Abstract:
Embodiments of the present invention provide indexing, organizing, storing and/or retrieving of environmental information regarding a proposed environment-modifying project, including information about an environment-modifying natural event or construction project (“project”); a natural, constructed or socioeconomic feature in the area of the project (“setting”); a change to the setting brought about by the project (“impact”); or a feature designed to ameliorate a potential environmental impact of the project (“mitigation”). The environmental information is indexed with metadata that may be hierarchically organized and made available to a reviewer in a controlled vocabulary or a user-defined vocabulary.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    This patent application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit to both, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/117,361, filed Apr. 5, 2002, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/058,752, filed Feb. 14, 2005, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/282,302, filed Apr. 5, 2001, which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The present invention relates to an enhanced form of indexing, organizing, storing and retrieving environmental information. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    A barrier to the efficient retrieval of stored environmental information is the difficulty to index the information with terms that are both uniquely and intuitively related to specific, relevant aspects of the data. In general, the more unique an indexing term is, the less intuitive it is, and the less convenient it is to researchers conducting the search. Conversely, the more intuitive a search term is, the more likely it is to be confused with other common terms and the less likely it is to return a unique category of records. For instance, common keywords used to search environmental information may be ambiguous as when the term “salmon” returns records referring to the color “salmon” instead of the fish. 
         [0006]    To address these and other problems and to help ensure that users searching environmental documents receive accurate results, it is therefore desirable to provide a system and method for indexing, organizing, storing and retrieving environmental information to facilitate improved searches. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    Embodiments of the present invention provide indexing, organizing, storing and/or retrieving of environmental information regarding a proposed environment-modifying project, including information about an environment-modifying natural event or construction project (“project”); a natural, constructed or socioeconomic feature in the area of the project (“setting”); a change to the setting brought about by the project (“impact”); or a feature designed to ameliorate a potential environmental impact of the project (“mitigation”). 
         [0008]    Some embodiments of the present invention associate unique data records with one or more metadata terms from a controlled vocabulary (either preselected or user-specified) including environmental descriptors in a variety of useful categories (including but not limited to document properties, topic, location, date, and species). 
         [0009]    Some embodiments of the present invention, construct a database associating one or more descriptive pre-formatted or user-specified metadata terms to any unique data record. 
         [0010]    Some embodiments of the present invention, assign metadata terms to environmental data records by selecting a source document, text, tabular, graphic or other data from any source and subsequently selecting appropriate metadata terms or values from a previously developed menu of metadata descriptors. 
         [0011]    Some embodiments of the present invention provide a menu of metadata terms, or values, to characterize a given source, or document, in response to the type of environmental information it contains. 
         [0012]    Some embodiments of the present invention automatically assign appropriate metadata identifiers to characterize environmental information in a given source or document based on the frequency of their occurrence. 
         [0013]    In some embodiments of the present invention, some of the metadata terms describe locations for which the value of the metadata is provided in terms of geographic coordinates (i.e. geocodes). 
         [0014]    In some embodiments of the present invention, some of the metadata terms describe a time period related to the information for which the value of the metadata is provided in terms of a date or set of dates. 
         [0015]    Some embodiments of the present invention retrieve information by specifying search terms from a controlled vocabulary, describing the desired data (metadata), and receiving a list of available data records prioritized according to the degree to which their metadata matches the entered search terms. 
         [0016]    In some embodiments of the present invention, some of the environmental descriptors are hierarchically or thematically related to other descriptors in the controlled vocabulary of metadata to facilitate searches. 
         [0017]    Some embodiments of the present invention locate indexed information by specifying search terms from a controlled metadata vocabulary and further specifying a type of relationship of associated metadata terms (e.g. “broad,” “narrow,” “used for” or “related”) and receiving a list of available data records prioritized according to the degree to which their metadata matches the metadata associated with the entered search terms. 
         [0018]    In some embodiments of the present invention, additional vocabularies (thesauri) are related to the controlled metadata terms in a Metadata Database to increase the likelihood that a given search will produce useful results. 
         [0019]    In some embodiments of the present invention, a thesaurus of common species names is related to a controlled vocabulary of scientific names. 
         [0020]    In some embodiments of the present invention, a thesaurus of common and specific place names is related to a controlled vocabulary of geocodes. 
         [0021]    Some embodiments of the present invention, locate indexed information by specifying search terms from a thesaurus associated with a controlled metadata vocabulary and receiving a list of available data records prioritized according to the degree to which their metadata matches the metadata associated with the entered search terms. For example, the list of available data records may be prioritized according to the frequency with which the search terms match the metadata terms or terms in the text itself. 
         [0022]    Some embodiments of the present invention, locate non-indexed information by entering search terms and receiving a list of available data records prioritized according to the frequency with which the search terms match the metadata associated with the data records through some other means, or the terms match the terms contained within the text of the data record itself. 
         [0023]    Some embodiments of the present invention are performed by software stored in processor readable memory of a processing device communicatively coupled to the Internet. 
