Patent ID: 8468143

Claim:
A computer-implemented method, comprising: on a server system having one or more processors and memory storing programs executed by the one or more processors, receiving a question from an inquirer at a client; identifying a plurality of information items corresponding to the question, one or more of the information items each having classification data; generating a question profile for the question based on the classification data of the information items; identifying one or more consultants for the question among a plurality of candidates in accordance with a comparison of the question profile and respective user profiles of the candidates; and submitting the question to at least one of the identified consultants for answer; wherein generating the question profile for the question includes identifying information items corresponding to at least a subset of search results corresponding to the question, and combining classification data of the identified information items to generate at least a portion of the question profile; and combining the classification data of the identified information items includes: weighting the classification data of the identified information items in accordance with their relevance to the question; and aggregating the weighted classification data of the identified information items into the question profile.