Files such as musical pieces are represented in symbols such as a star, and are clustered based on the attribute of each file so as to be allocated in an information space. An impression, such as "refreshing", on the musical piece corresponding to the file is represented and given in the form of emotion. The initial search for a file is carried out by roughly cutting out a marked-out space. When narrowed down, the file is linearly developed so as to support a user selection.