A user interface for querying and displaying records from a database employs a physical metaphor for the process of constructing queries and viewing results. In one embodiment, the search criteria are displayed as strings of beads in a three-dimensional scene, each bead representing a criterion and each string representing a different category. For example the criteria, drama, action, suspense, and horror may be included in a category of genre. Criteria are selected to form a query by moving corresponding beads to a query string. In general, a three-dimensional scene is constructed in which objects may be manipulated to change their physical relationships to other objects in the scene. These changes may indicate changes in a current query being defined or edited, a current profile being defined or edited, a goodness of fit of results to a given search, etc. The three-dimensional nature of the scene is asymmetric to take advantage of the multiple dimensions for purposes of differentiating objects in the scene such that varying positions along one dimension indicate variation with respect to a characteristic corresponding to that dimension.
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