This report documents the joint effort of the NCGIA-Buffalo and the US Bureau of the Census to produce a multi-scale, multi-agency database intended for use in teaching and research. Additional commitments for data have come from the National Ocean Service, of NOAA, and the National Mapping Division of USGS. The database concept was originally formulated during the Specialist Meeting for NCGIA Research Initiative 3 ("Multiple Representations") held in Buffalo, New York in February, 1989.