Method and system for expanding search criteria for retrieving information items
First Claim
1. A method for selectively retrieving information items from at least one source of said information items, said method comprising the steps of:
- receiving at least one selection criteria at a local site;
expanding said at least one received selection criteria into a plurality of selection criteria, wherein each element in said at least one selection criteria is expanded using known variations of said element;
translating each of said selection criteria into a format acceptable to said at least one source of information items;
retrieving information items matching said selection criteria elements; and
storing said retrieved information items at said local site.
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Abstract
A method and system for extracting and retrieving selected information items from a plurality of sources of information items is presented. User entered selection criteria are expanded using known variations of term elements within the selection criteria. Each of the expanded selection criteria terms are used to match information items stored at a plurality of information items sources. Information items that match the inputted, and expanded, selection criteria are then stored at a local site for further evaluation. Furthermore, matching information items are condensed by removing those same information items that were retrieved using different selection criteria.
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Citations
64 Claims
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1. A method for selectively retrieving information items from at least one source of said information items, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving at least one selection criteria at a local site;
expanding said at least one received selection criteria into a plurality of selection criteria, wherein each element in said at least one selection criteria is expanded using known variations of said element;
translating each of said selection criteria into a format acceptable to said at least one source of information items;
retrieving information items matching said selection criteria elements; and
storing said retrieved information items at said local site. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 56)
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13. The method as recited in claim I further comprising the step of determining a user'"'"'s ability to enter selection criteria at said local site by requiring a verifying sequence.
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18. The method as recited in claim I wherein the step of expanding further comprises:
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decomposing each of said at least one search criteria into search term elements and logical operations;
replacing each of said search term elements with at least one known variation of said term element; and
generating a next search criteria for each of said known search term variations wherein the order of said search terms variations and logical operations is maintained.
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19. A system for selectively retrieving information items from at least one source of said information items, said system comprising:
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a processing apparatus operative to;
receive at least one selection criteria at a local site;
expand said at least one received selection criteria into a plurality of selection criteria, wherein each element in said at least one selection criteria is expanded using known variations of said element;
translate each of said selection criteria into a format acceptable to said at least one source of information items;
retrieve information items matching said selection criteria elements; and
store said retrieved information items at said local site.
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37. A method of determining access to a software program executable at a local computer location, said method comprising the steps of:
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receive a verifying sequence;
transmitting said verifying sequence over a communication network to a designated remote site;
validating said verifying sequence at said designated remote site; and
providing an unlock sequence to said local site when said verifying sequence is accepted.
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44. A method for expanding search criteria and for retrieving information items contained on at least one source of said information items, said method comprising the steps of:
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receiving at least one selection criteria at a local site;
expanding said at least one received selection criteria into a plurality of selection criteria, wherein each element in said at least one selection criteria is expanded using known variations of said element;
translating each of said selection criteria into a format acceptable to said at least one source of information items;
retrieving information items matching said selection criteria elements; and
storing said retrieved information items at said local site. - View Dependent Claims (45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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Specification