The system described expedites the identification of an unknown sample by facilitating retrieval of known NMR spectra from an in-house reference spectral library. A definitive signature is affixed to each compound. Computer facilities print out the encoded data, matching chemical name with NMR spectral signature. The resulting compendium may then be searched for a signature equivalent to that of the spectrum of the unknown compound. In actual use, identification of an unknown has been made in every case that a reference spectrum was present in the files.