         [0024]    Some embodiments of the present invention locate information by entering search terms and receiving a list of available data records prioritized according to the frequency with which the search terms match the metadata associated with the data records through some other means, or the terms match the terms contained within the text of the data record itself and present additional information describing the results of the search in terms of the number of results retrieved, or the number of results retrieved that correspond to specific search terms, or a summary of the results received. 
         [0025]    Some embodiments of the present invention display a list of available data records prioritized according to the relevance of the results as determined by the number of one or more search terms that match the metadata associated with those data records or the number of times one or more search terms occurs in the text of the data records or some combination of those parameters. 
         [0026]    Some embodiments of the present invention store or retain a list of available data records received as a result of entering one or more search terms and receiving a list of available data records, and retrieve the retained list. 
         [0027]    Some embodiments of the present invention retrieve a prior list of available data records received as a result of previously entering search terms and receiving a list of available data records, and display the parameters of the search with additional information describing the received results in terms of the number of results retrieved, or the number of results retrieved that correspond to specific search terms, or a summary of the results received. 
         [0028]    Some embodiments of the present invention locate information by retrieving a retained list of available data records received as a result of previously entering search terms and receiving a list of available data records and executing a new search with the same parameters used in the retained search. 
         [0029]    Some embodiments of the present invention locate information by retrieving a stored or retained list of available data records received as a result of previously entering search terms and receiving a list of available data records and executing a new search after modifying one or more of the parameters used in the retained search in order to form modified search terms. 
         [0030]    Some embodiments of the present invention locate information by retrieving a stored or retained list of available data records received as a result of previously entering search terms and receiving a list of available data records and automatically executing a new search after a specified period of time or on a specific date. 
         [0031]    These and other embodiments of the present invention, as well as other aspects and advantages are described in more detail in conjunction with the figures, the detailed description, and the claims that follow. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0032]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram structure of primary and secondary databases and user interface. 
           [0033]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart of search using metadata or thesaurus search terms. 
           [0034]      FIG. 3  is a flow chart of search including hierarchical metadata relationships. 
           [0035]      FIG. 4  is a diagram example search schematic No. 1. 
           [0036]      FIG. 5  is a diagram example broad and narrow term search schematic No. 2. 
           [0037]      FIG. 6  is a diagram example search schematic No. 3. 
           [0038]      FIG. 7  is a diagram example search term entry screen. 
           [0039]      FIG. 8  is a diagram example search results (return) screen. 
           [0040]      FIG. 9  is a diagram thesaurus structure showing hierarchical relationship between terms. 
           [0041]      FIG. 10  is a diagram of screen shots showing substitution of metadata terms for thesaurus terms and selection of hierarchical relationship term. 
           [0042]      FIG. 11  is a flowchart of metadata assignment tool. 
           [0043]      FIG. 12  is a diagram example menu-driven metadata assignment screen shot No. 1. 
           [0044]      FIG. 13  is a diagram example menu-driven metadata assignment screen shot No. 2. 
           [0045]      FIG. 14  is a metadata assignment schematic. 
           [0046]      FIG. 15  is a diagram example of a saved or retrieved search results screen showing search and results metadata and execution options. 
           [0047]      FIG. 16  is a diagram example of a user interface providing options for a user to search within previously generated results. 
           [0048]      FIG. 17  is a block diagram of a data processing system in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
       [0049]    Illustrative embodiments disclose a system and method for indexing, organizing, storing and retrieving information regarding a proposed environment-modifying project is provided in some embodiments of the present invention. A system and method for assigning metadata to environmental information, and a system and method for relating search terms to a controlled vocabulary of metadata are also provided in embodiments of the present information. 
         [0050]    Accordingly, researchers can more accurately access environmental information that is indexed with preselected or user-defined metadata terms. Furthermore, information searches are more likely to result in the return of data records that meet researcher needs, as compared to current keyword searches, when search terms from a thesaurus of common terms are associated with metadata terms that can be searched according to hierarchical and thematic relationships. 
         [0051]      FIG. 1  illustrates the structure of the main components of the system and method for indexing, organizing, storing and retrieving information regarding a proposed environment-modifying project  100 . The main components may be implemented by a data processing system, explained below in  FIG. 17 . The components can include: 1) a data record database (or primary database)  105  that includes an address or location of one or more pieces of electronic and non-electronic information  110 , each associated with one or more terms from a controlled vocabulary of specific metadata terms  115  that uniquely characterize the form and content of the data records; 2) a metadata database (secondary database)  120  associating various metadata terms from a controlled vocabulary  125  with thesaurus terms from one or more thesauri (vocabularies)  130  to which they are equivalent; and 3) a user interface  135 . The user interface may be implemented as computer instructions executing on a data processing system so that a user may enter search terms (either metadata terms or thesaurus terms) to query the primary database  105  and receive search results in the form of a list of data records with their addresses  110 , and/or links to the data records. 
