NCJ Number
14955
Date Published
1974
Length
105 pages
Annotation
PROJECT TO COORDINATE CRIMINAL JUSTICE STATISTICS AND THE SYSTEMS THAT GENERATE THEM IN THE INTEREST OF ECONOMY, COOPERATIVE PLANNING, AND ADMINISTRATION IN GENERAL.
Abstract
ONE MEANS OF ACHIEVING SUCH CO-ORDINATION IS STUDIED THE REFERENCE (JUSTATS) CENTER. THE JUSTATS CENTER IS PROPOSED AS A CENTRAL LOCATION FOR TRACING SOURCES OF INFORMATION ON DATA SETS, DATA ELEMENT DEFINITIONS, AND DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS WITHIN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE ENVIRONMENT, AND THEN DISSEMINATING THIS INFORMATION TO INTERESTED USERS. NEEDS OF INDIVIDUAL RESPONDENTS FOR LIMITED CIRCULATION OF SELECTED MATERIALS ARE ACCOMODATED. IT IS INFORMATION ABOUT DATA RATHER THAN THE DATA ITSELF THAT IS STORED IN THE COMPUTERIZED DATA BASE. THE DATA ITSELF COULD, IF IN HARD COPY, ALSO BE CONDITIONALLY AVAILABLE. THE KEYWORD INDEX EMERGES AS A CRUCIAL ELEMENT OF THE TOTAL OPERATION, AFFORDING MEANINGFUL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE RESPONDENT, DATA BASE, AND USER, IN A VARIETY OF SERVICES, USING THE VOCABULARY OF THE SUBJECT AREA FOR STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL. THE REFERRAL SERVICE WOULD RESPOND TO USERS' QUESTIONS, WHILE THE NOTIFICATION SERVICE WOULD KEEP THEM INFORMED OF NEW ADDITIONS TO THE DATA BASE. A DIRECTORY OF DATA BASE CONTENT AND SOURCES WOULD BE PUBLISHED ANNUALLY, AND THE PUBLICATION SERVICE WOULD ALSO ISSUE A USER'S MANUAL, KEYWORD INDEX, ACQUISITION BULLETIN, CURRENT AWARENESS MATERIALS, AND SELECTED TOPIC DIGEST. THE HARD COPY REPOSITORY WOULD BE OPEN CONDITIONALLY TO USERS. THE DEVELOPMENTAL PERIOD OF THE JUSTATS CENTER IS DISCUSSED, AND FACTORS RELATING TO THE EXTENT OF SUBSEQUENT GROWTH IDENTIFIED. CONTINGENT UPON THE MANAGEMENT MODEL DETERMINED, INITIAL ANNUAL EXPENDITURE COULD RANGE UP TO $100,000 AND, ACCORDING TO GROWTH, FINAL ANNUAL OUTLAY COULD TOTAL UP TO $1,000,000 UPON MATURITY. THE STUDY CONTAINS 26 PROPOSALS TO PROMOTE DISCUSSION, AND HAS COMPREHENSIVE APPENDIXES WHICH INCLUDE A BIBLIOGRAPHY. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT)