THIS PRELIMINARY STUDY OF A COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM AMONG THE APPROXIMATELY FIFTY AFFILIATES OF THE NEW YORK METROPOLITAN REFERENCE AND RESEARCH LIBRARY AGENCY, INC. (METRO) PROVIDES AN OUTLINE FOR AN INITIAL INFORMATION TRANSFER NETWORK WITHIN A FIFTY MILE RADIUS OF TIMES SQUARE. THE TECHNIQUE OFFERED IS THE MORCHAND INFORMATION TRANSMISSION-RECEPTION SYSTEM (VIDEO). IN GENERAL TERMS, NOT BASED ON ANY ACTUAL FIELD INFORMATION, THE STUDY CONTAINS SCHEMATA OF THE METRO ASSOCIATES THAT THEORETICALLY CATEGORIZE THE AFFILIATES AS MEMBERS OF ONE OR MORE OF THREE GROUPS--THOSE THAT TRANSMIT, RECEIVE, OR BOTH TRANSMIT AND RECEIVE. IN ADDITION, THE INFORMATION HANDLED IS BROKEN INTO TWO BROAD AREAS--BIBLIOGRAPHIC AND TEXTUAL DATA. FINALLY, THE PRIMARY TECHNICAL CONSTRAINT ON EACH AFFILIATE IS IDENTIFIED AS THE TYPE OF TERMINAL EQUIPMENT INSTALLED IN THE MEMBER AFFILIATE'S COMMUNICATIONS CENTER. PROCEDURES, USING THE MORCHAND SYSTEM, ARE THEN BRIEFLY OUTLINED FOR THE REFERRAL OF REQUESTS, DETERMINATION OF THEIR URGENCY, RETRIEVAL FROM STORAGE, PREPARATION FOR TRANSMISSION, AND INFORMATION TRANSMISSION AND RECEPTION. IT IS ALSO SUGGESTED THAT METRO LIBRARIES SOON MOVE TO AN AUTOMATED STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM. CONCLUSIONS ARE THAT TELEVISION IS UNIQUELY CAPABLE OF BEING BOTH THE FASTEST MODE OF TRANSMISSION AND, THROUGH THE MORCHAND SYSTEM, THE COMMUNICATIONS FACILITY MOST CAPABLE OF HANDLING MASS TRAFFIC LOADS. A LIST OF THE METRO AFFILIATES IS APPENDED. (JB)