Patent ID: 7213261

Claim:
In an interactive library system having a computer in telecommunication link with at least one user computer and computer of at least one content provider requiring payment for information access, a method which comprises: receiving, by the library system computer, user identification and password from the user computer; comparing, by the library system computer, said received user identification and password with authorized user identifications and corresponding passwords stored in the library system to determine whether to grant access to the interactive library system; if comparison results in grant of access, then library system is capable of performing one or both of the following: (1) receiving, by the library system computer, input from the user computer specifying type of information desired by the user; establishing, by the library system computer, telecommunication link with content provider computer; transmitting, by the library system computer, said type of information desired by the user as a search request to the content provider computer; receiving, by the library system computer, result of said search request from the content provider computer; and providing, by the library system computer, said result to the user computer; (2) setting, by the library system computer, the user's privileges; if the user's privileges correspond to a first preselected level of access, then providing, by the library system computer, access to information in a Deal Room; and if the user's privileges correspond to a second preselected level of access, then providing, by the library system computer, right to modify Deal Room information and/or upload electronic files to the Deal Room.