37. A computer system comprising: a computer processing unit receiving or generating documents in respective formats according to respective different applications through which the documents are generated or modified, which formats differ from one of the documents to another for at least some of the documents; computer storage facilities; said processing unit being configured to automatically generate and store in said computer storage facilities respective representations of said documents, thereby forming a main collection of document representations corresponding to a man collection of said documents; said processing unit automatically generating and storing said main collection of document representations without requiring the user to designate a directory structure, a physical location for storage of document representations of corresponding documents, or another pre-imposed document categorization structure for each of said document representations or documents; a computer screen and a display unit selectively displaying on the computer screen graphical depictions of only a portion of the main collection of document representations, corresponding to only a portion of the main collection of documents, wherein the displayed graphical depictions of only a portion of said main collection of document representations comprise a display of partly overlapping, receding graphical depictions of document representations; said automatically generated and stored document representations being in an essentially consistent format despite differences in format from one to another of the documents corresponding thereto; said automatically generated and stored representations of said documents including respective automatically generated time indicators associated with the documents corresponding to said representations; said automatically generated and stored main collection of document representations being unbounded in time and size and being configured to include documents associated with time indicators related to future times as well as to past and present times; said automatically generated and stored main collection of document representations requiring no fixed beginning or end and being non-transitory and selectively searchable by the computer system; said computer processing unit being configured to automatically maintain the main collection of document representations live, dynamic and persistent by being responsive to subsequent events to expand said main collection of document representations by automatically generating and incorporating therein, in said computer storage facilities, additional document representations of additional documents corresponding thereto that are subsequently received or generated thereby; said additional document representations also including automatically generated respective time indicators associated with the subsequently delivered or generated documents; said processing unit being further configured to receive selected search criteria; said processing unit being configured to respond to a receipt of said search criteria by searching at least one of said main collection of document representations and said main collection of documents according to said search criteria and provide search results, and to utilize said search results to generate a sub-collection of document representations related to a respective sub-collection of documents that comprise a subset of the main collection of documents; said processing unit being configured to automatically maintain said sub-collection of document representations live, dynamic and persistent, and being responsive to subsequent events to expand said sub-collection of document representations by automatically incorporating therein document representations of documents that are subsequently received by or generated and meet said search criteria; said display unit being configured to selectively display on the screen graphical depictions of only a portion of the sub-collection of document representations, corresponding to only a portion of said sub-collection of documents, wherein the displayed graphical depictions of said portion of said sub-collection of document representations comprise a display of partly overlapping, receding graphical depictions; said processing unit and display unit being configured to automatically show on the screen a display of a glance view of a displayed graphical depiction while showing on the screen other displayed graphical depictions as a display of partly overlapping and receding graphical depictions; said glance view being an abbreviated version of the document representation or document corresponding to the graphical depiction and being indicative of content thereof; and said showing of the glance view occurring in response to a user designation, with an input device, of a screen area associated with the graphical depiction, without requiring dwelling of a cursor for at least about a second on a selected area of the screen associated with the currently displayed collection or sub-collection of graphical depictions in order to enable said showing of the glance view.
37. A computer system comprising: a computer processing unit receiving or generating documents in respective formats according to respective different applications through which the documents are generated or modified, which formats differ from one of the documents to another for at least some of the documents; computer storage facilities; said processing unit being configured to automatically generate and store in said computer storage facilities respective representations of said documents, thereby forming a main collection of document representations corresponding to a man collection of said documents; said processing unit automatically generating and storing said main collection of document representations without requiring the user to designate a directory structure, a physical location for storage of document representations of corresponding documents, or another pre-imposed document categorization structure for each of said document representations or documents; a computer screen and a display unit selectively displaying on the computer screen graphical depictions of only a portion of the main collection of document representations, corresponding to only a portion of the main collection of documents, wherein the displayed graphical depictions of only a portion of said main collection of document representations comprise a display of partly overlapping, receding graphical depictions of document representations; said automatically generated and stored document representations being in an essentially consistent format despite differences in format from one to another of the documents corresponding thereto; said automatically generated and stored representations of said documents including respective automatically generated time indicators associated with the documents corresponding to said representations; said automatically generated and stored main collection of document representations being unbounded in time and size and being configured to include documents associated with time indicators related to future times as well as to past and present times; said automatically generated and stored main collection of document representations requiring no fixed beginning or end and being non-transitory and selectively searchable by the computer system; said computer processing unit being configured to automatically maintain the main collection of document representations live, dynamic and persistent by being responsive to subsequent events to expand said main collection of document representations by automatically generating and incorporating therein, in said computer storage facilities, additional document representations of additional documents corresponding thereto that are subsequently received or generated thereby; said additional document representations also including automatically generated respective time indicators associated with the subsequently delivered or generated documents; said processing unit being further configured to receive selected search criteria; said processing unit being configured to respond to a receipt of said search criteria by searching at least one of said main collection of document representations and said main collection of documents according to said search criteria and provide search results, and to utilize said search results to generate a sub-collection of document representations related to a respective sub-collection of documents that comprise a subset of the main collection of documents; said processing unit being configured to automatically maintain said sub-collection of document representations live, dynamic and persistent, and being responsive to subsequent events to expand said sub-collection of document representations by automatically incorporating therein document representations of documents that are subsequently received by or generated and meet said search criteria; said display unit being configured to selectively display on the screen graphical depictions of only a portion of the sub-collection of document representations, corresponding to only a portion of said sub-collection of documents, wherein the displayed graphical depictions of said portion of said sub-collection of document representations comprise a display of partly overlapping, receding graphical depictions; said processing unit and display unit being configured to automatically show on the screen a display of a glance view of a displayed graphical depiction while showing on the screen other displayed graphical depictions as a display of partly overlapping and receding graphical depictions; said glance view being an abbreviated version of the document representation or document corresponding to the graphical depiction and being indicative of content thereof; and said showing of the glance view occurring in response to a user designation, with an input device, of a screen area associated with the graphical depiction, without requiring dwelling of a cursor for at least about a second on a selected area of the screen associated with the currently displayed collection or sub-collection of graphical depictions in order to enable said showing of the glance view. 54. The computer system of claim 37 in which the displayed glance view comprises a type glyph that identifies the nature of the corresponding document.