Proposal:Top-level information tag
| Top-level information tag | |
|---|---|
| Proposal status: | Proposed (under way) |
| Proposed by: | Quincylvania |
| Tagging: | information=* |
| Applies to: | |
| Definition: | Any information-related feature. |
| Statistics: |
|
| Draft started: | 2024-10-07 |
| RFC start: | 2024-10-17 |
Proposal
information=* shall become a top-level tag defined as infrastructure intended to convey information. tourism=information shall be deprecated. The meaning of existing information=* tags shall remain the same except be broadened to include non-tourism uses. This tagging aligns with the manner the information=* key already tends to be used in practice.
Two tags that do not match other information=* values, information=office and information=visitor_centre, shall be reclassified as tourism=information_office and tourism=visitor_centre, respectively.
Rationale
tourism=information is by far the most-used value of tourism=*, a key which otherwise encompasses tourist attractions and lodging. Nearly all tourism=information features (96.75%) are tagged with the subtype tag information=*, which in practical terms means information=* alone is a fully-defined tag.
The vast majority of information=* values refer to a type of physical sign or marker. Just two common values go against this pattern: information=office and information=visitor_centre. If these two tags were reclassified under tourism=*, then information=* would be well-defined as a category for "physical infrastructure intended to convey information" while tourism=* would be well-defined as a category for "tourist attractions and amenities".
Expanding the scope of "information"
The desired benefit of a categorical key is to convey basic commonalities between all its values. One should be able to assume that all tourism=* features are of interest to tourists, including tourism=information.
But while information features are often useful to tourists, they also exist in areas where a tourism=* tag would be inappropriate. Places like prisons, shopping malls, office parks, college campuses, refugee camps, cemeteries, and factories are all likely to have signage. The information=* tag seems best-suited to these scenarios, but requiring tourism=information for non-tourist signage dilutes the meaning of the tourism=* key.
The diluted tourism=information tag
A mapper may currently ask, "how do I tag a guidepost in a power plant?" and realize there is no standard way to tag this. They can either use tourism=information + information=guidepost (even though it's not a tourism feature), make up some nonstandard tagging, or give up and not map the data.
Given this, it is likely that a large subset of mappers are not considering tourism at all when mapping information infrastructure features. iD (and all editors that use its tagging schema) allows people to use the following presets without indicating that they add a tourism=* tag:
- Information – tourism=information
- Guidepost – tourism=information + information=guidepost
- Trail Marker – tourism=information + information=route_marker
- Map – tourism=information + information=map
- Information Board – tourism=information + information=board
- Welcome Sign – tourism=information + information=board + board_type=welcome_sign
- Information Terminal – tourism=information + information=terminal
Since so many mappers are relying on these preset names (and their translations) to decide how to map something, data consumers can't be sure that tourism=information actually refers to tourist features at all.
Existing top-level "information" usage
About 17,700 features already have an information=* tag without tourism=information, indicating that many mappers already treat information=* as a top-level tag. Of these, about 1,500 have a different tourism=* value, such as tourism=artwork, tourism=attraction, tourism=viewpoint, or simply tourism=yes. Dropping the tourism=information requirement makes this type of complex tagging possible.
Tagging
- information=* is defined simply as a piece of infrastructure intended to convey information. It no longer requires tourism=information.
- tourism=information_office replaces tourism=information + information=office
- About 30,000 feature are affected.
- tourism=visitor_centre replaces tourism=information + information=visitor_centre
- About 800 feature are affected.
- Other information=* values remain the same.
- information=yes can be used for a generic information-related feature.
- tourism=information is deprecated.
- About 42,000 features are tagged as tourism=information without an information=* value. These will need to be manually reviewed and retagged.
Rendering
Rendering remains unchanged, but renderers may need to be updated to expect the new tagging.
Features/Pages affected
- Key:tourism
- Tag:tourism=information
- All information=* value pages
External discussions
Comments
Please comment on the discussion page.