THE FINDINGS FROM AN MIS CONFERENCE AND TWO SITE VISITS ARE REPORTED, AND THE STATE-OF-THE-ART OF MIS IN THE DRUG FIELD IS ASSESSED. MIS DESIGN CHARACTERISTICS, SOURCES OF INFORMATION, DATA COLLECTION PROCEDURES, AVAILABILITY AND PRESENTATION OF DATA, UTILIZATION OF DATA, INFORMATION GAPS, AND STAFF ATTITUDES AND CAPABILITY ARE TOPICS COVERED. ALSO ASSESSED IS THE EXTENT TO WHICH MIS IS SUPPORTED BY MANAGERS, SYSTEM USERS, AND INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN DATA COLLECTION AND RECORDING. STEPS THAT CAN BE TAKEN TO ENHANCE THE AVAILABILITY OF INFORMATION, REDUCE THE MIS BURDEN ON STAFF, AND INCREASE SUPPORT FOR MIS AT ALL LEVELS ARE DELINEATED. A SECOND STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW PROVIDES RESULTS OF A STUDY OF MIS IN 50 SINGLE STATE AGENCIES (SSA) AND 5 COUNTY AGENCIES THAT WAS CONDUCTED IN APRIL AND MAY OF 1977. THE EXTENT OF MIS IMPLEMENTATION WAS SIGNIFICANT: 56 PERCENT OF SSA'S HAD A MORE OR LESS STABLE MIS SYSTEM IN PLACE AND 13 STATES (27 PERCENT) WERE IN THE EARLY STAGES OF DEVELOPMENT. A DISCUSSION OF HOW MIS CAN ASSIST MANAGERS IN PROCURING, ALLOCATING, AND REDEPLOYING LIMITED RESOURCES POINTS OUT THAT A MINIMUM DATA SET IS REQUIRED TO MANAGE A PROGRAM. THIS SET SHOULD INCLUDE DATA ABOUT STAFF, CLIENTS, DAILY CLIENT COUNTS, BUDGETS, MATERIAL RESOURCES, AND CLIENT PROGRESS. EXAMPLES ARE PROVIDED TO SHOW HOW THE MANAGEMENT-BY-EXCEPTION APPROACH MAY BE USED TO ASSESS AVAILABLE VARIANCE FIGURES AND DETERMINE WHETHER RESOURCES ARE BEING USED PROPERLY, AND STRATEGIES ARE OUTLINED FOR ELICITING STAFF COOPERATION AND SUPPORT. THE IMPORTANCE OF IMPROVING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN DATA PEOPLE AND CLINICIANS IS EMPHASIZED ALSO. A REVIEW OF THE DEVELOPMENT AND UTILIZATION OF COMPUTER SOFTWARE MAINTAINS THAT DRUG TREATMENT PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN SLOW TO MAKE USE OF COMPUTERS, PARTLY BECAUSE OF INADEQUATE FUNDS AND KNOWLEDGE. OTHER PAPERS COVER STEPS AND FUNCTIONS INVOLVED IN DATA PROCESSSING, COMPUTER ALTERNATIVES AND SELECTING A SUITABLE SYSTEM, FACTORS TO CONSIDER IN ESTABLISHING A DRUG ABUSE PROGRAM (MIS), AND CLASSIFICATION OF DRUG PROGRAM DATA NEEDS INTO A MODULE STRUCTURE. INDIVIDUAL PAPERS CONTAIN TABULAR DATA, FOOTNOTES, AND REFERENCES. FOR SPECIFIC ARTICLES, SEE NCJ 64361-64367. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--PRG)