Abstract: A method, apparatus, article of manufacture, and a memory structure for transforming a query to reduce the need for merging the results from a number of result lists. The method comprises the steps of forming at least one subquery from the query, executing the formed subquery to generate a result list comprising a plurality of first result elements, and replacing the executed subquery with a logical combination of the first result elements to form a transformed query. The apparatus comprises a means for forming at least one subquery from the query, a means for executing the formed subquery to generate a plurality of first result elements, and a means for replacing the executed subquery with a logical combination of the first result elements to form a transformed query. In one embodiment, the invention comprises a program storage device, tangibly embodying a sequence of instructions for performing the method steps described above.

Abstract: A system and method for ranking the results of a search on a collection of linked documents. Documents found on the Web are typically referred to as Web pages. The system utilizes various information relating to the collection of linked documents, including the topology, content and historical usage of the linked collections of documents. The ranking is based on historical patterns and information about the current context of interest (e.g. what the user or group seems to be currently interested in doing). A spreading activation technique is used to identify the frequency of activation of the documents in the search results. Spreading activation techniques are based on representations of Web pages as nodes in graph networks representing usage, content, and hypertext relations among Web pages. After performing the spreading activation based on an initial set defined by the search results, each document from the results may be ranked based on their level of activation.

Abstract: A customer support search engine system and a method of searching data using the system includes: a product model database for storing information on product models of a computer of a customer, each product model information including a first field including the names of product models and a second field including the names of devices constituting the product models, each device name including a pointer which indicates a path for providing information where detailed data with respect to the device is stored; a device database for storing information on devices constituting the product models, by the product models, the information on the devices consisting of a device field including the device names and a data field storing detailed data about the devices included in the device field; a user interface for displaying predetermined customer support items in a menu form enabling selection by a user and allowing a user to select the customer support items and input character or numerical data through a keyboard,