution satellite imagery | ||
| uhul:ortofoto | CZ | Usually manual tracing of grey-scale aerial imagery by Czech office for economic use of forests | ||
| yahoo | worldwide | Tracing of Yahoo's aerial imagery | ||
| AGIV | BE | Tracing of quality images from Flemish governmental organisation AGIV ( "Agentschap voor geografische informatie Vlaanderen" ) | http://www.agiv.be | Open data license |
| AGIV crab | BE | Addressing data comes from CRAB database by AGIV agency | http://www.agiv.be | Open data license |
| GRB | BE | Building information (geometry, position) comes from GRB database, also possibly addressing data when included directly from this source. Alternatively addressing data can be sourced from CRAB database. (they are not equal at the moment) | http://www.agiv.be/producten/grb | Open data license (2016) |
| IGVSB | VE | Information obtained from the Instituto Geográfico de Venezuela Simón Bolívar, the government organization that provides official cartography in Venezuela. | http://www.igvsb.gob.ve/ | |
| Schadow1 Expeditions | PH | Map data obtained from Schadow1 Expeditions, a mapping advocacy resource for the Philippines | httpsː//www.s1expeditions.com | Explicit permission |
Tags used only by specific data import software
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See Import/Guidelines and Automated Edits code of conduct for more information. Imports/automated edits which do not follow these guidelines might be reverted!
| Value | Country(ies) | Meaning | Website | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3dShapes | NL | 3dShapes landuse and building shapes in The Netherlands and a bit across the border | ||
| AND | NL | Data donated in 2007 by AND Automotive Navigation Data, see the AND Data wiki page. | ||
| artem;bing | RU | See the wiki page. | ||
| BAG | NL | Address and building data from NL | ||
| cadastre-dgi-fr | FR | WikiProject France/Cadastre French catastre maps. Mostly buildings, road names, administrative boundaries, addresses | ||
| cuzk:ruian | CZ | Import source of addresses, buildings, parcels of land in the Czech Republic | http://www.ruian.cz | |
| dibavod | CZ | Import source of water bodies in the Czech Republic | http://www.dibavod.cz | |
| DOP_LVA | DE | source=DOP_LVA_BY_01 - (pilot scheme from 2008-12-12 to 2009-03-31) extending OSM by digital orthophotos provided by the land surveying office of Bavaria, Germany | ||
| Geobase_Import | CA | Geobase data. Mostly place names | ||
| HELP␣SERVICE␣-␣REMOTE␣SENSING... | CZ | Import source of some parts of road network in the Czech Republic | http://www.bnhelp.cz | |
| IBGE | BR | IBGE Import. Brazilian federal data | ||
| kapor2 | SK | Import of ways and buildings from cadastre data in Slovakia | https://www.katasterportal.sk | |
| KSJ2 | JP | Japan KSJ2 Import National-Land Numerical Information based on JPGIS. Can no longer use the data since 2015. | ||
| LSIB3 | Worldwide | International boundary from the Office of the Geographer and Global Issues (INR/GGI) | http://rockburger.com/openstreetmap/state | |
| microsoft/BuildingFootprints | Worldwide | Building shapes added from RapiD or the MapWithAI JOSM plugin | ||
| NRCan-CanVec-7.0 | ||||
| NHD | US | National Hydrography Dataset. Imported rivers/lakes | ||
| NPS | US | US National Park Service Data. | ||
| OSAK | DK | Imported address data from official Danish source | ||
| PGS | Worldwide | Prototype Global Shoreline. Low detail coastline generated from landsat imagery. | ||
| SanGIS␣Addresses␣Public␣Domain | San Diego U.S. | SanGIS government data | ||
| YahooJapan/ALPSMAP | JP | Information donated by Yahoo in Japan |
Usage statistics
For human mappers
| source value | instances (change direction MM-YYYY of count) | meaning | short source | meaning contributor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bing (and "bing") | >16.7 million ( Jun 2016)
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Bing | Corporate (Microsoft) | Ceyockey |
| cuzk:km | >2.3 million ( Jun 2016)
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Manual or semi-automatic tracing of Czech catastral map | Government (Czech Republic) | Ceyockey (see Tag:source=cuzk:km) |
