Information search using knowledge agents

• US 7,809,708 B2
• Filed: 12/10/2007
• Issued: 10/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 05/31/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Aridor, Yariv, Herscovici, Michael, Soffer, Aya, Maarek-Smadja, Yoelle, Carmel, David, Lempel, Ronny
• Primary Examiner(s): Wong; Don
• Assistant Examiner(s): Thai; Hanh B
• Application Number:
  US11/923,676
• Publication Number:
  US 20080147644A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,030 Days
• Field of Search: 707 3- 7, 707/10, 707/104.1, 707/706, 707/723, 707/726, 707/728, 707/748, 704/7
• US Class Current: 707/706
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9532 Query formulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99936 Pattern matching access

Abstract

A method for searching a corpus of documents, such as the World Wide Web, includes defining a knowledge domain and identifying a set of reference documents in the corpus pertinent to the domain. Upon inputting a query, the corpus is searched using the set of reference documents to find one or more of the documents in the corpus that contain information in the domain relevant to the query. The set of reference documents is updated with the found documents that are most relevant to the domain. The updated set is used in searching the corpus for information in the domain relevant to subsequent queries.

Claims

1. A method for searching a corpus of documents, comprising:

defining a knowledge domain;

identifying a set of reference documents in the corpus pertinent to the domain;

inputting a first query;

searching the corpus using the set of reference documents to find one or more of the documents in the corpus that contain information in the domain relevant to the first query; and

adding at least one of the found documents to the set of reference documents for use in searching the corpus for information in the domain relevant to a second, subsequent query, which is substantially different from the first query,

wherein searching the corpus comprises searching the corpus to find the documents that contain the information relevant to the query and ranking the found documents by comparing them to the set of reference documents, and

wherein ranking the found documents comprises assessing links between the found documents and the reference documents.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein inputting the first query comprises inputting one or more search terms.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein searching the corpus comprises finding lexical characteristics of terms in the reference documents and refining the search terms using the lexical characteristics.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein inputting the first query comprises specifying one or more documents representative of the information to be found in the corpus.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein ranking the found documents comprises evaluating a textual resemblance between the found documents and the reference documents.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein adding the at least one of the found documents comprises adding at least the document having the highest ranking.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein adding the at least one of the found documents comprises removing one of the documents from the set responsive to adding the at least one of the found documents.

8. The method according to claim 7, and comprising tracking a level of relevance of the reference documents to the queries, and wherein removing the one of the documents comprises removing one of the reference documents whose tracked level of relevance is low.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the corpus comprises at least a part of the World Wide Web, and the documents comprise Web pages, and wherein searching the corpus comprises conveying the query to one or more Web search engines.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein inputting the first query comprises receiving the query from a user of a pervasive device, and wherein searching the corpus comprises searching while the device is disconnected from the Web.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein identifying the set of reference documents comprises opening one or more files of a knowledge base on a computer in which data regarding the reference documents are saved.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein identifying the set of reference documents comprises identifying the set of documents used by a first user in searching the corpus, and wherein opening the one or more files comprises copying the files for use by a second user in searching the corpus for information in the domain.

13. Apparatus for searching a corpus of documents, comprising:

a memory, adapted to store an identification of a set of reference documents in the corpus pertinent to a predefined knowledge domain; and

a search processor, which responsive to receiving a first query as input, is adapted to search the corpus using the set of reference documents to find one or more of the documents in the corpus that contain information in the domain relevant to the first query, and to add at least one of the found documents to the set of reference documents stored in the memory for use in searching the corpus for information in the domain relevant to a second, subsequent query, which is substantially different from the first query,

wherein the processor is adapted to receive the documents found to contain the information relevant to the query and to rank the found documents by assessing links between the found documents and the reference documents.

14. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the processor is adapted to find lexical characteristics of the terms in the reference documents and to refine the search query using the lexical characteristics.

15. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the processor is adapted to add to the corpus at least the document having the highest ranking.

16. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the processor is adapted to remove one of the documents from the set responsive to adding the at least one of the found documents.

17. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the corpus comprises at least a part of the World Wide Web, and the documents comprise Web pages, and wherein the processor is adapted to search the corpus by conveying the query to one or more Web search engines.

18. The apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the processor is adapted to receive the query over a communication link from a user of a pervasive device, and to search the corpus while the communication link is disconnected.

19. A computer software product for searching a corpus of documents, the product comprising:

a computer-readable medium in which program instructions are stored, which instructions, when read by a computer, cause the computer to receive a definition of a knowledge domain and an identification of a set of reference documents in the corpus pertinent to the domain, and further cause the computer, responsive to a first query, to search the corpus using the set of reference documents to find one or more of the documents in the corpus that contain information in the domain relevant to the first query, and to add at least one of the found documents to the set of reference documents for use in searching the corpus for information in the domain relevant to a second, subsequent query, which is substantially different from the first query,

wherein the instructions cause the computer to receive the documents found to contain the information relevant to the query and to rank the found documents by assessing links between the found documents and the reference documents.

20. The product according to claim 19, wherein the corpus comprises the World Wide Web, and the documents comprise Web pages, and wherein the instructions cause the computer to search the Web by conveying the query to one or more Web search engines.

21. The product according to claim 20, wherein the instructions cause the computer to receive the first query from a pervasive device, and to search the Web while the pervasive device is disconnected from the Web.