The 1984 SIPP (Survey of Income and Program Participation) panel data is distributed in nine person-level cross-sectional data files that are not in a form suitable for longitudinal analysis. Features of the SIPP relevant to the construction of longitudinal records are described. The construction of three longitudinal person-level files using facilities available in a standard software package are discussed. The first introduces the OSIRIS.IV file merging command. The second creates a longitudinal record allowing for "skipped" waves with a subset of variables from each of the nine waves for all persons present in at least one wave of the panel. The third creates a 1984 calendar-year file for all persons in a sample household during the calendar year 1984, “lining-up” reference months. And in conclusion, issues that need to be considered by the analyst who wishes to construct a data file suitable for longitudinal analysis are discussed.