This booklet was written to assist organizations in determining whether a computerized resource system would be useful, to understand the steps necessary to develop such a system, and to judge the computer programs for adaptation or adoption. The experience of the Hampshire Educational Collaborative Inservice Program (Northampton, Massachusetts) is used as an example. The gradual accumulation of data on resource people and organizations for inservice teacher education is recounted, leading to the decision to put the information in a computerized retrieval system. Factors involved in designing the resource system, such as staff and user goals, information categories, and legal implications, are reviewed. An account of the frustrations of an equipment change and of the resulting reexamination of goals and categories emphasizes the importance of flexibility and detailed planning. Data collection, coding, and entry are addressed along with publicity for the ongoing system. Appendices contain the first and revised sets of user instructions, sample printouts from the computer program, and a list of the subject categories stored in the database. (FG)