Method of search content enhancement

A computer program comprising program code embodied in at least one non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, which when executed, enables a computer system to implement a method of automatically providing expended keyword searches to increase the scope of keyword searches, the method comprising:

• creating a semantic taxonomy containing semantic node terms in a hierarchical structure, each semantic node term identifying groups of related keywords;
• periodically looking through a set of documents for a database to identify any keyword terms used in each of the documents that occur in the hierarchical structure;
• attaching a textual index for to each of the documents, the textual index for each of the documents including at least one semantic node term that identifies a keyword term used in the document;
• creating a table that maps user query terms to semantic node terms in the semantic taxonomy for a semantic dictionary;
• and
• automatically, without user intervention, and only in response to a mapping, based on the semantic dictionary, between a keyword query term in a users keyword query entry with a semantic node term, enhancing the users keyword query to create an enhanced keyword query by adding the semantic node term to the keyword query term, the enhanced keyword query including both the keyword query term and the semantic node term;
• and,
• based on the enhanced keyword query, locating documents in the set of documents that contain a match for the keyword query term in the users keyword query and documents in the set of documents which do not contain a match for the keyword query term in the users keyword query but contain other keyword search terms that are linked to the keyword query term by the semantic node term mapped to the keyword query term in the semantic dictionary to thereby increase the number of documents returned to the user.

A method for a computer search system to interrogate a database that automatically provides expanded keyword search queries comprising:

• providing a semantic taxonomy on at least one computing device, the semantic taxonomy containing semantic node terms in a hierarchical structure, each semantic node term identifying groups of related keywords;
• providing a search system text analyzer on the at least one computing device, wherein the search system text analyzer periodically looks through a set of documents for a database and identifies keyword terms used in each of the documents that occur in the hierarchical structure;
• using a semantic binder stored on the at least one computing device for attaching a textual index to each of the documents in the set of documents, the textual index for each of the documents including at least one semantic node term that identifies keyword terms used in the document;
• creating a table that maps user query terms to semantic node terms in the semantic taxonomy for a semantic dictionary;
• and
• providing a relevant document finder on the at least one computing device, which, only in response to a mapping, based on the semantic dictionary, between a keyword query term in a users keyword query entry with a semantic node term, automatically, without user intervention,
• enhances the users keyword query entry with the semantic node term to automatically create an enhanced keyword query, the enhanced keyword query including both the keyword query term and the semantic node term, and,
• based on the enhanced keyword query, locates documents of the set of documents that contain a match for the keyword query term and documents of the set of documents that do not contain a match for the keyword query term in the users keyword query but contain other different keyword search terms that are linked to the keyword query term by the semantic node term mapped to the keyword query term in the semantic dictionary to thereby increase the number of documents returned to the user.