Patent ID: 6018733
Filing Date: 2000-01-25
Classification: G06F,Y10S

Abstract:
A method of permitting iterative performance of collection selection relative to a set of databases, where each said database includes a plurality of documents, to obtain consistent relative-ranking collection selection results for each iteration, said method comprising the steps of:a) obtaining a collection selection query including a set of predetermined search terms;b) determining an inverse collection frequency for each member of said set of predetermined search terms with respect to each said database and said set of databases, and determining a document frequency for each member of said set of predetermined search terms with respect to each said database;c) determining a ranking value for each said database based on a sum of the products of said inverse collection frequencies for said set of predetermined search terms and said document frequencies for respective members of said set of search terms;d) selecting a subset of said set of databases based on predetermined criteria dependant on said ranking value for each said database; ande) selectively repeating portions of said steps (b) through (d) with respect to each member of said set of predetermined search terms for each iteration of said method.