Map-Making for the Masses
Slashdot pointed me to a good summary article on user-generated content and map creation. FTA:
Websites such as Wikimapia and OpenStreetMap are empowering citizens to create a global patchwork of geographic information while Google Earth is encouraging individuals to develop appplications using their own data.The author of the paper (Goodchild MF (2007). Citizens as sensors: the world of volunteered geography. GeoJournal) concludes:
....collectively volunteered geographic information represents a dramatic innovation that will certainly have profound impacts on geographic information systems and more generally on the discipline of geography and its relationship to the general public.The full article can be found here.