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AUGUST 1996 U.S. BUREAU OF THE CENSUS TIGER/Line(R), 1995 Census TIGER and TIGER/Line(R) are trademarks of the U.S. Bureau of the Census. WHAT'S NEW The principal reason for the release of TIGER/Line 1995 is to correct a problem found in some files of the TIGER/Line Files 1994. The problem is that a partial or blank block number may appear on one side of Record Types 1 and 3 even though the block number appears correctly on the related Record Types A and S. This problem affects those geographic information systems (GIS) that rely on the linear geographic entity codes rather than the polygon geographic entity codes. The exact files that may be affected are not known, but the maximum extent of affected files is limited to the 369 counties whose files meet the processing criteria for containing a possible mistake. There is a list of these counties and some additional information on the problem in TIGER/Line User Note 2 stored on this site. The TIGER/Line 1995 county files were produced from the TIGER data base from late Summer 1995 to early Spring 1996, with most of the files produced in 1996. Aside from the corrections noted above, the principal difference between the 1994 and 1995 versions is that the coordinates, for most areas, are now based on the 1983 North American Datum (NAD83). The exceptions are Hawaii and the Insular Areas of the Pacific which remain on the local datums used for earlier versions of TIGER/Line. Limited improvements were made in address range and feature coverage between the 1994 and 1995 versions. Any improvements were done as a result of the various cooperative programs we have with local officials such as the TIGER Improvement Program and the 1995 Boundary and Annexation Survey as well as special censuses. Since the scope of these improvements is scattered it is difficult to catagorize it for the potential users of this release. USING THIS CD-ROM The TIGER/Line 1995 CD-ROMs contain digital cartographic data files and related documentation. The files cover all counties, parishes, boroughs, census geographic areas, and equivalent entities for each state (or territory, and so forth). The data is organized in subdirectories by county (or county equivalent) within a state. Each state subdirectory is named using the two-digit FIPS code and the Post Office abbreviation for the state (ex. 02_AK for Alaska). Within the state subdirectory each county file has the name TGRssccc.ZIP, where the "ss" is the state FIPS code and "ccc" is the county FIPS code. The data for each county is stored in this single compressed file that when decompressed results in up to 17 separate files representing each of the TIGER/Line record types that exist for that county. The name of each of these files uses a modification of the above convention (TGRssccc.BWx) where "x" is the Record Type. If a particular TIGER/Line(R) record type does not exist for a county, there will not be a file for that record type for that county. Appendix A of the documentation provides a list of counties and their FIPS codes by state. Information on the content of each record type can be found in Chapter 6 of the TIGER/Line documentation. Information on decompressing the data files is found below under the heading DATA DECOMPRESSION. The files use the TIGER/Line(R) record formats as described in the accompanying documentation. When decompressed they are fixed length ASCII with record separators (carriage return, line feed). The CD-ROM is in ISO 9660 format. Users with PCS will require Microsoft CD-ROM Extensions Version 2.0 or higher. This CD-ROM does not contain software to display or generate maps. To create maps with the data on this CD-ROM, one would typically use a Geographic Information System package or other mapping software. For information on how to use the TIGER/Line data with a specific package one should contact the company that produced the package. For information on companies that sell products that use TIGER/Line data or that provide various TIGER/Line-related services refer to the "Vendor's List" on the TIGER Page at the Census Bureau's World Wide Web site described below. ---------------------------------------- ADDITIONAL CONTENTS OF THE CD-ROM: COUNTSss.TXT Each CD-ROM contains COUNTSss.TXT files in the root directory. The COUNTSss.TXT files show record type file record counts by county for all states that are included on the compact disk. Note that all counties are listed for a given state. The layout of COUNTSss.TXT is as follows: FIPS state code 15:16 FIPS county code 19:21 Creation date 24:29 Record type 32:32 Record Count 35:42 ERRATA_1.TXT This file contains a description of an error found in some data records that could not be corrected in time for this release. The problem is that some records list codes for urbanized areas that do not actually exist in that county. This file lists the counties where this is a problem and provides the erroneous codes. README.1ST The document that you are presently reading. WHERE.TXT This file describes a variety of places from where one can download software to decompress the TIGER/Line data files on this disk. Software exists for a variety of platforms including DOS, Windows, Macintosh, and UNIX. DOCUMENTATION The documentation for the TIGER/Line files is contained in the DOC subdirectory. The file name is TGR95DOC.PDF and is provided in the PDF format which requires the ADOBE(TM) Acrobat reader. The WINDOWS and DOS versions of the reader are included in the ADOBE subdirectory. The WINDOWS version is in the form of a self-extracting executable (acroread.exe) in the ACROWIN subdirectory. After running acroread.exe you must install the resulting software in WINDOWS. The DOS version is in the ACRODOS subdirectory. Run the install.exe program to install this version of the software. ---------------------------------------- DATA COMPRESSION The TIGER/Line data on this disk has been compressed into an archive file to save space and reduce the number of disks required for the data. If the files were not compressed it would require over 40 CD-ROM disks to hold the data needed to cover the entire United States. Use software compatible with PK-ZIP 1.93A or higher to decompress the data. Info-ZIP's software (Zip, Unzip and related utilities) are examples of packages that can be used. The Info-ZIP software is free and can be obtained as source code or executables from various bulletin boards and on line services software archive sites such as those listed in the WHERE.TXT file on this disk. QUESTIONS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Questions about purchasing Census geographic and demographic data may be directed to Customer Services at (301) 457-4100. Technical questions about the Census TIGER/Line files and future plans for this and other TIGER-related products may be directed to the Products and Services Staff of the Geography Division at (301) 457-1128 or to the e-mail address tiger@census.gov. General information about TIGER/Line 1995 and related geographic products is also available from the TIGER page on the Census Bureau's World Wide Web site (http://www.census.gov). Select the topic "TIGER" from the "Subjects A to Z" list on the Home Page. This Web site also is a source of information that is of specific interest to TIGER/Line users and of general interest regarding the geographic programs at the Census Bureau. Listed below are a variety of such information that typically appear on the site: As appropriate, additional information about this product will be posted, such as ERRATA or USER NOTES. There is a TIGER Special Interest Group (SIG) which meets at various professional conferences in an informal setting to discuss issues relating to the use of TIGER/Line and future developments. There is a list of vendors that provide services or products related to TIGER/Line. |
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