1. In a computer system having a display and a memory for storing items with metadata properties, a method of filtering items, the method comprising: providing a plurality of display objects on the display that each represent one or more items; evaluating the metadata properties of the items that are represented by the display objects; and presenting a filter term on the display that corresponds to a metadata property that is shared by a plurality of the items, wherein the selection of the filter term causes the items that are represented on the display to be reduced to the items that share the metadata property.