A system and method for cataloging and indexing messages that utilizes a message reference number that may be translated among different formats for propagating through a standard network and for displaying at a terminal. The reference number may be permanently assigned for the life of the archive. In one embodiment, the reference number may be generated using system number, temporal and sequence fields. The reference number may be mapped using a reversible mapping algorithm to a standard control field format for propagation through the existing database infrastructure systems. The reference number enables a database of search results to be stored permanently indexed by the reference number. Searches may reference other search results by reference number, and queries may be related to search results by the reference number.