Method and apparatus for search optimization based on generation of context focused queries

• US 20040019588A1
• Filed: 07/23/2002
• Published: 01/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Maplebear Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kozakov, Lev, Grabarnik, Genady, Kim, Moon J., Drissi, Youssef, Ma, Sheng, Fin, Tong-Haing, Rodriguez, Juan Leon, Doganata, Yurdaer N.
• Granted Patent: US 7,676,452 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3322 using system suggestions G06F16/3325 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/3338 Query expansion
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2216/11 Patent retrieval
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

Disclosed is a method and apparatus for operating a search system for searching a search space containing domains each representing a collection of related documents. The method includes establishing a domain characterization model (DCM) that includes a DCM index containing keywords and, for each keyword, an identification of a domain where the keyword is found. In response to an original search query, the method forms one or a plurality of enhanced search queries in accordance with the DCM for searching a plurality of domains. Each enhanced search query is formed for searching a particular targeted domain and contains the original search query and at least one keyword associated with the particular domain. The search results are clustered and are displayed so as to be organized by the domains that were searched. The top search results returned in response to each enhanced search query belong to one of the targeted domains.

Claims

1. A method for operating a search system for searching a search space comprised of domains each representing a collection of related documents, comprising:

establishing a domain characterization model (DCM) comprising a DCM index containing keywords and, for each keyword, an identification of a domain where the keyword is found; and

in response to an original search query, forming at least one enhanced search query in accordance with the DCM for searching a plurality of domains, said at least one enhanced search query being formed for targeting a particular domain and comprising the original search query and at least one keyword associated with the particular domain.

2. A method as in claim 1, further comprising displaying search results organized by the domains that were searched.

3. A method as in claim 1, further comprising displaying search results obtained for a first domain that was searched, and further displaying an identification of at least one other domain that was searched, and in response to a user selecting the at least one other domain, displaying the search results obtained for the selected at least one other domain.

4. A method as in claim 1, where a plurality of enhanced search queries are issued to a search engine for use in searching the plurality of domains in parallel.

5. A method as in claim 1, where a plurality of enhanced search queries are issued to a search engine for use in simultaneously searching the plurality of domains.

6. A method as in claim 1, where the DCM index comprises single keywords and keyword combinations, each keyword combination comprising a plurality of words and, for each keyword combination, an identification of a domain where the keyword combination is found and, in response to the original search query, the method forms at least one enhanced search query so as to comprise the original search query and at least one keyword combination.

7. A method as in claim 1, where forming said at least one enhanced search query comprises operating a domain context matcher to identify at least one relevant search subject context for the original search query and to retrieve relevant keywords from the DCM index for each identified search subject context, further comprising operating a context focused query generator to generate domain-focused search query extensions using the retrieved relevant keywords, where relevant keywords associated with a particular domain are added to the original search query to form one of the enhanced search queries.

8. A method as in claim 1, where establishing the DCM comprises locating keywords and keyword combinations that are associated with each of the domains and building the DCM index using a search engine to index keywords and keyword combinations for each domain, and to associate and store as an entry in the DCM index a keyword or keyword combination with an identification of the domain in which the keyword or keyword combination is found.

9. A method as in claim 8, where forming said at least one enhanced search query comprises applying the original search query to the DCM index to retrieve at least one entry that is related to the original search query, and combining the keyword or keyword combination of the retrieved entry with the original search query to form a domain-specific enhanced search query.

10. A method for operating a search system for searching a search space comprised of domains each representing a collection of related documents, comprising:

establishing a domain characterization model (DCM) comprising a DCM index containing keywords and keyword combinations and an identification of the domain where each keyword and keyword combination is located;

in response to entering an original search query, searching the DCM index to obtain at least one related keyword or keyword combination;

if there is at least one related keyword or keyword combination associated with one domain, launching a search using an enhanced search query comprised of the original search query and the at least one related keyword or keyword combination;

if there are a plurality of related keywords or keyword combinations associated with a plurality of domains, then launching a plurality of searches in parallel, one for each domain, using a plurality of enhanced search queries, each enhanced search query comprising the original search query and the keywords or keyword combinations associated with each of the associated plurality of domains;

clustering the search results by the domain or domains that are searched; and

displaying the clustered search results to the user.

