The general scope of SPIRAL is storage of free-flowing text information into a machine-readable library and recall of any portions of this stored information that are relevant to an inquiry. The major objectives in the design of the system were (1) to make it easy to use by persons unfamiliar with computer systems; and (2) to make it efficient, in terms of information storage requirements, processing time to answer an inquiry, and the pertinence of the response to the inquiry. Several characteristics of the system are believed to be unique, including methods of data-compression, organization of inquiries, comparison of phrases, and comparison of paragraphs. (Author)