This report, the result of developmental research on a planning information system for North Carolina, describes the planning process at higher levels of State government, defines a general information system and derives a planning information system from various types of planning, provides guidelines for system design and evaluation, and describes the development cycle of an information system. The research attempted to determine the basic objectives of a State planning system, define the State planning environment, and provide a conceptual basis for the preparation of an integrated description of the State planning information system. (A related document is EA 003 195.) (Author)