User:Oceanflynn/Maps
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This user page is a personal shareable research tool by a non-expert in cartography, a field that is constantly changing. Good maps improve Wikipedia articles and most of the really good maps are proprietorial and do not conform to Wikimedia or Wikipedia's policies regarding Creative Commons licensing.
There is a WikiProject Map page that offers "advice, tools, links to resources, and recommended conventions. If you are serious about making maps for Wikipedia these are the experts, not the writer of this page of notes.
This user page is about making layered maps based on open source online .jpg, .psd layers using a raster graphics editor—GIMP for example—to manipulate and layer images with the ultimate goal of producing a useful customized map for specific Wikipedia articles, that do not violate any of Wikimedia Commons or Wikipedia's copyright laws.
While the base map must be open source, other non-free maps can be used to gather localized data including changes to place names—those that changed over time and the use of indigenous languages.
Basically, the process involves finding useful base maps that are already open source with clear CC licensing, then adding layers with specific labels, icons, lines, colors, and/or shapes to produce a customized map to improve a Wikipedia article without violating any of Wikimedia Commons or Wikipedia's copyright laws.
Once a map is completed, uploading it can be challenging as the fields for ensuring no protocols have been abused, can be a bit overwhelming. There are some experienced editors whose files have very complete data that proved useful, such as Hwy43 and NordNordWest.