Skip to Main Content
Michigan State University

Library Databases that provide Shapefiles or georeferenced files: Reference USA

Some datasets purchased by MSU Libraries have GIS-ready functionality. This guide links to several resources with the ability to export data or images to Shapefile, GeoTIFF or GeoPDF formats.

ReferenceUSA

ReferenceUSA contains directory information on over 14 million U.S. and over 1.4 million Canadian businesses, including extraordinarily detailed information for private companies and franchise locations.  Businesses can be searched by geography, including radius in miles from a given address.  They can also be searched by industry.

In the "Detailed" or "Custom" download options you can get the latitude/longitude point of each business, which can then be georeferenced in ArcGIS.

Subject Guide

Profile Photo
Kathleen Weessies
she / her
Contact:
Geosciences Librarian; Social Sciences Coordinator; Head, Map Library
MSU Libraries
366 W. Circle Drive E240
517-884-0849
Website
Subjects: Geography, Geology