Zip Code Lookup, Address Completion

[TomCologne]

To keep it short:

The Address table is complete except for the Zip Code, US ZIP(+4).


Is it possible to automate the procedure of looking up the Zip by HouseNo&Street?


Since the +4 suffix is not that important, I tried to determine the basic Zip for at least a certain range of streets/numbers, but because of the irregularities this method seems to be rather unreliable.

The USPS (US Postal Service) offers a CD directory, but it's not exportable and would still require the manual lookup.

Further research returned no suitable results which may be caused by my poor choice of keywords.

While I am ready to do the homework, I'd really appreciate some directions to find a starting point.

TomCologne

 

[RickSpr]

You could get a service bureau to do it for you for a fee. It's probably not economical for a few hundred addresses, but it's not clear how big your address table is.
Rick Sprague
To write a program from scratch, first create the universe. - Paraphrased from Albert Einstein

 

[TomCologne]

Thanks, Rick,

For your reply, I should have mentioned the details:

The table currently holds some 2,000 addresses and I've already completed around 300 manually. I'm trying to compile a mailing list for somebody who's just starting a business after being laid off a couple of months ago and money's too tight to mention. To avoid unnessecary losses due to outdated material I started out by gathering addresses from web directories, editing the saved txt files in Word before importing them into that table.
Other than the financial limitations, the reason I'd like to do it myself is the opportunity of learning by doing for me.
So far, I've learned how to print the addresses plus an individual tracking number onto the postcards; some queries keep track of the expenses and summarize the project.
I also learned that I will need to learn a LOT more VBA to get out of that Copy&Paste&Delete Blackhole, i.e. in Word.
Since I'm fairly new into computers, the humbling experiences do outnumber the successful ones by far, of course, but I can be extremly stubborn!

Again, I'd appreciate any advice in this matter.

Have a nice weekend,

TomCologne

 

[MichaelRed]

Case of penny wise pound foolish.

See what the 'cost' is/shoulda/woulda/coulda be. Then decide wheather your devoting time to a process is really beneficial. MichaelRed
m.red@att.net

Searching for employment in all the wrong places

 

[RogueVW]

Just a note.

If you are going to be mailing in numbers of over 200 at a time you should definately check into a bulk mailer. They usually can save you signicantly on postage and will often supply you with the zip +4 info after their processing. They subscribe to the service bureaus for updated address and change of address.

 

[TomCologne]

Thanks a lot guys,

More research on the web finally returned results, although I have yet to look into all the options. Your input is still very welcome, because I'm trying to explore all aspects of db design.
Special thanks to rogue, I thought the number of mailings had to be quite higher to even considering employing a bulk mailer. I will definitely check it out. Could I perhaps bother you with further questions, in case they come up?

Michael, thank you too, but since I'm siding with the rebels here in the colonies, I must insist of being dollar dumb, if anything ;=)