Database aliasing in information access system

1. A computer-implemented method for aliasing a collection of data, comprising:

extracting, by a computing device, names and associated terms from a collection of data;

normalizing, by the computing device, the extracted names and associated terms;

parsing, by the computing device, the normalized names and associated terms in conjunction with a grammar to produce meaning fragments, the grammar representing how words and their component parts combine to form sentences; and

mapping, by the computing device, the meaning fragments to a collection of concepts stored in an aliasing file, the concepts representing general ideas inferred or derived from specific instances, wherein alias entries are stored in the aliasing file when a determination is made that multiple normalized names and associated terms map to a single concept, and the aliasing file is used for resolving variations in the extracted names and associated terms during the normalizing step.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 further comprising: updating the mapping in response to a change in the collection of data.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the grammar is a natural language.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the grammar is English.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the collection of data is a relational database.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the collection of data is an extended markup language (XML) database.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the collection of data is a hypertext markup language (HTML) database.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the aliasing file is applied to a user query for resolving variations of spelling, capitalization, and abbreviations when normalizing the user query.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the aliasing file is applied to search results for normalizing on a single name rather than all possible aliases when normalizing the search results.

10. An article comprising:

a storage medium having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to:

extract names and associated terms for a collection of data;

normalize the extracted names and associated terms;

parse the normalized names and associated terms in conjunction with a grammar to produce meaning fragments, the grammar representing how words and their component parts combine to form sentences; and

map the fragments to a collection of concepts stored in an aliasing file, the concepts representing general ideas inferred or derived from specific instances, wherein alias entries are stored in the aliasing file when a determination is made that multiple normalized names and associated terms map to a single concept, and the aliasing file is used for resolving variations in the extracted names and associated terms during the normalize step.

11. A method of information processing comprising:

generating, by a computing device, a database file;

generating, by the computing device, an aliasing file in conjunction with a grammar for the database file, the aliasing file containing mappings of multiple normalized content to a single concept, the grammar representing how words and their component parts combine to form sentences; and

applying, by the computing device, the aliasing file to a query directed to the database file for resolving variations in the query during normalization.

12. The method of claim 11 in which generating the aliasing file comprises:

extracting names from the database file;

normalizing the extracted names; and

applying a language lexicon to the normalized extracted names.

13. The method of claim 12 in which generating the aliasing file further comprises storing multiple normalized extracted names that map to a single concept in the aliasing file.

14. The method of claim 11 in which generating the aliasing file comprises:

extracting numbers from the database file;

normalizing the extracted numbers; and

applying a language lexicon to the normalized extracted numbers.

15. The method of claim 14 in which generating the aliasing file further comprises storing multiple normalized extracted numbers that map to a single concept in the aliasing file.

16. A method of information processing comprising:

generating, by a computing device, a database file;

extracting, by the computing device, names from the database file;

normalizing, by the computing device, the extracted names;

applying a language lexicon to the normalized extracted names, the language lexicon specifying a list of words along with their normalized forms;

storing, by the computing device, multiple normalized extracted names that map to a single concept in an aliasing file, the single concept representing a general idea inferred or derived from specific instances; and

applying, by the computing device, the aliasing file to a query directed to the database file for resolving variations in the query during the normalizing step.

17. The method of claim 16 further comprising:

extracting numbers from the database file;

normalizing the extracted numbers;

applying a language lexicon to the normalized extracted numbers; and

storing multiple normalized extracted numbers that map to a single concept in the aliasing file, the single concept representing a general idea inferred or derived from specific instances.

18. An article comprising:

a storage medium having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a machine result in the following:

generate a database file;

generate an aliasing file in conjunction with a grammar for the database file, the aliasing file containing mappings of multiple normalized content to a single concept, the grammar representing how words and their component parts combine to form sentences; and

apply the aliasing file to a query directed to the database file for resolving variations in the query during normalization.

19. An article comprising:

a storage medium having stored thereon instructions that when executed by a machine result in the following:

generate a database file;

extract names from the database file;

normalize the extracted names;

apply a language lexicon to the normalized extracted names, the language lexicon specifying a list of words along with their normalized forms;

store multiple normalized extracted names that map to a single concept in an aliasing file, the single concept representing a general idea inferred or derived from specific instances; and

apply the aliasing file to a query directed to the database file for resolving variations in the query during the normalize step.