A method of displaying data, comprising the steps of defining a set of documents, each document having a unique identification and optionally citing other documents by their respective unique identification, the set being defined by selecting at least one starting document, with the set further comprising documents being included based on predetermined relationships with at least one other document in the set; generating a hierarchal tree representation of the at least one subset of documents, a subset inclusion and hierarchy thereof being defined by said predetermined relationships between documents within the set; and selectively focusing on a node of said hierarchal tree, to define a graphic display representation of at least a portion thereof to emphasize the selected focus while depicting the hierarchal relationships.