FLORIDA GEOGRAPHIC DATA LIBRARY DOCUMENTATION
VERSION 2005

TITLE: VETERAN ORGANZATIONS AND FACILITIES

Geodataset Name:      GC_VETERANS
Geodataset Type:      SHAPE
Geodataset Feature:   POINT

GENERAL DESCRIPTION:

This dataset contains 2003 Veteran Organizations and Facilities
Information for the State of Florida. It is a combination of
veteran associations addresses from the Yellow Pages online and
the Department of Vetrans Affairs Facility Directory.
This dataset contains fields denoting the physical address,
and contact information for veteran facilities located in Florida
DATA SOURCE(S):                   Yellow Pages Online
SCALE OF ORIGINAL SOURCE MAPS:    N/A
DATE OF AUTOMATION OR SOURCE:     Source 2003, Automated 2003
GEODATASET EXTENT:                State of Florida
FEATURE ATTRIBUTE TABLES:
Datafile Name:   GC_VETERANS.DBF

ITEM NAME       WIDTH          TYPE             PRE>CISION

SHAPE             6            SHAPEPOINT           0
STATUS            1            CHARACTER            0
SCORE             4            DECIMAL              0
SIDE              1            CHARACTER            0
X                19            DECIMAL              5
Y                19            DECIMAL              5
NAME             73            CHARACTER            0
ADDRESS          32            CHARACTER            0
CITY             23            CHARACTER            0
ZIP              19            DECIMAL              0
TYPE             49            CHARACTER            
PHONE            14            CHARACTER            0
DESCRIPT         73            CHARACTER            0

FEATURE ATTRIBUTE TABLES CODES AND VALUES:

ITEM     ITEM DESCRIPTION

SHAPE    Data attribute inherent to the ESRI shapefile format,
         which defines the data as a point, polyline, or polygon.

STATUS   ESRI item which denotes the status of the geocoded address
         (whether it was matched or not).

SCORE    ESRI item which denotes the score with which the address
         was matched to a feature in the reference data.

SIDE     ESRI item which denotes the side of the street to which
         the address was matched (for geocoding service styles that
         can match an address to a particular side of a street).

X        ESRI item which denotes the X coordinate of the geocoded
         feature.

Y        ESRI item which denotes the Y coordinate of the geocoded
         feature.

NAME     The name of the veterans facility.

ADDRESS  The physical street address of the veterans facility.

CITY     The city in which the veterans facility is located.

ZIP      The five digit Zip code for the veterans facility.

PHONE    The phone number of the veterans facility.

TYPE     The type of veterans facility.

         ADMINISTRATION OF VETERANS AFFAIRS / FEDERAL GOVE

		 ADMINISTRATION OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

		 ADMINISTRATION OF VETERANS AFFAIRS / COUNTY GOVE'

		 HOSPITALS / VETERANS ADMINISTRATION

		 NCA - ATLANTA MEMORIAL SERVICE NETWORK

		 VETERANS ORGANIZATIONS

		 VHA - VISN 16: SOUTH CENTRAL VA HEALTH CARE

         VHA - VISN 8: VA SUNSHINE HEALTHCARE NETWORK

DESCRIPT Field added by FGDL based on NAME

USER NOTES:

This dataset is a combination of veterans oriented addresses from
the Yellow Pages online and the Department of Vetrans Affairs
Facility Directory.

What is Geocoding?
Geocoding is term used to describe the act of address matching.  Geocoding
is the process of finding a geographic location (x, y point) for an address
(such as street number and name, city, state, and ZIP Code) on a map.
Geocoding is based off the typical address scheme for the US, in which one
side of the street contains even house numbers while the other side of the
street contains odd house numbers.

The geocoding process uses an algorithm to find the geographic location
of addresses. First, a street segment is identified using the zip code and
street name. Next, the geographic location of the address is matched using
the building number to determine how far down the street and on which side
of the street the building is located.

Geocoding Accuracy
The locational accuracy of geocoded addresses may vary from urban to rural
areas due to the algorithm used to generate the geographic locations of
addresses. The algorithm assumes that the size of parcels are equivalent
along a road route. This assumption tends to be more consistent in urban
areas, where the size of parcels vary less than in rural areas.
Consequently, the results of geocoded addresses in urban areas are usually
more reliable than those in rural areas.