11. A method as in claim 10, where establishing the DCM index includes operating a term extraction tool to locate keywords and keyword combinations that are found in only one domain, operating a search engine to index located keywords and keyword combinations, and associating and storing as an entry in the DCM index a keyword or keyword combination with an identification of the domain in which the keyword or keyword combination is found.

12. A search system for searching a search space comprised of domains each representing a 2 collection of related documents, comprising:

means for establishing a domain characterization model (DCM) comprising a DCM index containing keywords and, for each keyword, an identification of a domain where the keyword is found; and

means, responsive to an original search query, for forming at least one enhanced search query in accordance with the DCM for searching a plurality of domains, where said at least one enhanced search query is formed for searching a particular domain and comprises the original search query and at least one keyword associated with the particular domain.

13. A search system as in claim 12, further comprising means for displaying search results organized by the domains that were searched.

14. A search system as in claim 12, further comprising means for displaying search results obtained for a first domain that was searched, and for displaying an identification of at least one other domain that was searched, said means for displaying search results being responsive to a user selecting the at least one other domain, for displaying the search results obtained for the selected at least one other domain.

15. A search system as in claim 12, further comprising means, coupled to said means for forming said at least one enhanced search query, for issuing a plurality of enhanced search queries to a search engine for use in searching the plurality of domains in parallel.

16. A search system as in claim 12, further comprising means, coupled to said means for forming said at least one enhanced search query, for issuing a plurality of enhanced search queries substantially simultaneously to a search engine for use in searching the plurality of domains.

17. A search system as in claim 12, where said DCM index further comprises single keywords and keyword combinations, each keyword combination comprising a plurality of words and, for each keyword combination, an identification of a domain where the keyword combination is found, and where said means said at least one enhanced search query is responsive to the original search query for forming said at least one enhanced search query to comprise the original search query and at least one keyword combination.

18. A search system as in claim 12, where said means for forming at least one enhanced search query further comprises a domain context matcher means for identifying at least one relevant search subject context for the original search query and for retrieving relevant keywords from the DCM index for each identified search subject context, and further comprises a context focused query generator means for generating domain-focused search query extensions using the retrieved relevant keywords, where a relevant keyword or keywords associated with a particular domain are added to the original search query to form one said enhanced search query.

19. A search system as in claim 16, where said means for establishing further comprises a term extraction tool to locate keywords that are found in only one domain, a search engine for indexing located keywords, and means for associating and storing as an entry in said DCM index a keyword with an identification of the domain in which the keyword is found.

20. A search system as in claim 19, where means for forming said at least one enhanced search query comprises means for applying the original search query to the DCM index to retrieve at least one entry that is related to the original search query, and means for combining the keyword or keyword combination of the retrieved entry with the original search query to form a domain-specific enhanced search query.

21. A computer program embodied on a computer-readable data storage medium, said computer program directing a computer for operating a search system for searching a search space that contains domains each representing a collection of related documents, execution of said computer program resulting in the performance of a method that comprises establishing a domain characterization model (DCM) that comprises a DCM index containing keywords and, for each keyword, an identification of a domain where the keyword is found;

and in response to an original search query from a user, forming at least one enhanced search query in accordance with the DCM for a domain targeted by the entry of the DCM index, where said at least one enhanced search query is formed for searching the targeted domain and comprises the original search query and at least one keyword associated with the targeted domain, where search results are clustered and displayed to the user so as to be organized by domains that were searched.

22. A computer program as in claim 21, where a plurality of enhanced search queries are provided substantially simultaneously to a search engine for use in searching a plurality of targeted domains in parallel.

23. A computer program as in claim 21, where top search results returned in response to each said enhanced search query belong to one of said targeted domains.