This report presents the rationale, motivation, and formal description underlying the General Retrieval and Information Processor for Humanities Oriented Studies (GRIPHOS) Management Information System. This system was devised to handle "card catalog" types of information; perform searches that are usually carried out in archives, libraries and museums; allow for the maintenance and updating of records; and produce reports such as frequency dictionaries, union catalog listings, statistical analysis, and selective print-outs. An example of a complex card catalog which contains hierarchical structures and one step threading is presented to illustrate the types of data structures that have been used historically to construct and maintain catalogs. A formal description of the implementation of GRIPHOS is presented in set and graph theoretic terms, and the logical structure of data as conceived by users is described in standard mathematical notation. (Author/MBR)