System and Method for Retrieving and Organizing Information From Disparate Computer Network Information Services

Abstract

A system and method is provided for accessing information from a plurality of searchable information sources. The method includes the steps of: analyzing a user search query to determine a subject matter of the query; and selecting a sub-set of information from the plurality of information sources based upon the determined subject matter of the query. In further detailed embodiment, the analyzing step combines at least two methods of deriving the subject matter from the search query; and the method further includes the step of searching the information source(s) in the sub-set of information sources, substantially in parallel, for documents relevant to the search query. A system and method is also provided for searching a plurality of searchable information sources, where the information sources include at least one secure source. This method includes the steps of: (a) storing security credentials necessary for accessing the secure source; (b) accessing the secure source utilizing the stored security credentials; (c) accessing a non-secure source; (d) searching the accessed sources, substantially in parallel, for documents relevant to a search query; and (e) displaying results of the searching step.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.