Consolidated information retrieval results
View Patent ↗Systems and methods are disclosed for consolidating information retrieval results. According to some embodiments of the invention, a computer system can be used to retrieve and rank results in a first result set, in response to a query. The computer system can then perform a more in-depth comparison of the results with the query to determine a more complete correlation of the data in a result with the terms in the query. Each result can then be scored according to its correlation with the search query, and results that do not meet minimum threshold score can be dropped, the remaining results comprising a second result set. Results in the second result set can then be compared with each other to determine whether they contain information regarding a single object or entity, in which case the records are consolidated and redundant data is removed. The computer system can then present the consolidated result on a display.
1. A method for consolidating information retrieval results from one or more databases, the method comprising:
retrieving, at the computer system, a first result set in response to a query, the query having one or more search terms, and each result in the first result set having a plurality of data elements;
ranking, at the computer system, each result in the first result set based on a match of the one or more search terms in the query to a first subset of the plurality of data elements in each result;
comparing, at the computer system, for each result in the first result set, the one or more search terms in the query to a second subset of the plurality of data elements to create a value for the result, the value indicating a relevance of the result in relation to the query;
creating, at the computer system, a second result set from results in the first result set having a value at or above a minimum threshold value, wherein the second result set comprises a subset of the first result set;
consolidating the second result set by:
determining, at a confidence level at or above a threshold confidence level, that at least two results in the second result set include information about the same entity or topic,
creating a consolidated result including information from the at least two results, and
removing duplicative information included within the consolidated result; and
displaying, at a display device, the consolidated result.
2. A method for consolidating information retrieval results as recited in claim 1 wherein the second subset of the plurality of data elements comprises a different subset of data elements than the first subset of the plurality of data elements.
3. A method for consolidating information retrieval results as recited in claim 1 further comprising displaying one or more results from the second result set.
4. A method for consolidating information retrieval results as recited in claim 3 wherein the displayed results from the second result set include only those results with information not used to create the consolidated result.
5. A method for consolidating information retrieval results as recited in claim 1 wherein the consolidating the second result set comprises creating multiple consolidated results, each consolidated result including information about a distinct entity or topic.
6. A method for consolidating information retrieval results as recited in claim 5 wherein the one or more consolidated results are displayed in an order, the order determined by one or more of the following:
the amount of information included in the one or more consolidated results,
the type of information included in the one or more consolidated results,
the correlation of the information included in a consolidated result with the one or more search terms in the query, and
the values of the records from which the one or more consolidated results were consolidated.
7. A method for consolidating information retrieval results as recited in claim 1 wherein the first result set comprises records having a common schema.
8. A method for consolidating information retrieval results as recited in claim 1 wherein the one or more consolidated results include one or more of the following types of information: names, dates, places, photographs, stories, military status, price, reviews, relationships, phone numbers, identification numbers, race, gender, residence, employer, employment, education, criminal records, tax records, religion, political service, dimensions, medical records, and DNA sequences.
9. A method for consolidating information retrieval results as recited in claim 1 wherein the value for each result represents a total value, and the comparing further comprises associating a weighted value to each of the one or more search terms in the query, the total value for each result being calculated, in part, from the weighted value of each search term in the query.
10. A method for consolidating information retrieval results as recited in claim 1 wherein the value for each result represents a total value, and the comparing further comprises associating weighted values to each data element in the second subset of the plurality of data elements in each result, the total value for each result being calculated, in part, from the weighted values.
11. A method for consolidating information retrieval results as recited in claim 1 wherein the minimum threshold value and/or the threshold confidence level are determined, at least in part, by input from a user.
12. A method for consolidating information retrieval results as recited in claim 1 wherein a source and/or a count of the at least two results are also displayed at a display device.
13. A system for providing consolidated information retrieval results, the system comprising
a network interface through which the system is communicatively coupled with a user terminal;
one or more databases;
a memory;
a processor that executes an application stored in the memory, the application adapted to conduct information retrieval and having one or more programmed routines, the programmed routines comprising:
a routine for receiving a query from the user terminal and retrieving a first result set from the one or more databases based on a match of one or more search terms in the query to a first subset of a plurality of data elements in each result of the first result set;
a routine for comparing, for each result in the first result set, the one or more search terms in the query to a second subset of the plurality of data elements to create a value for the result, the value indicating a relevance of the result to the query;
a routine for creating a second result set from results in the first result set having a value at or above a minimum threshold value, wherein the second result set comprises a subset of the first result set;
a routine for consolidating the second result set by:
determining, at a confidence level at or above a threshold confidence level, that at least two results in the second result set include information about the same entity or topic,
creating one or more consolidated results including information from the at least two results, and
removing duplicative information contained within each of the one or more consolidated results; and
a routine for communicating the one or more consolidated results to the user terminal.
14. A system for providing consolidated information retrieval results as recited in claim 13 wherein the second subset of the plurality of data elements comprises a different subset of data elements than the first subset of the plurality of data elements.
15. A system for providing consolidated information retrieval results as recited in claim 13 wherein the programmed routines further comprise a routine for communicating one or more results from the second result set.
16. A system for providing consolidated information retrieval results as recited in claim 13 wherein the routine for consolidating the second result set comprises creating multiple consolidated results, each consolidated result including information about a distinct entity or topic.
17. A system for providing consolidated information retrieval results as recited in claim 16 wherein the one or more consolidated results are ordered, the order determined by one or more of the following:
the amount of information included in the one or more consolidated results,
the type of information included in the one or more consolidated results,
the correlation of the information included in a consolidated result with the one or more search terms in the query, and
the values of the records from which the one or more consolidated results were consolidated.
18. A system for providing consolidated information retrieval results as recited in claim 13 wherein the first result set comprises records having a common schema.
19. A computer-readable storage medium having a computer-readable program embodied therein for directing operation of a computer system accessed by a user, the computer system including a processor and a storage device, wherein the computer-readable program includes instructions for operating the computer system to consolidate information retrieval results from a plurality of retrieval results, the instructions comprising instructions for:
receiving a query from the user and retrieving a first result set from one or more databases based on a match of one or more search terms in the query to a first subset of a plurality of data elements in each result of the first result set;
comparing, for each result in the first result set, the one or more search terms in the query to a second subset of the plurality of data elements to create a value for the result, the value indicating a relevance of the result to the query;
creating a second result set from results in the first result set having a value at or above a minimum threshold value, wherein the second result set comprises a subset of the first result set;
consolidating the second result set by:
determining, at a confidence level at or above a threshold confidence level, that at least two results in the second result set include information about the same entity or topic,
creating one or more consolidated results including information from the at least two results, and
removing duplicative information contained within each of the one or more consolidated results; and
displaying the one or more consolidated results to the user.
20. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 19 wherein the second subset of the plurality of data elements comprises a different subset of data elements than the first subset of the plurality of data elements.
21. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 19 wherein the value for each result represents a total value, and the comparing further comprises associating a weighted value to each of the one or more search terms in the query, the total value for each result being calculated, in part, from the weighted value of each search term in the query.
22. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 19 wherein the value for each result represents a total value, and the comparing further comprises associating weighted values to each data element in the second subset of the plurality of data elements in each result, the total value for each result being calculated, in part, from the weighted values.
23. A computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 19 wherein the first result set comprises records having a common schema.