ELECTRONIC FILING APPARATUS WHICH ALLOWS INFORMATION TO BE RETRIEVED BASED ON A BOX, A DATE, OR A CARD ASSOCIATED WITH THE INFORMATION

A system for electronically storing and retrieving information. Information is scanned into the system and a user manually designates that the information is to be sorted using boxes which are like folders, sorted by date, or sorted by a card such as by cards which are arranged alphabetically. When the user manually indicates that the information is to be sorted by box, there is also an automatic sort by date and by card. In this case the card which is used is a temporary sort card which is automatically designated. When the user manually indicates that the sort is other than by box, the information is automatically sorted into a temporary box. After the information is stored and sorted, the information can be retrieved and printed, as desired. The system utilizes a scanner, processor, storage device and printer.