Patent ID: 8375026

Claim:
A method of suggesting search criteria to a user at a remote computer, the method comprising the steps of: housing a plurality of non-standardized data sets on one or more computer readable mediums; automatically generating a first profile corresponding to a first non-standardized data set from among the plurality of non-standardized data sets, wherein the first profile is comprised of a plurality of attributes, each attribute corresponding to data within the first non-standardized data set; grouping two or more of the attributes from within the first profile into a first dynamic pod based on the frequency that data corresponding to each of the two or more attributes is found together within the same non-standardized data set from among the plurality of non-standardized data sets; transmitting a list of the attributes within the first dynamic pod to the remote computer for use as first optional search criteria criteria; grouping two or more of the attributes from within the first profile into a second dynamic pod based on the frequency that data corresponding to each of the two or more attributes is found together within the same non-standardized data set from among the plurality of non-standardized data sets; transmitting a list of the attributes within the second dynamic pod to the remote computer for use as a second optional search criteria, wherein the first dynamic pod contains at least one attribute not contained within the second dynamic pod; receiving to the server a selection from among the group consisting of the first optional search criteria and the second optional search criteria; using the selection to identify target non-standardized data sets from the plurality of non-standardized data sets, wherein each target non-standardized data set contains data relating to the selection; and transmitting data to the remote computer identifying at least one identified target non- standardized data set.