IN 1974, SHORTLY AFTER THE INSTITUTE WAS ESTABLISHED, STAFF MEMBERS FROM THE RESEARCH, TRAINING, AND LIBRARY DIVISIONS DECIDED TO DEVELOP A NATIONAL CLEARINGHOUSE AND BEGAN BY SURVEYING CRIMINOLOGISTS TO DETERMINE THEIR CURRENT RESEARCH ACTIVITIES AND PUBLICATIONS. THE RESULTS OF THE SURVEY WERE PUBLISHED IN THE INSTITUTE'S EXISTING BULLETIN, AND A SYSTEM FOR UPDATING THE CURRENT RESEARCH/PUBLICATION INFORMATION WAS ESTABLISHED. A RECOGNITION THAT THERE WAS A NEED TO INCLUDE PAST PUBLISHED AND UNPUBLISHED MATERIAL ON AUSTRALIAN CRIMINOLOGY (INCLUDING INFORMATION DEVELOPED IN AUSTRALIA, BY AUSTRALIANS WORKING OVERSEAS, OR BY OTHER RESEARCHERS WHOSE WORKS ARE RELEVANT TO AUSTRALIA) IN THE INSTITUTE'S INFORMATION BASE RESULTED IN THE COMPILATION OF A NATIONAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF CRIMINOLOGY. REFERENCES GLEANED BY RESEARCH ASSISTANTS FROM A METHODICAL SEARCH OF JOURNALS AND MONOGRAPHS ARE BEING PROCESSED AND INDEXED FOR COMPUTERIZED STORAGE IN A SYSTEM KNOWN AS CINCH (COMPUTERIZED INFORMATION FROM NATIONAL CRIMINOLOGICAL HOLDINGS), AND THE CLEARINGHOUSE HAS COME TO ENCOMPASS THE FOLLOWING FUNCTIONS: (1) COLLECTION OF BOTH HISTORICAL AND CURRENT MATERIALS, (2) DISSEMINATION (THROUGH COMPUTER-GENERATED BIBLIOGRAPHIES ON SPECIFIC SUBJECTS, THROUGH PUBLICATION OF BULLETINS, AND THROUGH PUBLICATION OF ALL OR PART OF THE CINCH DATA BASE IN MONOGRAPH FORM), AND (3) COORDINATION (E.G. THROUGH SEMINARS FOR CRIMINOLOGY LIBRARY STAFF). (LKM)