NCJ Number
66513
Date Published
Unknown
Length
14 pages
Annotation
ADMINISTRATIVE AND HARDWARE CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE ADOPTION AND USE OF THE OFFENDER-BASED STATE CORRECTIONS INFORMATION SYSTEM (OBSCIS) ARE DISCUSSED.
Abstract
BASIC OBSCIS IS AN OUTGROWTH OF THE OBSCIS PROGRAM WHICH STARTED EXPERIMENTALLY IN THE CORRECTIONS AGENCIES OF 10 STATES. BASIC OBSCIS CONSISTS OF THE COMPUTER PROGRAMS AND SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION NECESSARY FOR A STATE TO INSTALL AND OPERATE A SYSTEM TO RECORD THE ADMISSION, MOVEMENT, AND STATUS OF INDIVIDUALS WHILE THEY ARE UNDER THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CORRECTIONS AGENCY. BASIC OBSCIS ALSO SUPPORTS STATE PARTICIPATION IN NATIONAL REPORTING PROGRAMS. WITHIN THE PACKAGE (AVAILABLE TO STATES WITHOUT CHARGE) ARE COMPUTER PROGRAMS WRITTEN IN ANS COBOL (NOT TO EXCEED LEVEL 2 OF THE ANSI-74 STANDARD) TO CARRY OUT DATA INPUT AND EDITING, FILE MAINTENANCE, AND REPORT GENERATION FUNCTIONS. THE SYSTEM CAN PRODUCE 38 SEPARATE REPORTS. BECAUSE BASIC OBSCIS WAS TESTED IN A LIVE CORRECTIONS ENVIRONMENT IN IOWA, RISKS OF DEVELOPMENT AND COSTS OF DESIGN ARE REDUCED FOR OTHER STATES WISHING TO INITITATE A COMPUTER APPLICATION. THE SEARCH GROUP (WHICH DESIGNED THE COMPUTER) WITH FUNDING FROM LEAA, WILL ASSIST STATES WISHING TO INSTALL BASIC OBSCIS WITH PRE-INSTALLATION PLANNING, TRAINING FOR BOTH ADMINISTRATIVE AND OPERATIONAL PERSONNEL, SOFTWARE INSTALLATION AND VALIDATION, AND CONTINUING TECHNICAL CONSULTATION. BASIC OBSCIS HAS MODULE SEGMENTATION BASED ON BOTHUSER APPLICATIONS AND PROGRAM FUNCTIONS. THE DATA BASE INCLUDES EXPANDABLE CODE STRUCTURES AT THE DATA ELEMENT LEVEL, SPACE WITHIN FILES FOR ADDITION OF DATA ELEMENTS, AND POINTERS WHICH AID IN EXPANDING TO ADDITIONAL FILES. TOP-DOWN STRUCTURED PROGRAMMING AND HIERARCHICAL-INPUT-PROCESS-OUTPUT (HIPO) DOCUMENTATION TECHNIQUES ARE USED. EACH PROGRAM CAN BE COMPILED AND RUN INDEPENDENTLY OF ANY OTHER PROGRAM OR EXTERNAL SUB-ROUTINE. MEMORY REQUIREMENTS NEED NO MORE THAN 32K BYTES. RECORD SIZES ARE FIXED; SEQUENTIAL FILE ORGANIZATION AND PROCESSING ARE USED WHERE APPROPRIATE; AND RELATIVE OR DIRECT FILE ACCESS CAN BE USED ACCORDING TO NEED. NO PROPRIETARY SOFTWARE IS USED, AND PROGRAMS ARE WRITTEN FOR BATCH OPERATION. THIS BOOKLET ALSO PROVIDES LISTS OF AVAILABLE REPORTS ON BASIC OBSCIS, OF SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION FOR THE SYSTEM, AND OF BASIC OBSCIS HARDWARE CONSIDERATION (FACILITIES, DISK STORAGE CAPACITY, INPUT-OUTPUT MACHINES, ETC.). SEE NCJ 66514-15.