For example, the locational accuracy of rural addresses can be slightly
off because some parcels along a rural route may be 15 acres while others
may be 2.5 acres, but the geocoding algorithm assumes that the addresses
are distributed evenly along the route.

A note concerning data scale:

Scale is an important factor in data usage. Certain scale datasets
are not suitable for some project, analysis, or modelling purposes.
Please be sure you are using the best available data.

1:24000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at the
county level. 1:24000 data should NOT be used for high accuracy
base mapping such as property parcel boundaries.

1:100000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at
the multicounty or regional level.

1:250000 scale datasets are recommended for projects that are at
the regional or state level or larger.

Vector datasets with no defined scale or accuracy should be
considered suspect. Make sure you are familiar with your data
before using it for projects or analyses. Every effort has been
made to supply the user with data documentation. For additional
information, see the References section and the Data Source Contact
section of this documentation. For more information regarding scale
and accuracy, see our web pages at:

http://www.geoplan.ufl.edu/education.html

FGDL QUALITY ASSURANCE STATUS:

Process Steps for Yellow Pages Civic Oriented Locations:

-Searched for veterans oriented addresses in www.yellowpages.com
-Selected veterans oriented addresses under following categories:
 Human Resources Programs
 Veterans Affairs
  Administration Of Veterans Affairs (4)
  Administration Of Veterans Affairs, Federal Government (47)
  Administration Of Veterans' Affairs, County Government (16)

 Medical & Dental
 Hospitals & Clinics
  Hospitals, Veterans Administration (16)

 Membership Organizations
 Civic, Social, & Fraternal Associations
  Veterans Organizations (464)

-Searched for veterans oriented addresses in Department of Vetrans Affairs
 Facility Directory www.appcl1.va.gov/directory/guide/fac_list_by_state.cfm
-Selected veterans oriented addresses under following categories:

-National Cemetery Administration - Atlanta Memorial Service Network
 Veterans Health Administration - VISN 16: South Central Va Health Care Network
 Veterans Health Administration - VISN 8: Va Sunshine Healthcare Network

-All addresses from sections above were copied and pasted into a
 textfile, which was then formatted so that it could be imported
 into Excel and converted to a database file format.
-The addresses were geocoded against ARC Logistics Route GDT Roads
 Shapefile created using FGDL Albers HPGN map projection.
-Duplicate spatial records were then removed.
 (See "Map Projection Parameters" below)

REFERENCES:

Yellow Pages website: www.YellowPages.com

Department of Vetrans Affairs Facility Directory website:
www.appcl1.va.gov/directory/guide/fac_list_by_state.cfm

DATA LINEAGE SUMMARY:

Veteran oriented facility locations were obtained from the online
Yellow Pages and Department of Vetrans Affairs Facility Directory
website in 2003. GeoPlan downloaded this data in textfile
format and converted it to a dbf.  The dbf was then geocoded
against ARC Logistics Route GDT Roads and converted into a
shapefile with the FGDL Albers HPGN map projection. Duplicate
spatial records were then removed(See "Map Projection Parameters" below)

MAP PROJECTION PARAMETERS:

Projection                          ALBERS
Datum                               HPGN
Units                               METERS
Spheroid                            GRS1980
1st Standard Parallel               24  0  0.000
2nd Standard Parallel               31 30  0.000
Central Meridian                   -84 00  0.000
Latitude of Projection's Origin     24  0  0.000
False Easting (meters)              400000.00000
False Northing (meters)             0.00000

DATA SOURCES CONTACT(S):

Name: 		Yellow Pages
Web site: 	www.YellowPages.com
Phone: 		1 (800) 343-7390

Name: 		Department of Vetrans Affairs Facility Directory
Web site: 	www.appcl1.va.gov/directory/guide/fac_list_by_state.cfm

FGDL CONTACT:

Name:                    Florida Geographic Data Library
Abbr. Name:              FGDL
Address:                 Florida Geographic Data Library
                         431 Architecture
                         PO Box 115706
                         Gainesville, FL  32611-5706
Web site:                http://www.fgdl.org
Contact FGDL
      Technical Support:                http://www.fgdl.org/fgdlfeed.html
      FGDL Frequently Asked Questions:  http://www.fgdl.org/fgdlfaq.html
      FGDL Mailing Lists:               http://www.fgdl.org/fgdl-l.html
      For FGDL Software:                http://www.fgdl.org/software.html