         [0052]    As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the database consists of the data record locations  110  for the various types of information, including but not limited to the following: Planning Documents; Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs); Journal Articles; Technical Reports; Topical Research; Media; Academic studies; Databases; Case Law; Legislation; Regulations and Regulatory Findings; Books; Websites; Maps and Atlases. 
         [0053]    Data records may include electronic or non-electronic information. Electronic data records can be resident at a variety of locations, including storage on a single computer or on a server accessible through a private network, or on a website accessible through the internet. Non-electronic data records may be located at a public or private library or at a public or private office, access to which may be open or restricted. The computer, website, and other processor dependent devices, may be one or more data processing systems as described in  FIG. 17 , explained further below. 
         [0054]    The data record database  105  contains information sufficient to specify a unique location of each data record (“address”)  110  such that the return of a data record&#39;s address  110  is sufficient to allow the user to locate the data record. In the case of electronic data, in some embodiments the address  110  is formatted in such a way that the address  110  changes automatically when the location of the electronic data moves so as to maintain an accurate register of data locations for the sake of retrieving the information for use by the researcher. In some embodiments, the address of the data record returned to the user in response to a query of the database provides a link to the location of the data record, which allows the user to access the information immediately by selecting the address. 
         [0055]    The database also contains metadata terms that are associated with data records  115 . Each unique data record is associated with any number of metadata terms  115  that describe the information in the data record. Metadata terms  115  are selected from a controlled vocabulary  125  in which each metadata term  115  is defined in a manner useful in characterizing the information in the underlying data record in an unambiguous manner. 
         [0056]    The metadata terms  115  are contained in the secondary metadata database  120  which includes the controlled vocabulary of metadata terms in hierarchical relationships to one another  125  along with other lists of terms (“thesauri”)  130  which are related to the metadata terms  115  as equivalent terms and for which one or more metadata terms  115  may be substituted during a search. 
         [0057]    In some embodiments, metadata terms  115  describe the bibliographic characteristics of the document as a whole, including standardized descriptions of documents and document properties (e.g. Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Metadata Terms) such as title, creator, subject, description, publisher, contributor, date, type, format, identifier, source, language, relation, coverage and rights. In some embodiments of, metadata terms  115  refer to the content of the information, including descriptions of its subject matter, location, range of dates covered and species discussed. 
         [0058]      FIG. 2  shows a manner of operating a data processing system to allow a user to use the primary data record database  105  and the secondary metadata database  120  to search for information. In some embodiments, a user enters to the data processing system a search term in step  205  along with various search parameters. Initially, the data processing system receives a request for environmental information including the search term in the form of at least a keyword, value or other indicator that relates an electronic thesaurus to metadata. The data processing system compares the search term to a list of metadata terms  115  in the metadata database  120 . If a match is found in step  210 , the user is given the option in step  215  of broadening the search to include hierarchically related terms, as explained further in  FIG. 3 . If a broader search is not desired, the data processing system compares the matched term to the metadata terms  115  associated with data records in the data record database  105  in step  260 . Accordingly, the data processing system may return the corresponding matched record addresses  110  to the user with information about the available documents matching the greatest number or most heavily weighted terms in step  265 . 
         [0059]    If the search term entered by the user does not match any of the metadata terms  115  in the controlled vocabulary  125  in step  210 , the search term is compared to a list of terms in other thesauri  130  in step  220  whose equivalence to the metadata  115  is listed in the metadata database  120 . If a match is found in step  225 , the matched thesaurus term is compared to the associated metadata terms in step  250 , at which point the user is given the option in step  255  of broadening the search to include hierarchically related terms, as explained further in  FIG. 3 . If a broader search is not desired, the metadata terms are matched with the data records in the data record database  105  in step  260 . As before, the matched records are returned to the user with information about the available documents matching the greatest number or most heavily weighted terms in step  265 . 
         [0060]    If the search term entered by the user does not match any of the other thesaurus terms in the metadata database  120 , the user is offered the option of selecting an appropriate term to which the unknown search term may be associated in step  230 . When the user selects an appropriate thesaurus term in step  235 , the term is matched with its related metadata term  250 , at which point the user is given the option in step  255  of broadening the search to include hierarchically related terms, as explained further in  FIG. 3 . If a broader search is not desired, the metadata terms are matched with the data records in the data record database  105  in step  260 . As before, the matched records are returned to the user with information about available documents matching the greatest number or most heavily weighted terms in step  265 . 
         [0061]    If the user does not recognize any terms from the metadata database  120  as similar in significance to the unknown search term, the user may choose to perform a full text search with the search terms in step  240 , at which point the unknown search term or terms will be compared to the readable text in the title and content of all documents in the data record database in step  245 . Information about documents containing this search term will then be returned as search results to the user in step  265 . 
