According to this invention, upon managing a plurality of data by individually
appending meta data used to search for the data, an input sheet that describes
predetermined candidates of meta data is prepared, the user selects meta data from
the candidates of meta data, and the selected meta data is saved in association
with the data. Upon making a search, a data search is conducted using meta data,
and after the data found by search are partially provided to the user, the user
selects desired data. In this way, everyone can easily and efficiently append information
for a search to data to be managed.