System, method and program for augmenting information retrieval in a client/server network using client-side searching
First Claim
1. A method of using a network client in identifying stored information accessible over a network, said method comprising:
- receiving initial results of an initial search by the network client of the stored information from a network server;
performing an additional search of the initial results by the network client on the initial results received from the network server and stored in the network client, wherein the additional search provides additional results; and
transferring data associated with the additional results from the network client back to the network server.
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Accused Products
Abstract
In a system, method and program for identifying information accessible over a client/server network, search results obtained by a search engine running on a server may be improved by utilizing computing resources on a client. Initial search results produced by the server search engine are further processed on the client machine, which may produce a more refined set of search results. The processing on the client machine may be done using a client-side search program. The usefulness of the search results to a user may therefore be improved without the need for additional server resources. Data associated with the additional search results produced by the processing on the client may be sent back to the server. The server may then update its search engine such that results for subsequent searches on the server may be improved. A system for implementing the improved searching may include a network server having a server-side search program and a network client having a browser and a client-side search program. Program instructions implementing methods of the improved searching using such a system may be included on a carrier medium, which may be a transmission medium or storage medium.
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Citations
28 Claims
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1. A method of using a network client in identifying stored information accessible over a network, said method comprising:
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receiving initial results of an initial search by the network client of the stored information from a network server;
performing an additional search of the initial results by the network client on the initial results received from the network server and stored in the network client, wherein the additional search provides additional results; and
transferring data associated with the additional results from the network client back to the network server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of using a network server in identifying stored information accessible over a network, said method comprising:
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transferring to a network client initial results of an initial search of the stored information;
receiving from the network client data associated with additional results from an additional search of the initial results transferred to and located on the network client; and
using the received data to update a database on the network server containing information characterizing the stored information, such that results of future searches may be improved.
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- 16. A system for identifying stored information accessible over a network, said system comprising a network client adapted to perform an additional search on initial search results received from a network server, wherein the network client is further adapted to transfer data associated with additional search results to the network server.
- 23. A system for identifying stored information accessible over a network, said system comprising a network server adapted to transfer initial search results to a network client and receive from the network client data associated with additional search results from an additional search of the initial search results.
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25. A computer-usable carrier medium, comprising:
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first program instructions executable on a computational device of a network client for receiving from a network server initial results of an initial search of stored information available over a network linking the computational device and the network server;
second program instructions executable on the computational device of the network client for performing an additional search of the initial results, wherein the additional search provides additional results; and
third program instructions executable on the computational device of the network client for transferring data associated with the additional results to the network server. - View Dependent Claims (26)
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27. A computer-usable carrier medium, comprising:
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first program instructions executable on a computational device of a network server for transferring to a network client initial results of an initial search of stored information available over a network linking the computational device and the network client; and
second program instructions executable on the computational device of the network server for receiving data associated with additional search results from the network client. - View Dependent Claims (28)
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Specification