Method for displaying on a screen of a computer system images representing search results

A method for displaying on a screen a plurality of images representing search results in a computer system, said search results being in response to a search for information in a database initiated by a user by entering at least two search terms at the same time into said computer system, said method comprising the steps of:

• examining a plurality of documents in said database and determining relevance of each document to each search term entered into said computer;
• obtaining as said search results only those documents that are relevant to each search term;
• determining match values for said search results for each search term such that a higher match value indicates higher relevance to said search term;
• and
• displaying said images of said search results for said at least two search terms at the same time in a manner such that an image of a search result for each search term having a higher match value is displayed at a higher position on said screen than an image of another search result for the same search term having a lower match value.

A method for displaying on a screen of a computer system a plurality of images representing a group of search results, said group of search results being in response to a search for information in a database initiated by a user by entering via an input device at least two search terms at the same time into a computer system, said method comprising the steps of:

• examining a plurality of documents in said database and determining relevance of each document to each search term entered into said computer;
• obtaining a group of search results containing only those documents that are relevant to each search term;
• scaling said group of search results such that the highest match value indicating the highest relevance to each search term is equal to 100% and remaining match values in said group for each search term are adjusted in relation to the highest match value;
• displaying a first image corresponding to the highest match value at a predetermined position on said screen for each search term;
• and
• displaying on said screen a second image corresponding to the next highest match value at a different position than said predetermined position on said screen for each search term, said second image being smaller than said first image such that relevancy of said group of search results is clearly indicated for said at least two search terms at the same time on said screen.

An apparatus for displaying on a screen a plurality of images representing multiple search results in a computer system, said search results being in response to a search for information in a database initiated by a user by entering at least two search terms at the same time into said computer system, said apparatus comprising:

• a controllable processor programmed to examine a plurality of documents in said database for determining relevance of each document to a first search term, to obtain as first search results only those documents that are relevant to said first search term, and for determining relevance of each document to a second search term, to obtain as second search results only those documents that are relevant to said second search term, to determine match values for said first and second search results such that a higher match value indicates higher relevance to said first or second search term, to display images of said first search results in such a manner that an image of a more relevant search result having a first match value is displayed at a different position on said screen than an image of a less relevant search result having a second match value which is lower than said first match value, and to display images of said second search results in such a manner that an image of a more relevant search result having a third match value is displayed at a different position on said screen than an image of a less relevant search result having a fourth match value which is lower than said third match value.

A method for displaying on a screen a plurality of images representing search results in a computer system, said search results being in response to a search for information in a database initiated by a user by entering at least two search terms at the same time into said computer system, said method comprising the steps of:

• examining a plurality of documents in said database and determining relevance of each document to a first search term;
• obtaining as first search results only those documents that are relevant to said first search term;
• examining said plurality of documents in said database and determining relevance of each document to a second search term;
• obtaining as second search results only those documents that are relevant to said second search term;
• determining match values for said first and second search results such that a higher match value indicates higher relevance to said first or second search term;
• displaying said first and second search results at predetermined positions on said screen, wherein relative positions of said images of said first search results and of said second search results with respect to said predetermined positions indicate relative relevancy of said first search results and of said second search results to said first and second search terms.