Patent ID: 7401078

Claim:
An information processing apparatus which searches a plurality of databases for a document, comprising: search unit configured to search for a document stored in an arbitrary database among the plurality of databases and to obtain a primary search result including a hit document; recording unit configured to record access information of documents stored in the plurality of databases, wherein the access information includes information of access orders in which the stored documents have been accessed; calculation unit configured to extract a related document of which an access order is close to an access order of the hit document included in the primary search result based on the access information, and to calculate a related level of the related document on the basis of the access order of the related document, which is included in the access information; and output unit configured to output as final search results the hit document and the related document based on the related level calculated by said calculation unit, wherein the related level indicates a relevance of the related document to the hit document.