Developing a comprehensive standard for US address data

Abstract

The "United States Street, Landmark, and Postal Address Data Standard" is a draft data standard for United States address information. The draft standard defines and specifies elements and structures for organizing address data, defines tests of address data quality, and facilitates address data exchange. The draft standard has four parts: Data Content, Data Classification, Data Quality, and Data Exchange. The Address Standard as now drafted goes well beyond existing postal and assignment standards in the following respects: 1. It proposes a new definition for addresses: “An address specifies a location by reference to a thoroughfare or landmark; or it specifies a point of postal delivery.” 2. It defines the address elements and attributes needed for database records, data validation and documentation, and data exchange, as well as for creation of mailing lists. 3. It classifies addresses by their internal syntax, rather than their business purpose. 4. It provides a simple, complete taxonomy of US address patterns. 5. It introduces the idea of an address scheme (a set of local rules by which new addresses are assigned and old ones checked within a specific area). 6. It provides for an address identifier for each different address. 7. It provides for relating address locations to their corresponding coordinate and linear reference locations. 8. It provides attributes that comprise record level metadata about an address including identifiers, classification, feature type, accuracy, spatial referencing, lineage, and assignment authorities. 9. It incorporates a comprehensive set of data quality tests for address data, including SQL-based pseudocode. 10. It incorporates a comprehensive Extensible Markup Language (XML) data model to unambiguously exchange and transfer data. The paper describes the draft standard in detail, and will further discuss the process of development, which was broadly inclusive of address creation and maintenance agencies (primarily local governments), address aggregators, and state and federal bodies.