Only important portions in all of messages are extracted in the halfway or
after the end of a discussion and are allowed to be referred to the user.
The time for discussion is reduced, thereby smoothly proceeding a
conference. An electronic conference system is constructed in an
electronic conference system server in a manner such that a plurality of
user clients are connected to the electronic conference system server
through a network (not shown). The electronic conference system is made up
of a message database, a message relation extracting unit, a message type
setting unit, a message input and display unit, and an electronic
conference summarizing system. The electronic conference summarizing
system is constructed by a discussion path specifying unit, a message
merging unit, a duplication message deleting unit, and a message summary
file. All of the conclusions derived from a subject and its discussion
tree are extracted, unnecessary portions such as quotations or the like
are deleted, and the correspondence of questions and answers is arranged
and is formed as a summary.