         [0062]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , in some embodiments, a data processing system is used so that the user may choose to broaden the search to include metadata terms hierarchically related to the metadata  115  associated with the search term. In step  305 , a user enters a search term along with various search parameters. If the search term is not a metadata term in step  310 , please refer to  FIG. 2 , however if the search term is a metadata term, proceed to step  315 . In step  315  the user has the option to expand the search to include hierarchically related metadata terms. When a user selects this option in step  315 , the metadata terms in the metadata database that are hierarchically related to the search term are reviewed, and those additional metadata terms having the appropriate relationship specified by the user in steps  320  through  330 , narrow, broad, and related terms respectively, are added to the search terms in step  335 , which are in turn compared with the metadata terms  115  in the data record database  105  in step  340 . 
         [0063]    Detailed examples of how the system and method described in  FIGS. 2 and 3  might be implemented are illustrated in  FIGS. 4 through 6 .  FIG. 4  shows how a user query for information can be translated by a data processing system into controlled metadata terms and yield documents from the primary database  105 . In this example, the user searches for particular documents about the impact of water pollution on a type of salmon at stage  405  by entering the general search terms “Chinook salmon,” “near-extinct,” “fishing grounds,” “urban runoff,” in the user interface  140 , none of which are metadata terms used to index documents directly. The search further specifies information concerning a period between 1980 and 1990 for a location within “30 miles of San Francisco Bay.” These search terms are checked at stage  410  for equivalence with thesaurus terms and metadata terms in the metadata database  120  to yield the respective metadata terms “Oncorhynchus tshawytscha” for “Chinook salmon”; endangered species for “near extinct”; river for “fishing grounds”; storm water pollution for “urban runoff”; a chronological scalar 1980-0101/1990-1231 to signify the time period 1980 to 1990; and the geocodes 38.157774/−121.597772 with an appropriate mathematical parameter to define “within 30 miles of San Francisco Bay.” These metadata are then matched with the data records in the data record database  105  in stage  415  to locate a source of information (Document A) that has been characterized by metadata terms including document type, thematic terms, species, location, date, or other preselected or user defined metadata categories.  FIG. 5  shows how a user query can be expanded by including a search for documents indexed with metadata terms that are hierarchically related to the initial search term by being broader or narrower than the initial term. In this example, in stage  505  the user&#39;s initial search for documents about air quality is expanded by including a search for documents indexed according to narrower metadata terms—in this instance the terms particulate emissions, ozone and smog in stage  510 . These additional metadata terms are then matched with the data records in the data record database  105  at stage  515  such that the addresses of documents indexed according to either air quality, particulate emissions, ozone or smog will all be returned to the user. In some cases, the actual documents (electronic) or links to those documents will also be returned to the user. 
         [0064]    In some embodiments, the user can combine expanded searches of metadata terms with full text searches to find documents indexed according to the controlled metadata terms, which also include specific words including variant usages. In  FIG. 6 , at stage  605 , a user interested in researching information about the environmental impact of constructing a retail development (including a pharmacy) on rush hour traffic searches for documents indexed according to the non-controlled terms “traffic jam,” “rush hour” and “pharmacy” with geographic parameters to narrow the search to a specific region  605 . The user further specifies that narrower metadata terms should be included in the search, and that terms with no metadata equivalents may be used to search the full text of available documents. As in the earlier example in stage  610 , the term “traffic jam” is translated to the controlled metadata term transportation and traffic along with narrower terms, which include level of service  610 , an indication of congestion. In addition, the terms “rush hour” and “pharmacy” are used to search the text of available documents. A document matching these requirements, indexed according to the metadata term level of service and containing the terms “rush hour” and “pharmacy” in the text is returned to the user in stage  615 . 
         [0065]      FIG. 7  shows an example screen of the type in which the user can enter various search terms and other parameters concerning the desired information (e.g. location and date of data). In some embodiments, the user interface  140  includes a series of displayed text boxes in which the user enters various types of search information, organized by category. When the user enters one or more terms describing the type of document sought or the type or subject of the environmental information in box  725 , a menu of candidate search metadata search terms is provided in box  730 . When the user selects one or more of the candidate metadata terms by highlighting and clicking on the candidate term that metadata term is automatically added to the search terms in box  735 . A user can also specify a location and range in box  710  and a date range in box  715 . Searching with metadata and/or thesaurus terms can be selected in box  705  and the results can be prioritized or organized according to user input in box  720 . 
         [0066]      FIG. 8  shows an example screen, of the type in which the user would receive the desired information about returned documents. Such a display may be facilitated by a user computer, which is implemented in, for example, the hardware shown at  FIG. 17 , below. The search history section  805  shows the search parameters used, including location information  710  of  FIG. 7  and date parameters  715  also of  FIG. 7 . A search history is search parameters used, including location information and date parameters. The order in which results are specified to be returned are shown in box  820 , while the data records associated in database  105  are listed in box  830  along with the number of times a specific metadata term  115  of  FIG. 1  matches the returned document  825 . The first page of the first or selected record image is shown in section  810 , along with a description of the first or selected identified document according to Dublin core or other appropriate document metadata shown in section  815 . In some embodiments, the list of data records is prioritized according to the number of search terms associated with the records. In some alternative embodiments, the list of data records is prioritized according to a number of instances of modifiers associated with the metadata indicating the degree of importance of an associated metadata term to the content of the data record. In a further embodiment, the list of data records includes an abstract summarizing each data record. In some alternative embodiments, each data record in the list is linked to the location on the network indicated by its address such that selecting an electronic data record automatically brings the data record to the user&#39;s computer. 
