This datalayer is a polygon coverage for telephone area code exchanges for each town in Massachusetts. The Massachusetts Electronic Atlas (MEA) was a collaborative project to provides access, via the Internet, to data about the Commonwealth, its thirteen regional planning agency districts and 351 cities and towns. This dataset is now only available via The Harvard Geospatial Library. Area codes prior to May 1, 1998 are in the attribute table column labelled "old." Area Codes from May 1, 1998 to May 1, 2001 are contained in the column "new." Area codes for after May 1, 2001 are contained in the "new2001" column. The area codes being established in 2001 are "overlay" area codes. Multiple area codes will exist for each town.
Purpose
This layer is intended for researchers, students, and policy makers for reference and mapping purposes, and may be used for basic applications such as viewing, querying, and map output production. This layer will provide a basemap for layers related to socio-political anaylsis, statistical enumeration and analysis, or to support graphical overlays and analysis with other spatial data. More advanced user applications may focus on demographics, urban and rural land use planning, socio-economic analysis and related areas including defining boundaries, managing assets and facilities, integrating attribute databases with geographic features, spatial analysis, and presentation output.
Temporal Extent
Time Period
Beginning
1998
End
2001
Bounding Box
West
-73.50824
East
-69.927802
North
42.886818
South
41.237962
ISO Topic Category
utilitiesCommunication
boundaries
Theme Keyword
Telephone area codes
Telecommunication
Theme Keyword Thesaurus
LCSH
Place Keyword
Massachusetts
Place Keyword Thesaurus
United States Geological Survey (USGS) Geographic Names Information System (GNIS)
Temporal Keyword
Access Restrictions
None
Use Restrictions
For educational, non-commercial use only. Although this data set has been developed by the Harvard Map Collection and its partners, no warranty expressed or implied is made by the producers as to the accuracy of the data and related materials. The act of distribution shall not constitute any such warranty, and no responsibility is assumed by the producers in the use of this data, or related materials.
Status
Complete
Maintenance and Update Frequency
None planned
Point of Contact
Contact Organization
Harvard Map Collection
Delivery Point
Pusey Library
Delivery Point
Harvard Map Collection
Delivery Point
Harvard University
City
Cambridge
State
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
US
Contact Telephone
617-495-2417
Contact Facsimile Telephone
617-496-0440
Contact Electronic Mail Address
hgl_ref@hulmail.harvard.edu
Hours of Service
Monday through Friday 9:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. EST-USA
Credit
The Massachusetts Electronic Atlas dataset was a joint project of Douglas Carnahan, formerly of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), Richard Gelpke of the Earth and Geographic Sciences Department of the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and David Cobb, Bonnie Burns, Martin von Wyss, and Arlene Olivero of the Harvard Map Collection. Valuable technical assistance and support has been provided by Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI), Peter Girard of ESRI, and the Harvard College Library.
Native Data Set Environment
Microsoft Windows 2000 Version 5.0 (Build 2195) Service Pack 4; ESRI ArcCatalog 8.3.0.800
Data Quality Information
Lineage
Spatial Data Organization Information
Direct Spatial Reference Method
Vector
Point and Vector Object Information
SDTS Terms Description
SDTS Point and Vector Object Type
GT-polygon composed of chains
Point and Vector Object Count
611
Entity and Attribute Information
Entity Type
Entity Type Label
Massachusetts Area Codes
Entity Type Definition
Shapefile. Polygons represent feature areas
Entity Type Definition Source
MEA, ESRI
Attributes
TOWN
Town Name
Definition Source
MEA
OLD_PHONE
Pre-May, 1998 Telephone Area Code
Definition Source
MEA
NEW_PHONE
Telephone Area Code Valid after May, 1998 but before May, 2001
Definition Source
MEA
AREACD01
Telephone Area code valid after May, 2001
Definition Source
MEA
SHAPE
Feature geometry. (Coordinates defining the features.)
Definition Source
ESRI
SHAPE.AREA
Area of feature in square coverage units
Definition Source
Computed
SHAPE.LEN
Feature length in map units
Definition Source
MEA
SHAPE.FID
Internal feature number. (Sequential unique whole numbers that are automatically generated.)
Definition Source
ESRI
Distribution Information
Format Name
Shape
Distributor
Harvard Geospatial Library
Name
Metadata Reference Information
Metadata Date
20040506
Metadata Contact
Contact Information
Contact Organization Primary
Contact Organization
Harvard Geospatial Library
Contact Person
Geospatial Resources Cataloger
Contact Address
Address
Harvard University Library
Address
Office For Information Systems
Address
1280 Massachusetts Avenue
City
Cambridge
State or Province
MA
Postal Code
02138
Country
US
Contact Voice Telephone
617-495-2417
Contact Facsimile Telephone
617-496-0440
Contact Electronic Mail Address
hgl_ref@hulmail.harvard.edu
Hours of Service
Monday - Friday, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm EST-USA
Metadata Standard Name
FGDC Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata
