-------- Original Message -------- Subject: RE: zip code data Date: Sat, 17 Nov 2012 00:58:47 +0000 From: Roger Knouff <[log in to unmask]> To: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship <[log in to unmask]> Hi Chris, Your grad student is correct in the sense that the U.S. Postal Service thinks of zip codes in terms of postal routes and not areas. Until a year or so ago, if one wanted to acquire current zip code areas - which were constantly changing in Arizona during the boom years before 2009 - one would have to spend about a thousand dollars to get this information from a private vendor as the post office was not interested in providing updated zip code areas each time new zip code areas were created. I have no idea if the USPS is required to designate the zip code areas for the Census Bureau every ten years, or if the Census Bureau figured it out on their own. About two years ago, zip code polygons became available via ArcGIS Online. I am thinking maybe since ArcGIS 10.0. I know the University of Arizona has ArcGIS Desktop 10.1 available, so your grad student patron can gain access to the zip code polygons via the pull-down menu connected to the Add Data button in either ArcMap 10.0 or 10.1. They might also have access with ArcMap 9.x if the service packs are up to date. The following are instructions for getting zip code polygons via ArcMap 10.1 (and probably ArcMap 10.0): 1. Open ArcMap 2. Click on the little menu down-arrow that is on the right-hand side of the add data button. 3. Select the "Add Data From ArcGIS Online..." option. 4. Type "Zip Codes" in the search box. 5. Several options will come up. Click on the "Details" to decide which one you want to add to ArcMap. Click on Add. 6. Go get some coffee, it is going to take a couple of minutes for all the zip codes of the U.S. to be added to the map. 7. The zip codes will be in .sdc format. If she wants .shp format saved locally, she can right-click on one of the .sdc file folders, select data, and select the "Save Data As. . . " option. 8. Click on the folder icon to select a file pathway, name the file, and to select the preferred data file type. She can choose either personal geodatabase, shapefile, or database feature classes. 8. Go refill the coffee cup as a the 630 MB shapefile is being generated. These are polygons of the zip code areas. I downloaded a December 2011 dataset today while preparing these instructions. I do not know how to acquire the actual postal routes, but hopefully she does not need the actual routes. With the highest regard, Roger Knouff, MAS-GIS, MLS Map/GIS Librarian Arizona State University -----Original Message----- From: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Angie Cope, American Geographical Society Library, UW Milwaukee Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 10:24 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: zip code data -------- Original Message -------- Subject: RE: zip code data Date: Thu, 15 Nov 2012 08:47:19 -0800 From: Edward Sullivan <[log in to unmask]> To: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship <[log in to unmask]> When I needed to do something similar about 20 years ago, there was NO master map of the routes - only a master set of correspondence tables associating all postal addresses with the courier routes and ZIP+4 equivalents. These were updated continuously by the Postal Service and available on 8-track tape. The typical users were direct/bulk-mailers who processed the database to enable pre-bundling of bulk mail so as to qualify for reduced postage rates. The Postal Service's Business Mail Entry Unit for your area could probably provide details on what data resources are now available: https://ribbs.usps.gov/locators/find-bme.cfm ZIP 'areas' is really a misnomer - when I mapped the routes and ZIP and ZIP+4 addresses, it was obvious that the system more resembled an anastomosing network in 3D than a set of mutually exclusive 2D polygons.... Edward A. Sullivan, III Senior Technical Associate Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. 2501 9th Street, Suite 200, Berkeley, CA, 94710-2257 Voice: 510-841-9190 FAX: 510-841-9208 Email: [log in to unmask] Web site: www.epsys.com Due to the potential that information exchanged by electronic media can deteriorate, be damaged, lost or modified, intentionally or otherwise, use of this electronic data by anyone other than Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. shall be at the sole risk of such user and without liability or legal exposure to Economic & Planning Systems, Inc. The recipient is responsible for verifying the accuracy of data against governing hard copy documentation. If there is a discrepancy between the hard copy and the electronic copy, the hard copy will govern. Recipient assumes all risks in the changing or modification of data and revisions or updating of hard copy documents. -----Original Message----- From: Maps, Air Photo, GIS Forum - Map Librarianship [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Angie Cope, American Geographical Society Library, UW Milwaukee Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 6:02 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: zip code data -------- Original Message -------- Subject: zip code data Date: Wed, 14 Nov 2012 22:44:07 +0000 From: Kollen, Chris <[log in to unmask]> To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]> Hi: I need some help finding zip code data. A UA student who is working on a GIS project is looking for a shapefile of zip code data, . She is looking for is the actual zip code data and not the zip code tabulation areas (that's easy to find through the census bureau). She wants the actual postal routes. I couldn't see anything obvious on the Post Office website, but they would be the original source. I'm not sure how easy it is to get data from them. Thanks for any advice or leads! Chris Kollen *From:*Leigh B Perry [mailto:[log in to unmask]] *Sent:* Wednesday, November 14, 2012 2:40 PM *To:* Kollen, Chris *Subject:* data question Hi! I'm a current UA student, working on a GIS project that will require a shapefile of zip code data. So far, I've had no luck finding a source, and I wondered whether there might be a zip code shapefile in the University library's data holdings. While there are lots of things on the Internet which purport to be zip code data, most of them are polygon data of questionable origin and processing. The actual zip code data would be linear, because it consists of postal routes. Thanks, Leigh Perry