         [0067]    Illustrative embodiments allow the user to define a thesaurus term from an external vocabulary as equivalent to a metadata term from the controlled vocabulary by selecting it from a list of terms displayed on the computer and subsequently selecting the corresponding thesaurus term. As shown in  FIG. 9 , the non-standard term “near-extinct,”  910  may be considered as equivalent to the metadata term endangered species  920 , which is a “narrow term” with respect to the metadata term special status species  925 . As such, an expanded search on endangered species specified for “broad terms” will include all documents indexed under either endangered species or special status species  915 . As further shown in the relationships included in  905 , the term special status species is also a broad term with respect to the metadata terms rare species  935  and Oncorhynchus tshawytscha  940 , and is itself a narrow term with respect to the broader term biological resources  930 . 
         [0068]    The reviewer is able to relate at thesaurus term to a metadata term through an appropriate screen as shown in  FIG. 10 . For example, by selecting the non-standard term “near-extinct” in box  1005  and dragging a cursor to extend an arrow to the metadata term endangered species in box  1010 , the reviewer can establish an equivalence relationship between the two terms, which is illustrated with other hierarchical relationships in Box  1015 . 
         [0069]    Embodiments of the invention allow reviewers to assign metadata to a data record to facilitate future access. As illustrated in  FIG. 11 , a reviewer analyzes the target document in step  1105  and selects a list of appropriate metadata terms to characterize its content in step  1110 , including but not limited to thematic terms as wells as location, date and species referenced in the document. The reviewer then determines the appropriate document attributes to characterize the document, including its unique, unambiguous address in step  1115 , and selects appropriate metadata terms to characterize the content of the document from controlled a vocabulary in step  1110 . The reviewer then links the metadata with the data record address in the data record database in step  1120 . The linked information is thereupon entered at step  1125  into the data record database  105 , or else the reviewer returns to the metadata list at step  1110  to determine more appropriate metadata links. In the event that no appropriate metadata are found, a new metadata term may be associated with the data record and entered into the controlled vocabulary at step  1130 . 
         [0070]    In some embodiments, all or part of an electronic record is displayed on a computer screen with one or more text boxes for entry of metadata.  FIG. 12  illustrates an example screen  1205 , in which a document title page is displayed  1210  adjacent to a selection of boxes for entering metadata pertinent to the entire document (e.g. Dublin Core metadata)  1215 . The user enters the metadata in the appropriate text box, or selects from a dropdown menu of metadata terms, which are automatically entered in the textboxes. When the metadata entry for a given record is complete, the data record address is automatically entered in the database (with additional user-guided instructions) associated with the selected metadata. 
         [0071]    In some alternative embodiments, a similar procedure is provided for entering various types of metadata specific to different locations within the document. As illustrated in  FIG. 13 , the example screen  1305  includes an information tree, table of contents, bookmarks, or similar method for navigating an electronic document  1310 . Selection of location within this navigation screen brings up corresponding text from within the document  1315 . The example screen simultaneously displays various categories of example metadata terms  1320  which can be selected through a series of dropdown menus; in addition, the user may enter other metadata terms directly in the “Current List of Assigned Metadata Terms”  1330 . Another portion of the example screen displays the common document metadata entered earlier as shown in  FIG. 12  as document properties  1325 . When the user hits the return key, both the data record address and the metadata terms listed in box  1330  are associated together and entered in the metadata database  105 . 
         [0072]    In a further embodiment, the user enters a description of the subject document, or a description of the type of environmental information contained in it, and a menu of candidate metadata terms or values to characterize the document is provided. The user can then select one or more candidate terms to associate with the document address (refer to  FIG. 7 ). 
         [0073]      FIG. 14  illustrates some alternative embodiments in which the assignment of metadata is accomplished automatically by means of an automatic parsing agent  1400 . By initiating the parsing agent  1405  the reviewer allows the agent to retrieve the target document  1410  and analyze it for metadata terms and other significant words  1415  according to their frequency and use in headings and elsewhere. These words are then compared against a list of available metadata terms  1420 , and based on the results of the target document evaluation, a list of candidate terms is offered for assignment to the document  1425 . The candidate terms are weighted according to the frequency of their occurrence  1435  and usage or according to some other predetermined standard  1430 , and selected terms are then approved for use with the documents and associated with the data record address of the target document in the data record database  1435 . Appropriate addresses may consist of its location in an electronic file, or a specific element within the file, or the physical location of a non-electronic data record. In a further embodiment, metadata terms are assigned automatically to the data records based on the frequency with which the metadata terms or the thesaurus equivalents occur within the metadata record. 
