The Web site Facebook.com, already famous for bringing together college stu­dents online, now might also help them find their lost or stolen items.

The social networking site teamed up with Trace, an online database of lost and stolen valuables, to create an application that will allow University of North Texas students to report lost and stolen items to friends and police, officials said.

The application allows students to register information, such as serial numbers, on Facebook. It helps police track students’ property in the event of theft and will help notify friends of the loss.

Students will still have to file a police report, though, police officials said.

“This is the new wave, the next generation,” said UNT police Capt. Jim Coffee. “This is the new horizon of crime prevention because it opens a new avenue for a positive and socially re­deeming application of the Internet. Here is a way to catch the bad guy.”

Once reported stolen, the information would be pushed into a national crime database for law enforcement across the country to access, Coffee said. With thousands of items stolen every year, he said, those specifics can make a difference in whether you get your laptop or digital camera back or not. 

“If you report a TV stolen, it is not going to get recovered,” Coffee said. “If you say, it was a Sony 19-inch flat-screen TV with serial number 123ABC — it is highly recoverable.”

As students continue to flock to Facebook, UNT President Gretchen M. Ba­taille said in a press release that communicating with them in “their natural environment” seemed only logical.

“Trace is providing an ex­citing opportunity for UNT to protect our students’ property,” she said.

DAN X. McGRAW can be reached at 940-566-6875. His e-mail address is dmcgraw@dentonrc.com .