A recording surface of a disk-shaped record medium is scanned by respective proves of a planar apertured probe array including a plurality of apertured probes arranged in a two-dimensional manner such that the recording surface of the record medium is scanned along a plurality of parallel scanning tracks whose pitch is smaller than a half of a data track pitch. Evanescent light generated by respective probes is interacted with the recording surface to produce scattered light whose intensity is modulated in accordance with the recorded data. The scattered light is received by a plurality of light receiving elements to generate electric signals, and these electric signals are once stored in a storage device. These electric signals are processed to select valid data, and desired data is extracted from the valid data.