         [0074]    In a further embodiment, document analysis consists of evaluating the text of the document for available terms, or by identifying the presence of available terms in the title and headings or by other means to determine its significance for the purpose of assigning appropriate metadata terms to characterize the document. 
         [0075]    In a further embodiment,  FIG. 15  is an example saved search screen displaying the parameters of a previously performed and retained or stored search that permits the user to retrieve results of a search for the desired information.  FIG. 15  includes a summary of the results of the search. Screen  1500  shows the date the search was last performed  1505  along with a search name (if the user selected one). The search parameters entered to perform the search  700  depicted in  FIG. 7  are displayed to search parameter table  1510 , including document metadata, thematic terms, species, location information, and date parameters. The search history also may include a column of numbers for weighting search terms  1513  if selected by the user. A user-assigned weighting of “1” to “100” may be used to provide an indication of the relative relevance of the returned results based on the extent to which they match each individual search term. A total possible score is the sum of all metadata terms used in the search together with all text terms used in the search, if any. The data processing system calculates the total possible score by applying a full 100% weight to each metadata term or text term. The total possible form is used as a denominator in the next calculation. In some embodiments, the relative relevance of each data record returned  1540  is calculated by assigning a score equal to the user-assigned weighting for each instance in which the returned data record contains metadata matching the search term (or in the case of text searches, for each instance in which the returned data record contains the text term matching the search term) and the cumulative score is divided by the total possible score to calculate the “percent relevance” of the returned data record. 
         [0076]    In a further embodiment, a user mark indicating that a search term is “required”  1515  is interpreted such that only data records associated in database  105  with metadata corresponding to a selected search term (or data with text containing the selected search term if this option is selected) is received. 
         [0077]    In another embodiment, the displayed search results show additional information. As a first example, the displayed search results can show whether the search terms were compared to metadata associated with the records. In a second example, the displayed search results can show whether the search terms were compared to words in the text of the records. As a third example, the displayed search results can show the information of the first two examples, as well as show those search terms derived from the thesaurus  1520 , including the extent to which the search results relied on broad terms, narrow terms, related terms or terms used for other terms. In an illustrative example, the user-entered search terms “near extinct” and “urban runoff”, shown in table  1510 , relate to additional metadata terms according to the relationships “narrow”, “used for”, and “related to” as further described in  FIGS. 4 ,  5 ,  6 , and  10 . In a further illustration, the user-entered search term “salmon” is related to the scientific metadata term “onchorhyncus” as described in relation to  FIGS. 9 and 10 . 
         [0078]    In a further embodiment, the order in which results are returned is shown in box  1525 . The data records associated in database  105 , of  FIG. 1 , and received by a user computer, appear in the specified order  1530 . In an embodiment, each result is displayed in order of its relative relevance  1540  (explained above) and assigned a ranking  1535  corresponding with the scalar indication of its relative relevance as compared to the other data records returned. In some embodiments, the metadata  1545  or text corresponding to the search terms is shown for each item of data displayed in the retrieved search results. 
         [0079]    In some embodiments, the user can execute a new search  1550 . In some embodiments the user can execute a new search of all available data records with the existing search parameter in table  1510  by selecting “new search”  1555 . In some embodiments, the user can execute a new search of all available data records with new or revised search parameters by entering one or more new parameters or by modifying one or more of the existing search parameter in table  1510  and selecting “new search”  1555 . New search parameters can be modified search terms. In other words, an existing parameter, such as, for example, a date, may become a modified search term in response to a user entering a date a week after the date previously entered and used for a search. In a further embodiment, the user may save the new search for future reference  1570  in place of the original search by assigning the same name to the saved search, or the user may save the new search in addition to the original search by assigning a different name to the saved search. Accordingly, a data processing system can allow a user to select new search parameters and the received records to be further retained or stored as a saved search associated with a user-defined name. 
         [0080]    In an illustrative embodiment, the user may schedule the data processing system to re-execute a retained search on a schedule, for example, specifying a number of days  1560  or on a specified date  1565 . The data processing system may notify the user in response to obtaining results. A retained search is a retained list of available data records received as a result of using search terms to search within initially available data records. Accordingly, the received environmental information is the available data records received as the result of a data processing system using the retained search to search any available data records. 
         [0081]    In a further embodiment, the user can enter one or more new parameters or modify one or more of the existing search parameter in table  1510  enter new parameters and cause the data processing system to execute a new search within the results returned by selecting a search-within-results button  1555 . A constrained search is the application of search parameters to search results returned by a previous search. In other words, a constrained search is a request received at a data processing system to further narrow or prioritize search results based on use of parameters, for example, search parameter table  1510 . 
