THE FBI IDENTIFICATION DIVISION WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1924 WITH AN 800,000-CARD CRIMINAL FINGERPRINT FILE. TODAY, IT CONTAINS CARDS ON OVER 22 MILLION ARRESTED PERSONS. CARDS ARE FILED BY NAME AS WELL AS PRINT CHARACTERISTICS TO AID SEARCHES. EMPLOYING OVER 3,600 CLERKS AND FINGERPRINT EXPERTS, THE DIVISION PROCESSES ABOUT 44,000 REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION EACH DAY. HOWEVER, PERSONNEL DIFFICULTIES AND MORE EXTENSIVE CRIMINAL ACTIVITY HAVE FORCED THE FBI TO AUTOMATE ITS FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION DIVISION. ALTHOUGH THE VAST AMOUNT OF INFORMATION NEEDING STORAGE FOR EACH PRINT HAS MADE SYSTEMS SELECTION DIFFICULT, A SYSTEM WAS CHOSEN IN 1976 WHICH COULD READ PRINTS DIRECTLY FROM CARDS AND FEED THE INFORMATION INTO COMPUTERS. DISCUSSION COVERS HOW THE NEW FBI SYSTEM, STILL INCOMPLETE, IDENTIFIES PRINTS. IT CAN STORE ABOUT 100 BITS OF INFORMATION ON EACH PRINT AND COMPARE COMPUTER CARDS AT 4.7 MILLISECONDS PER CARD. HOWEVER, FINGERPRINT EXAMINERS STILL MUST VERIFY COMPUTER IDENTIFICATION. A FULLY AUTOMATED IDENTIFICATION DIVISION WILL BE INSTITUTED IN STAGES OVER SEVERAL YEARS. THIS AUTOMATED IDENTIFICATION DIVISION SYSTEM (AIDS) ITS PROPOSED FUNCTIONS AND THE STEPS NECESSARY TO CONVERT FROM THE MANUAL FINGERPRINT IDENTIFICATION SYSTEM. (PAP)