THE THESAURUS CONSISTS OF THREE SECTIONS: SUBSTANTIVE DESCRIPTORS, ORGANIZATIONAL DESCRIPTORS, AND GEOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTORS. IT ALSO CONTAINS A KEYWORD-OUT-OF-CONTEXT OR KWOC LIST. THE SUBSTANTIVE DESCRIPTOR SECTION, WHICH CONSTITUTES THE MAJOR PORTION OF THE THESAURUS, CONSISTS OF (1) SUBSTANTIVE DESCRIPTORS OR AUTHORITATIVE TERMS THAT ARE ACCEPTABLE FOR INDEXING AND SEARCHING, (2) SYNONYMS OR NEAR SYNONYMS OF DESCRIPTORS THAT DIRECT THE USER TO THE PREFERRED VALID DESCRIPTOR, (3) ENTRIES INDICATING THE LOCATION OF THE DESCRIPTOR IN A GIVEN HIERARCHY, (4) RELATED TERM ENTRIES THAT PROVIDE FURTHER DEFINITION OF THE MAIN DESCRIPTOR ENTRY AND ALSO ALERT THE USER TO OTHER TERMS TO PROVIDE ADDITIONAL POINTS OF ENTRY, AND (5) A SCOPE NOTE THAT EXPLAINS THE SPECIFIC USE OF THE TERM IN THE NCJRS SYSTEM. ADDITIONAL SECTIONS OF THE THESAURUS LIST ORGANIZATIONAL DESCRIPTORS WITH SCOPE NOTES FOR RELATIVELY OBSCURE ORGANIZATIONS AND GEOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTORS OF COUNTRIES, CONTINENTS, STATES IN THE U.S., AND OTHER REGIONAL INDICATORS. IN THE KWOC, EACH SIGNIFICANT WORD IN EACH THESAURUS TERM IS EXTRACTED, ENTERED ALPHABETICALLY, AND FOLLOWED BY A LISTING OF ALL THE TERMS CONTAINING THAT WORD. HENCE, ALL THESAURUS TERMS CONTAINING A PARTICULAR KEY WORD ARE GROUPED TOGETHER AND CAN BE EASILY SCANNED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)