THE OFFENDER-BASED STATE CORRECTIONS INFORMATION SYSTEM (OBSCIS) IS A MODEL CORRECTIONAL INFORMATION SYSTEM DESIGNED BY CORRECTIONS PROFESSIONALS. TEN STATES PARTICIPATED IN THE CREATION OF OBSCIS, AND 23 STATES WERE OBSCIS PARTICIPANTS AS OF 1978. THE BASIC OBSCIS SOFTWARE PACKAGE REFLECTS REFINEMENTS OF THE ORIGINAL OBSCIS MODEL BASED ON STATES' IMPLEMENTATION EXPERIENCES. THE OBSCIS MODEL PROVIDES DEFINITIONS OF THE PROCESSING REQUIREMENTS FOR EIGHT MODULES: ADMISSIONS, ASSESSMENT, INSTITUTIONS, PAROLE, MOVEMENT STATUS, LEGAL STATUS, MANAGEMENT AND RESEARCH, AND NATIONAL REPORTING. THESE MODULES COVER ALL ACTIVITIES COMMONLY ASSOCIATED WITH ACCOUNTING FOR OFFENDERS WITHIN A CORRECTIONS AGENCY. THE OBSCIS DATA DICTIONARY DEFINES CORE, RECOMMENDED, AND OPTIONAL DATA ELEMENTS REQUIRED FOR COMPREHENSIVE OFFENDER RECORDS. THE BASIC OBSCIS SOFTWARE PACKAGE CONSISTS OF FIVE ITEMS: A COMPUTER TAPE, WHICH CONTAINS THE PROGRAMS THAT CONSTITUTE THE OBSCIS SOFTWARE SYSTEM; AND FOUR DOCUMENTS CONTAINING INSTRUCTIONS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAMS, INTERFACING OBSCIS WITH EXISTING MANUAL SYSTEMS, AND OPERATING OBSCIS. THE PACKAGE IS SUFFICIENTLY FLEXIBLE TO OPERATE ON ALMOST ANY HARDWARE CONFIGURATION, FROM LARGE GENERAL-PURPOSE COMPUTERS SHARED BY MANY USERS TO MINI-MICRO PROCESSORS. THE PACKAGE CAN BE ADAPTED TO EACH STATE'S NEEDS AND CIRCUMSTANCES. OBSCIS PROVIDES A MEANS FOR BUILDING A DATA BASE ON OFFENDERS, KEEPING TRACK OF WHAT HAPPENS TO THEM, AND GENERATING STANDARD REPORTS. PLANS TO FIELD TEST AND DISSEMINATE THE OBSCIS PACKAGE ARE NOTED, AS ARE POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO BE DERIVED FROM IMPLEMENTING ON OBSCIS. (LKM)