Patent ID: 8380739

Claim:
A computer program being executed on a local computing device, the computer program comprising: at least one quality database devoted to a particular subject matter residing on the local computing device that includes information provided by a user who is an expert in a field, said information comprising the expert's own suggestions, publications and related website addresses, text files, HTML documents and any mime code, and said information being organized in a way that allows cross-type searching by keyword regardless of data structure; a communications module that allows remote users to search and access information on the local quality database; a graphical user interface that provides a primary screen and multiple secondary screens to the user, wherein the primary screen presents at least two types of links, internal and external, to the user that provide structure and direction for an initial search in the subject area, and a first secondary screen that presents hits to the user based on a selection made by the user in the primary screen, wherein internal links provide paths to sources on the local computing device and external links provide paths to sources on the other quality databases; wherein a pre-defined secondary screens previously viewed by users in the group; wherein the multiple secondary screens are capable of accepting input from the user and performing a further in-depth search, wherein in response to the selection made by the user in the primary screen, the interface module causes a dual search of the local computing device and the other quality databases via the network to be performed; and wherein each database that is remote to the user is stored on a local computer and is populated and organized with quality information that has been recommended as relevant to the database's subject matter by a user who is an expert in the field; and an operating system that controls communications between the graphical user interface module, the communications module and the quality database, wherein the operating system facilitates sharing of information between the user of the quality database and the other users of the other quality databases.