Patent ID: 7010569

Claim:
A method of retrieving information, comprising the steps of: preparing one or more boards each having one or more cards put thereon in advance, wherein each board is a site for allowing communications and retrieving of information between participants in a discussion on the board, and wherein each card holds speech content of one of the participants; detecting if a speaker mark is included in speaker mark areas on a board, wherein the speaker mark holds information regarding the participant and content of the card; if the speaker mark is detected, extracting information including participant attribute, and a keyword specified by the participant to be used to conduct a retrieval from information embedded in said speaker mark and displaying the extracted information; prompting the participant to take actions for selecting the keyword, said actions including sorting out said keyword from said displayed information and inputting said keyword; collating said keyword specified by the participant with information from a board stored in a cache in a client terminal being used by the participant; and displaying in a highlighted manner information of a card included on said board, said card matching said keyword.