This working paper provides suggestions and considerations for anyone contemplating the electronic collection of data on foreign scholars (as distinct from international students). It is noted that, because the Immigration and Naturalization Service requires employment verification and immigration information such as country of citizenship and visa status, as well as personal information, the need for a system that will effectively store and retrieve this information becomes critical. A broad working definition of "foreign scholar" for purposes of data collection is suggested; such a person would be any individual who is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, who is engaged in scholarly activity, and who is not engaged primarily in a student activity at the institution. The kinds of information required for such persons are listed in detail under three headings--personal, immigration, and personnel information. Sources of such information are suggested, as well as ways to ensure the privacy and security of information and verify data. The system in use at the University of Wisconsin is then described, and eight appendices offer a closer examination of the structure of the database. They include a transaction screen, definitions of some of the variables used, a visa code edit table, a country edit table, definitions of visa types and foreign specific data elements, and requests for printed output. Also appended is a paper entitled, "Foreign Scholars in the U.S. Who are they? Where are they? What are they doing here?" (Heather Olson Pilkington, 1988). (DB)