Patent ID: 6985893

Claim:
A method of providing a context sensitive mapping of a plurality of help informational items in an information retrieval system, comprising the steps of: establishing a database for maintaining at least one record entry, the at least one record entry defining a relationship between an originating location from which a help request originates and corresponding locations of the plurality of help informational items that are related to the originating location, wherein the originating location is one of the plurality of help informational items and the at least one record entry includes a relationship type which is based on characteristic similarities between the originating location and the help informational items that are related to the originating location, and a relationship strength value which is based on historical frequency of selection from the originating location by a user of the help informational items that are related to the originating location; detecting a subsequent user's selection of a help informational item from the originating location; presenting to the subsequent user, if a relationship record for the help informational item exists in the database, a plurality of help informational items that are related to the help informational item selected by the subsequent user, which are sorted based on respective relationship types and relationship strength values; and presenting to the subsequent user, if a relationship record for the help informational item does not exist in the database, a conventional help topic content.