Patent ID: 7035838

Claim:
A method for organizing information stored within a computer network-based system that includes a server system coupled to a centralized database and at least one client system, said method comprising the steps of: receiving at the server system information from the client system, the information including documentation relating to a plurality of topics and a list of experts on a plurality of topics; storing information received at the server system in the centralized database; organizing the information stored in the centralized database; aggregating related information stored within the database into a hierarchical data structure including a work function segment, a functional category segment and a community segment, wherein each work function segment includes at least one functional category segment and each functional category segment includes at least one community segment, and wherein each work function segment includes information relating to the corresponding work function, each functional category segment includes information relating to the corresponding functional category, and each community segment includes information relating to the corresponding community; and displaying a user interface on the client system to enable a user to search the database for a specific item of information by the hierarchical data structure including at least one of work function, functional category, and community.