Patent ID: 7539665

Claim:
A method, comprising: receiving, from a handheld device, a data search request specifying at least one database to search for data; searching in a local database, upon indication that the local database is included in the at least one database specified in the received data search request, for each data entry in the local database fulfilling requirements of the received data search request; querying via a wireless connection a remote database manager to search in a remote database, upon indication that the remote database is included in the at least one database specified in the received data search request, for each data entry in the remote database fulfilling the requirements of the received data search request; determining if receiving data from the local and remote databases corresponding to the received data search request exceeds a threshold of an amount of data that is displayed simultaneously on a display of the handheld device; refining the received data search request if the determining indicates that the received data corresponding to the received data search request exceeds the threshold; retrieving, from the local database, data entries found in the searching fulfilling the requirements of the refined data search request; receiving, from the remote database via the wireless connection, data entries found in the querying fulfilling the requirements of the refined data search request; merging the retrieved and received data entries; and presenting the merged data entries in a single user interface on the display.