Geocoding at Scale with locator.stanford.edu

Tools, Concepts, and Workflows for Stanford Researchers

Overview

Geocoding is the process of converting text-based descriptions of place—such as street addresses, place names, or administrative units—into explicit numeric locations, typically latitude and longitude coordinates. These coordinates allow locations to be mapped, analyzed, routed, and linked to other spatial datasets for research and teaching.

This workshop introduces geocoding concepts and workflows using Stanford Geospatial Center’s production geocoding service, locator.stanford.edu. The service is designed specifically to support Stanford research by enabling high-volume, privacy-conscious geocoding across global datasets.

About locator.stanford.edu

The locator.stanford.edu service deploys more than 250 GB of curated parcel, street, point-of-interest, and administrative boundary data. It includes street-address–level coverage for 149 countries, representing over 90 percent of the world’s population.

Powered by Esri ArcGIS Server and hosted on Stanford-managed infrastructure, the service supports both interactive and programmatic access to geocoding and reverse geocoding functionality. It is intended for bulk workflows, ranging from thousands to millions of records, and is available exclusively to Stanford affiliates.

Main service endpoint:
https://locator.stanford.edu/arcgis

Workshop Description

This workshop provides a conceptual and practical introduction to geocoding, with an emphasis on understanding reference data, evaluating geocoding results, and integrating geocoded outputs into downstream spatial analysis.

Participants will be introduced to multiple ways of accessing and using the locator.stanford.edu services, including desktop GIS, data-cleaning tools, and scripting environments.

Topics Covered

• Core geocoding terminology and concepts
• Types of geocoding (address, place name, administrative unit, reverse geocoding)
• Overview of locator.stanford.edu capabilities and coverage
• Appropriate and inappropriate uses of geocoded data
• Data privacy, security, and research compliance considerations
• Hands-on demonstrations across multiple platforms

Hands-On Platforms and Demonstrations

Participants will see and work with locator.stanford.edu through several commonly used tools, including:

• ArcGIS Pro (native integration with Stanford-hosted locators)
• OpenRefine (data cleaning and reconciliation workflows)
• Python (programmatic geocoding using the REST API) 

Service Capabilities

The locator.stanford.edu service provides: 

• US street address geocoding
• Composite geocoding for street addresses, place names, and administrative units across:
  • North America
  • Latin America
  • Europe
  • Asia Pacific
  • Africa
• Reverse geocoding (coordinates to nearest address or place name)

Region-specific services are exposed as ArcGIS GeocodeServer endpoints and can be used interactively or via the REST API.

Access and Connectivity

The services work natively in ArcGIS Pro and are IP-restricted to the Stanford network. Off-campus users must connect via the Stanford AnyConnect VPN.

ArcGIS Server URL for all locator services:
https://locator.stanford.edu/arcgis

Data Use, Privacy, and Security

• The service must not be used with Protected Health Information (PHI) or other high-risk data.
• Input data are not logged or retained.
• All communication is encrypted via HTTPS (TLS/SSL).
• The service is hosted on Stanford hardware within the Stanford network.

Participants are encouraged to consult the IRB regarding de-identification and privacy requirements for human subjects research.

Prerequisites

Some basic familiarity with GIS concepts is assumed. The workshop content is suitable for both beginners and experienced users who want to better understand geocoding workflows and infrastructure.

Preparation

Please arrive with: - Your own laptop
- The current Pre-Release (PR) version of QGIS installed
- The most recent version of OpenRefine installed 

Additional Resources

• locator.stanford.edu main page:
  https://locator.stanford.edu
• Esri “Introducing Geocoding” documentation:
  https://developers.arcgis.com/rest/services-reference/enterprise/get-started-with-the-services-directory.htm
• Python, R and RStudio: https://github.com/StanfordGeospatialCenter/Locator-Scripts - The Stanford Geospatial Center maintains example scripts and utilities for accessing locator.stanford.edu from Python and R: