Patent US 5,873,082

A list storing unit stores a plurality of lists, each of which includes a plurality of data and represents a search result of a search in a database. At least a piece of the data in one of the lists is included in another one of the lists. A file name that includes information used for searching data from the database is added to each list. A feature extracting unit extracts features such as similarities and differences between the lists. A feature displaying unit displays extracted features on the screen of a terminal along with the file names. Thus, the features of the lists corresponding to the information are quickly grasped. For example, in a sequence database search, although a data amount included in the lists is huge, similarities among lists can be analyzed in a short time.