Methods, systems and computer program products for archiving topical search results of web servers

• US 6,510,432 B1
• Filed: 03/24/2000
• Issued: 01/21/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Doyle, Ronald Patrick
• Primary Examiner(s): Mizrahi, Diane D.
• Application Number:
  US09/534,558
• Time in Patent Office: 1,033 Days
• Field of Search: 707/103.R, 707/10, 709/201, 709/225, 709/226, 709/231, 714/35, 714/1
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure

Abstract

Methods, systems and computer program products are provided for archiving information from a plurality of web servers by specifying at least one topic to be searched, searching the plurality of web servers so as to locate information associated with the at least one topic to be searched and retrieving the located information from at least one of the plurality of web servers. The retrieved information is archived so as to allow subsequent retrieval of the archived information independent of the plurality of web servers. This process is then periodically repeated so as to provide a history of information associated with the at least one topic. Systems are also provided including servlets for searching and archiving information on a user specified topic.

Claims

1. A method of archiving information from a plurality of web servers, comprising:

specifying at least one topic to be searched;

searching the plurality of web servers so as to locate information associated with the at least one topic to be searched;

retrieving the located information from at least one of the plurality of web servers;

archiving the retrieved information so as to allow subsequent retrieval of the archived information independent of the plurality of web servers; and

automatically periodically repeating the steps of searching, retrieving and archiving so as to provide a history of information associated with the at least one topic.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the steps of searching the plurality of web servers and retrieving the located information comprise the steps of:

identifying information accessible through one of the plurality of web servers associated with the at least one topic;

retrieving the identified information;

automatically analyzing the identified information to determine if additional information associated with the topic is specified by the identified information; and

retrieving the additional information associated with the topic.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the additional information specified by the identified information is stored at the one of the plurality of web servers and wherein the step of retrieving the additional information comprises the step of retrieving the additional information associated with the at least one topic from the one of the plurality of web servers.

4. A method according to claim 2, wherein the additional information specified by the identified information is stored at a different one of the plurality of web servers and wherein the step of retrieving the additional information comprises the step of retrieving the additional information associated with the topic from the different one of the plurality of web servers.

5. A method according to claim 2, wherein the step of analyzing the identified information comprises the step of detecting hyperlinks in the identified information, wherein the hyperlinks specify additional information associated with the topic.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein the steps of searching and retrieving further comprise the steps of:

automatically analyzing the retrieved information to determine if additional information related to the at least one topic may be retrieved;

identifying the additional information related to the at least one topic;

retrieving the identified additional information; and

archiving the retrieved additional information.

7. A method according to claim 6, wherein the archived additional information is associated with the at least one topic.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of specifying at least one topic to be searched comprises the step of specifying a plurality of keywords and a relationship between the plurality of keywords.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of specifying at least one topic to be searched comprises the steps of:

identifying a document associated with at least one topic;

automatically analyzing the identified document so as to identify characteristics of the document associated with the at least one topic associated with the document; and

developing a search based on the identified characteristics of the document so as to search for information associated with the at least one topic.

10. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of archiving stores the retrieved information at a location local to a user.

11. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step of archiving stores the retrieved information at a non-local server.

12. A system for generating an information archive, comprising:

a database;

a search servlet configured so as to automatially periodically search and retrieve information stored in a plurality of information sources associated with a user specified topic;

an archive servlet configured so as to store the information retrieved by the search servlet in the database and to associate the stored information with the user specified topic and when the search servlet retrieved the information; and

an archive user interface program configured so as to access the database to retrieve information stored in the database and associated with the user specified topic independent of the information stored in the plurality of information sources.

13. A system according to claim 12, further comprising a search user interface program configured so as to specify the topic for the search servlet to periodically search.

14. A system according to claim 13, wherein the search user interface program and the archive user interface program are configured to allow access to the search servlet and the archive servlet by a web browser.

15. A system according to claim 12, wherein the search servlet is further configured to analyze the retrieved information and retrieve additional information identified in the retrieved information and wherein the archive servlet is further configured to stored the additional information.

16. A system for archiving information from a plurality of web servers, comprising:

means for specifying at least one topic to be searched;

means for searching the plurality of web servers so as to locate information associated with the at least one topic to be searched;

means for retrieving the located information from at least one of the plurality of web servers;

means for archiving the retrieved information so as to allow subsequent retrieval of the archived information independent of the plurality of web servers; and

means for automatically periodically invoking the means for searching, means for retrieving and means for archiving so as to provide a history of information associated with the at least one topic.

17. A system according to claim 16, wherein the means for searching the plurality of web servers and the means for retrieving the located information comprise:

means for identifying information accessible through one of the plurality of web servers associated with the at least one topic;

means for retrieving the identified information;

means for automatically analyzing the identified information to determine if additional information associated with the topic is specified by the identified information; and

means for retrieving the additional information associated with the topic.