| survey | >1.7 million ( Jun 2016)
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See Key:source | OSM editor | Ceyockey |
For import software
| source value | instances (change direction MM-YYYY of count) | meaning | short source | meaning contributor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAG | >18.8 million ( Mar 2017)
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see BAGimport | Government (Netherlands) | value assigned at Import/Catalogue#One-Time Imports |
| cadastre-dgi-fr source : Direction Générale des Impôts - Cadastre. Mise à jour : 2010 | >12.1 million ( Jun 2016)
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see FR:WikiProject France/Cadastre | Government (France) | Ceyockey |
| cadastre-dgi-fr source : Direction Générale des Impôts - Cadastre. Mise à jour : 2011 | >9.3 million ( Jun 2016)
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see FR:WikiProject France/Cadastre | Government (France) | Ceyockey |
| cadastre-dgi-fr source : Direction Générale des Impôts - Cadastre ; mise à jour : 2012 | >8 million ( Jun 2016)
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see FR:WikiProject France/Cadastre | Government (France) | Ceyockey |
| YahooJapan/ALPSMAP | >5.1 million ( Jun 2016)
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see YahooJapanALPS Data | Corporate (Yahoo Japan) | value assigned at YahooJapanALPS Data/Highway |
| 3dShapes | >1.7 million ( Jun 2016)
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3dShapes | Corporate (Object Vision) | value assigned at Import/Catalogue#Ongoing_Imports |
| PGS & PGS(could be inacurately) | >3.3 million ( Jun 2016)
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Prototype Global Shoreline | Government (United States) | Ceyockey |
| cadastre-dgi-fr source : Direction Générale des Impôts - Cadastre ; (M_or_m)ise à jour : 2009 | >3.3 million ( Jun 2016)
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see FR:WikiProject France/Cadastre | Government (France) | Ceyockey |
| KSJ2 | >0.7 million ( Jun 2016)
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see Import/Catalogue/Japan KSJ2 Import | Government (Japan) | value assigned at Import/Catalogue#One-Time Imports |
| NRCan-CanVec-7.0 | >2.6 million ( Jun 2016)
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CanVec#CanVec 7 | Government (Canada) | Ceyockey |
| NRCan-CanVec-10.0 | >5.7 million ( Jun 2016)
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Canvec#CanVec 10 | Government (Canada) | Ceyockey |
| NHD | >3.1 million ( Jun 2016)
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National Hydrography Dataset | Government (United States) | value assigned at Import/Catalogue#One-Time Imports |
| NRCan-CanVec-8.0 | >2.1 million ( Jun 2016)
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CanVec#CanVec_8 | Government (Canada) | Ceyockey |
| extraction vectorielle v1 cadastre-dgi-fr source : Direction Générale des Impôts - Cadas. Mise à jour : 2010 | >1.9 million ( Jun 2016)
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see FR:WikiProject France/Cadastre | Government (France) | Ceyockey |
| OSAK (2010) | >1 million ( Jun 2016)
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Address data released by Danish government. | Government (Denmark) | rasher (personal knowledge) |
| CanVec 6.0 - NRCan | >1.8 million ( Jun 2016)
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CanVec#CanVec 6 | Government (Canada) | Ceyockey |
| kapor2 | >2.2 million ( Jun 2016)
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WikiProject Slovakia/Sources#Cadastral map | Government (Slovakia) | Ceyockey |
| Regione Emillia Romagna | >1.2 million ( Jun 2016)
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IT:Emilia Romagna edificato | Government (Italy) | Ceyockey |
| cadastre-dgi-fr source : Direction Générale des Impôts - Cadastre ; mise à jour : 2008 | >0.7 million ( Jun 2016)
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see FR:WikiProject France/Cadastre | Government (France) | ceyockey |