System and method for retrieving and organizing information from disparate computer network information sources

1. A computer implemented method for accessing information from a plurality of searchable information sources, comprising:

analyzing a search query to determine subject matter of the query; and

selecting a subset of information sources from the plurality of information sources based upon the subject matter of the query;

wherein the subject matter of the query is derived by comparing the search query against a knowledge-base, the knowledge base including a taxonomy of subject matters and a set of terms for at least some of the respective subject matters, the set of terms representing information likely to be found in the respective subject matters, and wherein comparing includes comparing at least portions of the search query against the sets of terms in the knowledge base to determine the respective subject matters of matching terms.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising searching at least one information source in the subset of information sources for documents relevant to the search query.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising:

comparing at least a portion of the search query against a plurality of entity lists;

each entity list includes a list of phrases, each of the phrases corresponding to one or more subject matters; and

wherein comparing includes matching a phrase in an entity list against at least a portion of the search query, and upon a match, returning subject matter corresponding to the match in the entity list.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 3 , further comprising assigning a score to the subject matter by:

assigning a confidence score to each entity list based upon a level of specificity of the respective entity list; and

assigning a score to the subject matter corresponding to the confidence score of the entity list from which the subject matter was returned.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , further comprising building the knowledge base, wherein building includes:

defining the taxonomy of subject matters;

for at least some of the subject matters in the taxonomy, providing at least one example document that represents content typically found for the respective subject matter; generating a set of terms from the example document; and

linking the set of terms to the respective subject matter.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 5 , wherein the taxonomy is structured as a multi-tier hierarchy.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the multi-tier hierarchy includes a top-level tier of subject matter areas, at least one mid-level tier of subject matter categories for the respective subject matter areas, and at least one lower level tier of one or more elements taken from a group comprising (a) example documents for the respective subject matter categories, (b) a set of terms representing content typically found for the respective subject matter categories, and (c) entity lists corresponding to the respective subject matter categories.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein comparing the search query against a knowledge-base further includes assigning a score to the determined subject matter based upon a confidence level of the comparison.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 8 , further comprising determining a subject matter of the query by:

displaying one or more of the subject matters having a score greater than a predetermined threshold; and

selecting, by a user, at least one of the displayed subject matters.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 8 , wherein analyzing includes determining a plurality of subject matters, and the method further comprises organizing the determined plurality of subject matters according, at least in part, to the scores assigned to the plurality of subject matters.

11. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein:

another criteria includes comparing at least a portion of the search query against a plurality of entity lists;

each entity list including a list of phrases corresponding to one or more subject matters; and

wherein comparing includes matching a phrase in an entity list against at least a portion of the search query, and upon a match, returning a subject matter corresponding to the match in the entity list.

12. The computer implemented method of claim 1 wherein:

comparing at least a portion of the search query against a knowledge-base further includes assigning a score to the subject matter based upon a confidence level of a comparison; and

assigning a score to the subject matter determined by the comparison is based upon a confidence of the comparison.

13. The computer implemented method of claim 12 , wherein scores resulting from the comparing at least a portion of the search query against a knowledge-base are lower than the scores resulting from comparing at least a portion of the search query against a plurality of entity lists.

14. The computer implemented method of claim 1 , wherein analyzing determines a plurality of subject matters, and the method further includes organizing the determined plurality of subject matters according, at least in part, to the scores assigned to the plurality of subject matters.

15. A computer implemented method for accessing information from a plurality of searchable information sources, comprising:

analyzing a search query to determine subject matter of the query; and

selecting a subset of information sources from the plurality of information sources based upon the subject matter of the query;

wherein the subject matter of the query is derived by comparing at least a portion of the search query against a plurality of entity lists, each entity list including a list of phrases, each of the phrases corresponding to one or more subject matters, and wherein comparing includes matching a phrase in an entity list against at least a portion of the search query, and upon a match, returning subject matter corresponding to the match in the entity list.

16. A computer system for accessing information from a plurality of searchable information sources, comprising:

at least one data processor;

memory for storing instructions causing the at least one data process to perform operations comprising:

analyzing a search query to determine subject matter of the query; and

selecting a subset of information sources from the plurality of information sources based upon the subject matter of the query;

wherein the subject matter of the query is derived by comparing the search query against a knowledge-base, the knowledge base including a taxonomy of subject matters and a set of terms for at least some of the respective subject matters, the set of terms representing information likely to be found in the respective subject matters, and wherein comparing includes comparing at least portions of the search query against the sets of terms in the knowledge base to determine the respective subject matters of matching terms.