To check on the status of online cataloging developments in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member institutions in 1983, a brief questionnaire was sent to ARL libraries that had indicated or reported some progress toward an online catalog. The sample was not intended to be representative of all ARL libraries, and it did not necessarily involve all members developing online catalogs. Of the 29 ARL libraries surveyed, 20 returned the questionnaire and indicated they had taken some steps toward developing an online catalog. The Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) kit on online catalogs in ARL libraries comprises: (1) a chart of the survey results; (2) "Library Operational Requirements: The Online Public Access Catalog, March 1983" (University of Minnesota); (3) "An Overview of the Prototype of the TRLN Bibliographic Information System, March 1983" (Triangle Research Library Network); (4) "The Pennsylvania State University Library Information Access System, February 1983" (Pennsylvania State University); (5) "Integrating Authority Control in an Online Catalog, February 1983" (Ohio State University); (6) "An Online Catalog for Dartmouth College Library: The Experiment Continues" (Dartmouth College); and (7) "The Used and the User: The Online Catalog at Virginia Tech, January 1983" (Virginia Polytechnic Institute). The concise summary that introduces the kit defines an online automated library system for the purposes of this study, breaks the development of an online catalog into four stages, and briefly discusses trends and issues. An evaluation form for this SPEC kit is included. (THC)