18. A system according to claim 17, wherein the additional information specified by the identified information is stored at the one of the plurality of web servers and wherein the means for retrieving the additional information comprises means for retrieving the additional information associated with the at least one topic from the one of the plurality of web servers.

19. A system according to claim 17, wherein the additional information specified by the identified information is stored at a different one of the plurality of web servers and wherein the means for retrieving the additional information comprises means for retrieving the additional information associated with the topic from the different one of the plurality of web servers.

20. A system according to claim 17, wherein the means for analyzing the identified information comprises means for detecting hyperlinks in the identified information, wherein the hyperlinks specify additional information associated with the topic.

21. A system according to claim 16, wherein the means for searching and the means for retrieving further comprise:

means for automatically analyzing the retrieved information to determine if additional information related to the at least one topic may be retrieved;

means for identifying the additional information related to the at least one topic;

means for retrieving the identified additional information; and

means for archiving the retrieved additional information.

22. A system according to claim 21, wherein the archived additional information is associated with the at least one topic.

23. A system according to claim 16, wherein the means for specifying at least one topic to be searched comprises means for specifying a plurality of keywords and a relationship between the plurality of keywords.

24. A system according to claim 16, wherein the means for specifying at least one topic to be searched comprises:

means for identifying a document associated with at least one topic;

means for automatically analyzing the identified document so as to identify characteristics of the document associated with the at least one topic associated with the document; and

means for developing a search based on the identified characteristics of the document so as to search for information associated with the at least one topic.

25. A system according to claim 16, wherein the means for archiving stores the retrieved information at a location local to a user.

26. A system according to claim 16, wherein the means for archiving stores the retrieved information at a web server.

27. A computer program product for archiving information from a plurality of web servers, comprising:

a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied in said medium, said computer-readable program code comprising;

computer-readable program code which specifies at least one topic to be searched;

computer-readable program code which searches the plurality of web servers so as to locate information associated with the at least one topic to be searched;

computer-readable program code which retrieves the located information from at least one of the plurality of web servers;

computer-readable program code which archives the retrieved information so as to allow subsequent retrieval of the archived information independent of the plurality of web servers; and

computer-readable program code which automatically periodically invokes the computer-readable program code which searches, computer-readable program code which retrieves and computer-readable program code which archives so as to provide a history of information associated with the at least one topic.

28. A computer program product according to claim 27, wherein the computer-readable program code which searches the plurality of web servers and the computer-readable program code which retrieves the located information comprise:

computer-readable program code which identifies information accessible through one of the plurality of web servers associated with the at least one topic;

computer-readable program code which retrieves the identified information;

computer-readable program code which automatically analyzes the identified information to determine if additional information associated with the topic is specified by the identified information; and

computer-readable program code which retrieves the additional information associated with the topic.

29. A computer program product according to claim 28, wherein the additional information specified by the identified information is stored at the one of the plurality of web servers and wherein the computer-readable program code which retrieves the additional information comprises computer-readable program code which retrieves the additional information associated with the at least one topic from the one of the plurality of web servers.

30. A computer program product according to claim 28, wherein the additional information specified by the identified information is stored at a different one of the plurality of web servers and wherein the computer-readable program code which retrieves the additional information comprises computer-readable program code which retrieves the additional information associated with the topic from the different one of the plurality of web servers.

31. A computer program product according to claim 28, wherein the computer-readable program code which analyzes the identified information comprises computer-readable program code which detects hyperlinks in the identified information, wherein the hyperlinks specify additional information associated with the topic.

32. A computer program product according to claim 27, wherein the computer-readable program code which searches and the computer-readable program code which retrieves further comprise:

computer-readable program code which automatically analyzes the retrieved information to determine if additional information related to the at least one topic may be retrieved;

computer-readable program code which identifies the additional information related to the at least one topic;

computer-readable program code which retrieves the identified additional information; and

computer-readable program code which archives the retrieved additional information.

33. A computer program product according to claim 32, wherein the archived additional information is associated with the at least one topic.

34. A computer program product according to claim 27, wherein the computer-readable program code which specifies at least one topic to be searched comprises computer-readable program code which specifies a plurality of keywords and a relationship between the plurality of keywords.

35. A computer program product according to claim 27, wherein the computer-readable program code which specifies at least one topic to be searched comprises:

computer-readable program code which identifies a document associated with at least one topic;

computer-readable program code which automatically analyzes the identified document so as to identify characteristics of the document associated with the at least one topic associated with the document; and

computer-readable program code which develops a search based on the identified characteristics of the document so as to search for information associated with the at least one topic.

36. A computer program product according to claim 27, wherein the computer-readable program code which archives stores the retrieved information at a location local to a user.

37. A computer program product according to claim 27, wherein the computer-readable program code which archives stores the retrieved information at a web server.