Patent ID: 8453044

Claim:
A method of informing a reader of an electronic document that a reader's personal communication network includes a database that is likely to possess information on a topic related to a word appearing in the electronic document, the method comprising the steps of: comparing text recited in the electronic document and content within the database in the reader's personal communication network, the personal communication network being a type of social network that is based upon communication links between electronically stored databases; identifying a relationship between the word appearing in the electronic document and the content within the database in the reader's personal communication network; displaying a visual indicator distinguishing the word from other words in the electronic document that are unrelated to the content within the database in the reader's personal communication network; differentiating the word from a second word appearing in the electronic document, the second word related to a second topic for which a second database of the reader's personal communication network is likely to possess information; and, displaying the visual indicator of the word in a manner that distinguishes it from the second word; wherein at least one of: 1) the word is linked to the database, the second word is linked to the second database, and the word is differentiated from the second word based on a different number of degrees of separation that the database and the second database are from a selected database in the reader's personal communication network, the selected database being designated by the reader as being likely to have searchable data that is related to at least a portion of the sought-after data; and 2) the word is differentiated from the second word based on relative strengths of the relationships between the reader and a member identified with the database, and between the reader and a member identified with the second database.