Patent ID: 7693898

Claim:
A system for searching for classified information, comprising: a list of pre-defined classification designators stored in a database; a first electronic interface comprising a first computer executing a first set of software instructions stored on a first computer readable medium configured to allow first and second independent users to classify a third party item of information in inconsistent ways, using first and second different pluralities of the designators according to a first and a second, different topic, respectively, by: (a) allowing each of the first and the second users to independently select their respective topics from the list of pre-defined classification designators as a classification for the item via the first electronic interface; (b) allowing the first user to use a first keyword and the first topic to search the first plurality of designators and to select a first designator for the first topic from the first plurality of designators; and (c) allowing the second user to use a second keyword and the second topic to independently search the second plurality of designators and to select a second, different designator for the second topic from the second plurality of designators; a storage device storing a first record comprising the first topic and first designator, and a second record comprising the second topic and the second designator, where both records are linked with the item of information; and a second electronic interface comprising a second computer executing a second set of software instructions stored on a second computer readable medium configured to allow a third independent user to locate the item of information by searching records on the storage device using subsets of the different first and second pluralities of the designators as keywords.