Volunteered geographic information (VGI) is the harnessing of tools to create, assemble, and disseminate geographic data provided voluntarily by individuals (Goodchild, 2007). Some examples of this phenomenon are Wikimapia

Wikimapia

WikiMapia is a privately owned, online map and satellite imaging resource that combines Google Maps with a wiki system, allowing users to add information, in the form of a note, to any location on Earth. Users may currently use this information for free...

, OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap

OpenStreetMap is a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world. Two major driving forces behind the establishment and growth of OSM have been restrictions on use or availability of map information across much of the world and the advent of inexpensive portable GPS devices.The...

, TeamSurv and Google MyMaps. VGI can also be seen as an extension of critical and participatory approaches to geographic information systems and as a specific concern within online or web credibility

Credibility

Credibility refers to the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or message.Traditionally, modern, credibility has two key components: trustworthiness and expertise, which both have objective and subjective components. Trustworthiness is based more on subjective...

. These sites provide general base map information and allow users to create their own content by marking locations where various events occurred or certain features exist, but aren’t already shown on the base map.

VGI is a special case of the larger Web phenomenon known as user-generated content

User-generated content

User generated content covers a range of media content available in a range of modern communications technologies. It entered mainstream usage during 2005 having arisen in web publishing and new media content production circles...

.

See also

• Geographic information systems (GIS)
  Geographic Information System
  A geographic information system, geographical information science, or geospatial information studies is a system designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present all types of geographically referenced data...
  
  
• Neogeography
  Neogeography
  Neogeography literally means "new geography" , and is commonly applied to the usage of geographical techniques and tools used for personal and community activities or for utilization by a non-expert group of users...
  
  
• Participatory 3D modelling (P3DM)
• Participatory GIS
  Participatory GIS
  As defined by the participants in the Mapping for Change International Conference which took place in Nairobi, Kenya in September 2005, Participatory GIS is an emergent practice in its own right; developing out of participatory approaches to planning and spatial information and communication...
  
  
• Public participation
  Public participation
  Public participation is a political principle or practice, and may also be recognised as a right . The terms public participation may be used interchangeably with the concept or practice of stakeholder engagement and/or popular participation.Generally public participation seeks and facilitates the...
  
  
• Public participation GIS (PPGIS)
• Traditional knowledge GIS
  Traditional knowledge GIS
  Traditional knowledge Geographic Information Systems are the data, techniques, and technologies designed to document and utilize local knowledges in communities around the world. Traditional knowledge is information that encompasses the experiences of a particular culture or society...
  
  
• Web mapping
  Web mapping
  Web mapping is the process of designing, implementing, generating and delivering maps on the World Wide Web and its product. While web mapping primarily deals with technological issues, web cartography additionally studies theoretic aspects: the use of web maps, the evaluation and optimization of...