CONTRIBUTING.md

Contribute to the Code or Data

You can contribute to the code if you are a developer, and you can help with the data if you have background with GIS tools and systems.

Improve the Code

Send pull requests to improve the data processing tools. Please fork the repo and do a PR, and you'll get prompt feedback or a merge.

Improve the Data

Use a Form to Submit New Data

The easiest way to improve the data is to use the form at openbounds.github.io/OpenHuntingData/.

When you fill out the form, it will validate the data, generate a JSON metadata file, and create a pull request to add that metadata file to the repo.

Improve the Data Manually

You can also manually create JSON metadata files, and manually submit a pull request with the file. The file should be similar to what you see under the sources/US directory.

Information needed for adding a data source

To add a new data file, you need to prescribe these pieces of info:

• URL for data
• Species the data applies to. Common names only.
• Attribution - What is the source of this data.
• What field in the source data contains the name of each area.
• What field in the source data contains the ID of each area.

Determining the last 2 items will require downloading the data, and opening in a desktop GIS program (such as QGIS).

Guidelines for Data Submission

• Data must be authoritative.
• Commercial use must be allowed.
• Redistribution must be allowed, though redistribution in original form does not need to be allowed.

If data cannot be directly downloaded because its behind some a click-through form, then include directions for how to download the data in the pull request, and project maintainers will download the data and upload to a location where it can be automatically downloaded during the build process.