         [0082]    In a further embodiment,  FIG. 16  shows an example screen of the type in which the user receives the results of a search within the results received from a prior search. Accordingly, secondary results screen  1600  shows a set of results generated after at least two screens of a database have been performed. A secondary result is the output or product of the data processing system applying new parameters to search results to produce a second set of search results. In this embodiment, the data records of in database  105  are received by a data processing system. A secondary result can include, for example, results that follow iterations of searching within progressively narrow search results. Accordingly, the term “secondary result” is not limited only to a second search result generated from a first search result. The data processing system reevaluates such data records for their correspondence to revised search terms. The data processing system modifies the search parameters of the previous search displayed in table  1610  responsive to user input. Table  1610 , presents the parameters used in the previous search, among other data. In some embodiments, the search parameters are modified by receiving user input to provide new information in the table  1610 . In another embodiment, the search parameters are modified by receiving user input of new information in the original search term screen  700  of  FIG. 7 . 
         [0083]    In some embodiments, the data processing system weights the search parameters of table  1610  by associating each group of search parameters with a corresponding user-defined relevance weight  1613 . A user-assigned weighting of “1” to “100” may be used to provide an indication of the relative relevance of the returned results based on the extent to which they match each individual search term. The relative relevance of each data record returned  1645  can be calculated by assigning a score equal to the user-assigned weighting for each instance in which the returned data record contains metadata matching the search term (or in the case of text searches, for each instance in which the returned data record contains the text term matching the search term) and the cumulative score is divided by the total possible score to calculate the “percent relevance” of the returned data record. 
         [0084]    In a further embodiment, a user mark indicating that a search term is “required”  1615  is interpreted such that only data records associated in database  105  with metadata corresponding to a selected search term (or data with text containing the selected search term if this option is selected) is received. In an illustrative embodiment, the search terms in the previous search were modified to specify that the data records, to be returned from among the previous data records returned, are only those data records associated with metadata such that the document metadata term “Lead Agency” is associated with “Sacramento County” and the species metadata term is associated with the species “Oncorhyncus tshawytscha.” 
         [0085]    In a further embodiment, the displayed search results show additional information. As a first example  1620 , the displayed search results can show whether the search terms were compared to metadata associated with the records. In a second example, the displayed search results can show whether the search terms were compared to words in the text of the records. As a third example, the displayed search results can show the information of the first two examples, as well as show those search terms derived from the thesaurus, including the extent to which the search results relied on broad terms, narrow terms, related terms or terms used for other terms. In an illustrative example, the user-entered search terms “near extinct” and “urban runoff” shown in table  1610  were related to additional metadata terms according to the relationships “narrow” “used for” and “related to” as described in above and further described in  FIGS. 4 ,  5 ,  6 , and  10 . In a further illustration, the user-entered search term “salmon” was related to the scientific metadata term “onchorhyncus” as described in relation to  FIG. 9  above. 
         [0086]    In a further embodiment, the data processing system is configured to receive options from the user. The user may indicate that a secondary search is to take place. For example, the user can select “new search”  1665  in order to re-execute the search on all available data with the search terms entered at the time of the selection. Alternatively, the user may select “search within results”  1660 . Accordingly, in response to such a user selection, the data processing system may return results of a user-entered “search within results” command. In response to performing a search based solely on primary results, the data processing system may organize secondary results in an order as specified by the user  1625  according to pre-selected categories or user-selected terms  1630 . Secondary results are results generated by the data processing system based on a primary search applied to a database, whereby such results are further searched to generate a still-narrower set of results. 
         [0087]    In a further embodiment, the user selects the order in which results are returned in box  1625 . Based on the user inputs, the data records associated in database  105 , of  FIG. 1 , and received by a user computer, appear in the specified order  1635 . In an embodiment, each result is displayed in order of its relative relevance  1645  as defined above and assigned a ranking  1640  corresponding with the scalar indication of its relative relevance as compared to the other data records returned. In some embodiments, the metadata  1650  or text corresponding to the search terms is shown for each item of data displayed in the retrieved search results. 
         [0088]    The number of records displayed in table  1635 , corresponding to the search parameters shown in table  1610  of  FIG. 16 , is smaller than the number of records displayed in Table  1530  corresponding to the search parameters of the retained search in table  1510  of  FIG. 15 . The retained search may be stored to hard disk drive  1726  or the like with the same name  1605  or with a new name. A new search is a combination of parameters describing a prototype search that has not been used to guide execution of a search on a data processing system. The change in number of records indicates that the secondary results of the retained search displayed in  FIG. 15  further refines the search process resulting in fewer received records that correspond to the refined search parameters shown in  FIG. 16 . Table  1610  shows that a new search term has been added to the “Document” search terms. The new search term may be used by the data processing system to locate data records within the primary results. In this case, document metadata corresponds to “Lead Agency=Sacramento County.” In addition, the parameter for the “Species” search term has been revised to locate data records within the primary results, which are associated with species metadata including the term “Oncorhyncus tshawytscha.” In addition, an indication of “required” has been assigned to that metadata term such that data records whose metadata that fails to correspond to that term will not be returned. 
         [0089]    In a further embodiment of the invention, the user can program the computer to execute a new search with the search terms periodically or on a date and to notify the user when the results have been obtained. For example, a user may enter a recurring period in date field  1665  so that the data processing system receives a command to re-execute the retained search. 
