Process for searching a repository of resources

• US 20040186830A1
• Filed: 01/20/2004
• Published: 09/23/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 01/29/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Douillet, Laurent, Delic, Kemal
• Granted Patent: US 7,263,519 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/38 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access

Abstract

A process for accelerating search in a repository of resources indexed by a search engine. Each resource is classified in accordance with a least a first classification level. The process comprises the steps of: monitoring the access to said repository by the users and creating a shortcut index of resources which are flagged by the users in order to develop experience from the use of the repository; processing each new query entered by one user by a first preliminary searching within said shortcut index, followed by a standard search within the whole repository.

Claims

1. Process for searching a repository of resources indexed by a search engine, said process comprising:

monitoring the access to said repository by users and maintaining a shortcut index to resources which are flagged by the users;

processing at least some new queries entered by users with a first preliminary search within said shortcut index; and

conducting a full search of the respository if the preliminary search is unsuccessful.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1 wherein each resource is classified in accordance with at least a first classification level, the query entered by a user comprising information elements representative of at least said first classification level and said preliminary search comprising the steps of:

using said information elements for determining a list of shortcut links corresponding to resources which were already flagged by preceding users accessing said repository and which correspond to the same information elements;

displaying at least some of said identified resources.

3. A process as claimed in claim 2 wherein the information elements include a set of keywords and wherein a search based on the user query is carried out within the keywords for the determined list of shortcut links.

4. A process as claimed in any preceding claim comprising inviting the user to flag a displayed resource according to its usefulness.

5. A process as claimed in any preceding claim wherein said repository is a repository of electronic documents, with each document being classified in accordance with a first and a second classification level.

6. A process as claimed in claim 5 arranged for use in a help-desk environment with a repository containing documents of problems-solving solutions, said first level classification being representative of a type of product and said second level of classification being representative of the nature of the problem to which said documents refer.

7. A process as claimed in claim 6 wherein said preliminary search is followed by a full search of the repository and by an access to a index comprising references to skilled analysts.

8. Process for searching a document within a repository of documents being partitioned with at least one level of classification, said process comprising the steps of:

establishing a cache of documents extracted from said repository and identified as being problem-solving documents and indexing said cache;

in response to the entering of a query, analysing whether said query corresponds to at least one partition for which documents exist within said cache;

identifying documents within said cache which potentially match said query and, in case of failure,

completing said process with an exhaustive search within said repository.

9. A system for searching a repository of resources, said system comprising:

program code elements for monitoring the access to said repository by users and maintaining a shortcut index to resources which are flagged by the users; and

a search engine arranged to processing at least some new queries entered by users with a first preliminary search within said shortcut index; and

to conduct a full search of the respository if the preliminary search is unsuccessful.

10. A system as claimed in claim 9 wherein each resource is classified in accordance with at least a first classification level, the system comprising a user interface for receiving a query entered by a user comprising information elements representative of at least said first classification level and wherein said search engine is arranged to conduct said preliminary search by using said information elements for determining a list of shortcut links corresponding to resources which were already flagged by preceding users accessing said repository and which correspond to the same information elements.