Items listed under State Documents have been received by the Documents Unit, Illinois State Library, Springfield, and are usually available from public libraries in the state through inter-library loan. Issuing agencies may have copies available. For items listed under Other Reports, write to the publisher as listed.

■  Earthquakes in the Illinois Area, Illinois Emergency Services and Disaster Agency and Illinois State Geological Survey (n.d.), 4 pp. The last major earthquake to hit Illinois occurred in 1811-12. Minor quakes have occurred since and can occur again at any time and any place. This brochure provides facts about earthquakes, describes some of the seismic research that is being conducted, explains what could happen in this state and offers tips on what people can do to prepare themselves for an earthquake.

■ Public Infrastructure Program, Department of Commerce and Community Affairs (n.d.), 16 pp.

Any general purpose local government in the state of Illinois may apply for funds for infrastructure improvements provided that they lead directly to job creation and retention. Such improvements include roads and streets, bridges, sidewalks, waste disposal systems, gas and electric utility extensions, public transit systems, and improvement of publicly owned industrial and commercial sites. This publication provides a guide to the application process as well as the necessary forms.

■  Independent Power Production in Illinois: Phase II — Policy and Legislative Recommendations, Illinois Commerce Commission (February 1987), 75 pp.

Section 8-403 of the Public Utilities Act requires the Illinois Commerce Commission to assume a more active role in the development of cogeneration and small power production in Illinois. This law will require regulated electric utilities to consider independent power on an "equal footing" with alternate sources of supply. This report diagnoses specific state and federal policies that have inhibited the economic development of nonutility generation.

■  The Organization and Administration of Education for Employment in Illinois, Illinois Commission on Intergovernmental Cooperation (April 1987), 75 pp. Twelve state agencies are involved in Illinois' education for employment system. The system spent over $1 billion last year to provide employment and training-related services. A major finding of this report is that the system is unduly complex resulting in displaced workers and others not receiving the most effective programs for the dollars spent. The report recommends legislation that would establish a comprehensive state policy, develop a statewide information system of service delivery, coordinate the existing service system, and include a common intake and assessment process and a common evaluation system.

■  Tour Operators' Guide to Illinois, Department of Commerce and Community Affairs, Office of Tourism (August 1986), 271 pp. This large and very handsome publication may have been produced for tour operators, but it should be equally interesting to anyone from anywhere in the state (or outside, for that matter) who is looking for new places to visit and interesting things to do. It is divided into five sections: metro Chicago, northern, western, central and southern. Individual area maps precede each section and each section contains lists of official contacts, special attractions in the area, accommodations and restaurants. It is also full of wonderful photographs.

■  Chicagoland — A Fiscal Perspective, 1976-1985, The Civic Federation, 203 N. Wabash M300, Chicago 60601 (May 1987), 36 pp.

This document replaces a publication put out by the Civic Federation annually since 1934 that comprised tables showing local government debts, property taxes and property assessments. The new format offers the same information in a somewhat more accessible fashion in order to make it useful to the average taxpayer as well as to government officials.

■  Bending the Twig — The Elementary Years and Dropout Rates in the Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Panel on Public School Policy and Finance, 220 S. State St., Suite 232, Chicago 60604 (July 30, 1987), 70 pp. plus 33-page appendix; $5 plus postage.

This study supplements the findings of an earlier Chicago Panel publication, Dropouts from the Chicago Public Schools, published in April 1985. Both are companion pieces to ''Where's Room 185?", listed in this column in March 1987. The present volume analyzes the elementary school experiences of the Class of 1982. It examines data on reading scores in the third, fifth and eighth grades, the number of overage students leaving eighth grade, the percentage of low income students, the racial composition of the students and staff and information on the years of experience of the teaching staff. The goal of the study is to determine the causes of the dropout problem in the Chicago public schools and what can be done about it.