METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR COLLABORATIVE SEARCHING

• US 20080222108A1
• Filed: 10/17/2007
• Published: 09/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/17/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: CommVault Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Prahlad, Anand, Reddy, Rammohan G., DeMeno, Randy, Brockway, Brian, Muller, Marcus S.
• Granted Patent: US 7,792,789 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/3
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/313 Selection or weighting of terms for indexing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/6227 where protection concerns the structure of data, e.g. records, types, queries
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2147 Locking files
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

A system and method for leveraging a collaborative document or information management system for improving searches for multiple users are provided, referred to as a collaborative search system. A search may be based on keywords within a document or supplemental information, such as data classification tags associated with the document. Searches may be performed on live data within a company as well as on backup or other secondary copies of data. The system may also maintain an index of all of the content available anywhere within the company. The collaborative search system provides an integrated collaborative search experience to collaborative participants, such that multiple users can participate in a search.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for collaboratively searching for stored documents, the method comprising:

creating a collaborative document, wherein multiple users can add search criteria to the collaborative document;

posting the collaborative document to a collaborative shared location accessible by multiple users;

receiving at least a first search criterion from a first user and adding the first search criterion to the collaborative document;

receiving at least a second search criterion from a second user and adding the second search criterion to the collaborative document; and

performing a search of the stored documents based on the collaborative document containing the first and second search criteria to create one or more search results that identify stored documents.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein posting the document comprises sending a link to the document via email to multiple users.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein posting the document comprises making the document available through a web portal.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second criteria limits locations to search for documents.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second criteria limits the stored documents to search based on one or more authors of the stored documents.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first and second criteria identifies data classification tags to include within the search.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the collaborative shared location is Microsoft SharePoint Services.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein performing a search comprises identifying, for each search result, the criterion that caused the search result to be part of the search results.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein performing a search comprises limiting the search based on access control information related to the first and second users.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein performing a search comprises limiting access to the search results based on access control information related to the first and second user.

11. A system for sharing search criteria and search results between multiple users, the system comprising:

a collaborative document management component configured to share documents between multiple users;

a collaborative search component configured to receive search criteria and share search results between multiple users through the collaborative document management component, wherein the collaborative search component facilitates automatic coordination of input from the multiple users to form a search query including the search criteria and to review the search results; and

a content indexing system for creating an index of available content and for using the index to perform searches for content based on search criteria received from the collaborative search component.

12. The system of claim 11 comprising a security component configured to restrict access to some content based on access control information.

13. The system of claim 11 comprising a browser component configured to access the collaborative document management system and present content to a user.

14. The system of claim 11 wherein the collaborative search component comprises a web part coupled to the collaborative document management component.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein the collaborative search component includes one or more parsers for converting content created by applications having an application-specific document format into a format viewable using a web browser.

16. A computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions for controlling a computer system to allow multiple users to process search results, by a method comprising:

receiving search results based on a search for content within a data storage system;

creating a collaborative document containing the received search results;

posting the collaborative document to a shared location so that multiple users can access the collaborative document; and

receiving a result indication from a user that modifies the search result with additional information based on the user'"'"'s evaluation of the search result.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the result indication indicates a relevance of the search result to a purpose for the search.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the result indication flags a search result for removal from the search results.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 comprising receiving a second result indication from a second user.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the search identifies documents responsive to a legal discovery request, and wherein the result indication identifies whether the search result is relevant to the legal discovery request.

21. A computer-implemented method for collaboratively searching for stored documents, the method comprising:

creating a query, wherein multiple users can add search criteria to the query;

posting the query to a collaborative shared location accessible by multiple users;

receiving at least a first search criterion from a first user and adding the first search criterion to the query;

receiving at least a second search criterion from a second user and adding the second search criterion to the query, wherein the first and second users are geographically separated but can communicate through a network; and

performing a search of the stored documents based on the query containing the first and second search criteria to create one or more search results that identify stored documents.