WeeklyOSM is a multilingual newsletter that aims to summarize the state of the map in the world and the developments in the OSM universe. The foundations of the idea were laid in July 2010, when the German OSM community published a summary of weekly updates called Wochennotiz. The blog, which received significant positive feedback from the community, then went into a multilingual publication process with representatives from five countries working with OpenStreetMap under the MychOSM project. Having celebrated it’s 10th-anniversary last month, the newsletter has turned into an important channel where the decisions taken by the OpenStreetMap Foundation can be easily conveyed to the public and the voices of local communities can be heard. Now it is being published in 14 different languages.
The most fundamental principles of OpenStreetMap are prioritizing local knowledge and being crowdsourced. Local communities can achieve a standard in themselves by using local communication channels. However, communication between communities is essentially required to ensure data integrity in international standards. WeeklyOSM plays a key role at this point.
HaftalikOSM, the Turkish edition of the blog, has been produced by Yer Çizenler volunteers for more than a year. In the past, Yer Çizenler Chairman Can who tried to keep the blog alive with individual efforts said: “Sharing WeeklyOSM with the community in Turkish is very valuable. I was translating it on my own in 2013, but after a while I could not keep up and continue. We are now undertaking the task stronger with a larger team and in continuity”. The feedbacks of other community members who contributed to the publication of the bulletin are as follows;
- Eren: “WeeklyOSM allows me to learn OSM news from all over the world. I am aware of the communities that I did not have any information about. Some articles can be a source of inspiration for our organization’s projects. It also helps our voice being heard in the international arena.”
- Aygen: “Thanks to WeeklyOSM, I am aware of the events. It also helps me get to know the organizations, activities and people from various parts of the world and to examine their works that attract my attention.”
As for Yer Çizenler, we are determined to continue to enrich Turkish documentation resources and publish bulletins about OpenStreetMap. We aim to transform Turkey’s spatial data infrastructure, into a freely accessible one. We invite you, our dear readers, to join and contribute to the community.
If you want to support us in our efforts, feel free to get in touch with us via info@yercizenler.org
