🔧 Library Data QA

Tag completion – all libraries

Use System explorer → Load live details to see a system's current tag values live from OSM.

Library systems with no operator:wikidata tag, biggest first. Adding one makes the system unambiguous across name variations. Suggestions carry the source they came from: branch item (the system's own libraries name this as their parent organization on Wikidata), FSCS id (the system crosswalks to an IMLS PLS system whose Federal-State Cooperative System ID this item carries), or shared domain (wikidata-tagged libraries on the same website domain – the weakest of the three). Green means a branch item said so, or two sources agree; amber is a single weaker source. All of them are suggestions – verify, then apply. Grey not Qxxx badges are items mappers already ruled out (not:operator:wikidata).

operator values whose libraries form well-separated geographic groups – likely distinct systems sharing an operator name, making them the highest-value operator:wikidata targets. (Groups are split when branches sit unusually far apart for the country – ~120 km in the US, ~300 km or a provincial border in Canada; a few may be genuine multi-region operators – judge each.)

Libraries with no operator tag, grouped by the domain of their website tag – it's very unlikely two different systems share a domain. When tagged siblings share the domain, their operator is a near-certain suggestion for the rest; otherwise the group is a research-once, tag-all work set. (Vendor/platform hosts are excluded, but a few state-portal domains hosting independent libraries may appear – judge each.)

Libraries with no operator tag that carry their own wikidata tag – and whose Wikidata item already names the system they belong to (P749 parent organization, P361 part of, or P137 operator). That makes the operator sourced rather than guessed: “Angeles Mesa Branch” (Q4762622) records its parent as Los Angeles Public Library, so both operator and operator:wikidata follow. Grouped by system so a whole branch network is one work set. Where the system is already tagged elsewhere in OSM, the operator name shown is the one mappers actually use – prefer it over the Wikidata label so spellings stay consistent; a name shown like this ? comes from Wikidata's label instead, because no OSM system carries that item yet. Items ruled out on an element with not:operator:wikidata are never proposed.

Libraries whose operator:wikidata points at one item while their own Wikidata item names a different operator. The common case is a place or its government tagged where a specific library entity exists – San Diego Public Library branches tagged Q16552 (the city) or Q138816781 (the city government) rather than Q5486355 (the library network). Those are listed first and marked place. Not every mismatch is an error: a small library really can be run by the city directly, and tagging a consortium where the item names the member library is a genuine judgement call – so each row shows both sides and what kind of thing each one is. Check before changing, and record a decision against the wrong item with not:operator:wikidata.

Cross-referenced against the IMLS Public Libraries Survey, a federal census of US public libraries (public domain). For systems that match, PLS reveals branches that are missing from OSM entirely (create them) or present but not tagged with the operator (add the tag). Coordinates are IMLS-geocoded – verify on the ground or against imagery before adding; the survey data lags ~2 years and a listed address may be an administrative office or a since-closed branch.

→ Augment these branches in JOSM – deliver PLS phone, address, operator:wikidata, and name as pre-filled suggestions into JOSM review layers.

Multi-outlet library systems from the IMLS census that matched no OSM system – usually because their branches' operator tags are missing or split across inconsistent spellings (so no one system reaches the crosswalk's 2-library minimum), or the branches aren't mapped at all. “in OSM” counts outlets with some library mapped within 200 m, whatever its tags: a high count means the buildings exist and the operator tags need fixing; zero means likely unmapped territory.

Systems whose Wikidata item lists its branches (P527), compared with the branch count in OSM. Fewer in OSM usually means unmapped branches; more in OSM can mean duplicates, mis-tagged non-branches, or a stale Wikidata list – either way, worth a look.

operator values within an edit or two of each other. Some are genuine typos (fix the smaller one to match), others are different systems with similar operator names – judge each pair.