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If I'm mapping a university, is it OK for me to tag buildings with a function=* tag to identify a building as having a specific function ie Careers Centre, or more generally to label a few buildings as having a 'catering and social facilities' function?

asked 16 May '11, 12:57

Sam%20Foster's gravatar image

Sam Foster
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edited 16 May '11, 13:00

Jonathan%20Bennett's gravatar image

Jonathan Ben...
8.3k1785108


It works, but in my opinion "function" is a bit a of an overly generic word. It's a bit like the word "type". I think we should avoid those kinds of words as keys.

Some functions could maybe be better covered by existing tags. For example the canteen could perhaps be mapped as a restaurant (although if it's very private, then that might be poor fit) The careers centre is a lot like a job centre or employment agency, which we're missing decent tag documentation on unfortunately, but the point is you can map these things with "top-level" tags rather than using a generic word "function".

Another approach used by some mappers, is to represent some types/functions of buildings within the building tag. So instead of just building=yes, do building=catering or something. A bit weird but probably better than using a new "function" key.

I thought we had a page on the wiki about campus mapping, but maybe it was my imagination. So today I wrote a bunch more stuff on the Tag:amenity=unversity page, although I haven't actually answered your question. We could add more detail to the 'Detailed campus mapping' section (or this could go new 'University campuses' wiki page)

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answered 17 May '11, 13:49

Harry%20Wood's gravatar image

Harry Wood
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accept rate: 14%

Harry thanks for that

I just typed a big comment and lost it - Doh!

basically I'll remove the amenity=university tag from my buidlings. I'm using name= to label most, but need to use nodes for where many departments occupy one big building. Is that reasonable?

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answered 17 May '11, 14:00

Sam%20Foster's gravatar image

Sam Foster
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accept rate: 0%

IMHO it is.

(17 May '11, 15:02) petschge

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question asked: 16 May '11, 12:57

question was seen: 11,485 times

last updated: 17 May '11, 15:02

NOTICE: help.openstreetmap.org is no longer in use from 1st March 2024. Please use the OpenStreetMap Community Forum