In 1974, Congress, recognizing the difficulty individuals have in obtaining information on bilingual education, mandated the establishment of a national clearinghouse on bilingual education. This paper was sent to people involved in bilingual education as background material for a series of six conferences on the development of such a clearinghouse. The paper first analyzes the various information needs - in the classroom, in the legislature, in the research laboratory, and in information centers. Five major objectives for the clearinghouse are proposed and discussed: (1) transfer of information and materials; (2) direct assistance in solving problems; (3) coordination of bilingual education information activities; (4) aggregation and analysis of information; and (5) communication with policy, research and development groups concerning gaps in knowledge, technique and materials. The next section presents a synopsis of current information dissemination in bilingual education, including inquiry services, data bases, information retrieval systems, and traditional information sources. The last section is a series of questions and issues for conference participants regarding trends and perceptions, access to information, kinds of assistance, audience factors, and organization and policy issues in bilingual education. (CFM)