         [0090]    In another embodiment, the data processing system retains a list of data records received as secondary results. Secondary results are explained further above. Accordingly, the data processing system may retain or store secondary results for future reference and use. In a further embodiment, the retained list is associated with a user-defined name  1675 . 
         [0091]    Illustrative embodiments of the invention provide a method, apparatus and computer program product for dispatching workloads to servers, and optionally adjusting processor voltages and frequencies based on resource requirements including power constraints, among others. The data processing device may be a stand-alone computing device, a cluster of computing devices operating as a single system or a distributed data processing system in which multiple computing devices are utilized to perform various aspects of the illustrative embodiments. Therefore, the following  FIG. 17  is provided as exemplary diagrams of data processing environments in which the invention may be implemented.  FIG. 17  is only exemplary and is not intended to assert or imply any limitation with regard to the environments in which the invention may be implemented. Many modifications to the depicted environments may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. 
         [0092]    With reference now to the figures and in particular with reference to  FIG. 17 , a block diagram of a data processing system is shown in which aspects of an illustrative embodiment may be implemented. Data processing system  1700  is an example of a computer, in which code or instructions implementing the processes of the present invention may be located. In the depicted example, data processing system  1700  employs a hub architecture including a north bridge and memory controller hub (NB/MCH)  1702  and a south bridge and input/output (I/O) controller hub (SB/ICH)  1704 . Processor  1706 , main memory  1708 , and graphics processor  1710  connect to north bridge and memory controller hub  1702 . Graphics processor  1710  may connect to the NB/MCH through an accelerated graphics port (AGP), for example. 
         [0093]    In the depicted example, local area network (LAN) adapter  1712  connects to south bridge and I/O controller hub  1704  and audio adapter  1716 , keyboard and mouse adapter  1720 , modem  1722 , read only memory (ROM)  1724 , hard disk drive (HDD)  1726 , CD-ROM drive  1730 , universal serial bus (USB) ports and other communications ports  1732 , and PCI/PCIe devices  1734  connect to south bridge and I/O controller hub  1704  through bus  1738  and bus  1740 . PCI/PCIe devices may include, for example, Ethernet adapters, add-in cards, and PC cards for notebook computers. PCI uses a card bus controller, while PCIe does not. ROM  1724  may be, for example, a flash binary input/output system (BIOS). Hard disk drive  1726  and CD-ROM drive  1730  may use, for example, an integrated drive electronics (IDE) or serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) interface. A super I/O (SIO) device  1736  may be connected to south bridge and I/O controller hub  1704 . 
         [0094]    An operating system runs on processor  1706 , and coordinates and provides control of various components within data processing system  1700  in  FIG. 17 . The operating system may be a commercially available operating system such as Microsoft® Windows® XP. Microsoft and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States, other countries, or both. An object oriented programming system, such as the Java™ programming system, may run in conjunction with the operating system and provides calls to the operating system from Java™ programs or applications executing on data processing system  1700 . Java™ is a trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. in the United States, other countries, or both. 
         [0095]    Instructions for the operating system, the object-oriented programming system, and applications or programs are located on storage devices, such as hard disk drive  1726 , and may be loaded into main memory  1708  for execution by processor  1706 . The processes of the present invention can be performed by processor  1706  using computer implemented instructions, which may be located in a memory such as, for example, main memory  1708 , read only memory  1724 , or in one or more peripheral devices. 
         [0096]    Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the hardware in  FIG. 17  may vary depending on the implementation. Other internal hardware or peripheral devices, such as flash memory, equivalent non-volatile memory, and the like, may be used in addition to or in place of the hardware depicted in  FIG. 17 . In addition, the processes of the illustrative embodiments may be applied to a multiprocessor data processing system. 
         [0097]    In some illustrative examples, data processing system  1700  may be a personal digital assistant (PDA), which is configured with flash memory to provide non-volatile memory for storing operating system files and/or user-generated data. A bus system may be comprised of one or more buses, such as a system bus, an I/O bus and a PCI bus. Of course, the bus system may be implemented using any type of communications fabric or architecture that provides for a transfer of data between different components or devices attached to the fabric or architecture. A communication unit may include one or more devices used to transmit and receive data, such as a modem or a network adapter. A memory may be, for example, main memory  1708  or a cache such as found in north bridge and memory controller hub  1702 . A processing unit may include one or more processors or CPUs. The depicted example in  FIG. 17  is not meant to imply architectural limitations. For example, data processing system  1700  also may be a tablet computer, laptop computer, or telephone device in addition to taking the form of a PDA. 
         [0098]    The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk-read only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk-read/write (CD-R/W) and DVD. 
         [0099]    A user computer may operate as a client to a server. The embodiments of the invention may operate within a user computer, or as a cooperation of data processing between the user computer and one or more servers, implemented, for example, as data processing system  1700 . 
         [0100]    Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable the data processing system to become coupled to other data processing systems or remote printers or storage devices through intervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modem and Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of network adapters. 
         [0101]    The description of the present invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiment was chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention, the practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated.