Collaborative search of databases

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10528575-B2
Application number	US-201715599633-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 19, 2017
Priority date	Dec 21, 2015
Publication date	Jan 7, 2020
Grant date	Jan 7, 2020

Abstract

A search query is received from a search engine of multiple search engines. One or more search results from each search engine of the multiple search engines in response to the search query are received. Each search result of the one or more search results includes a first search score. A factor is determined for each search result of the one or more search results. A second search score is determined for each search result of the one or more search results based on the first search score and the factor. The one or more search results are displayed to a user of the search engine in an order. The order is based on the second search score.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving, by one or more computer processors, a search query from a first user associated with a first shared repository, wherein the search query is received by a cross-search engine;
directing, by the one or more computer processors, a first search engine to perform a first search of the search query in the first shared repository;
directing, by the one or more computer processors, a second search engine to perform a second search of the search query in a second shared repository;
receiving, by the one or more computer processors, a plurality of search results, wherein:
the plurality of search results includes a first set of search results from the first search engine searching the first shared repository and a second set of search results from a second search engine searching the second shared repository, and
each search result of the plurality of search results includes a first search score;

determining, by the one or more computer processors, a factor for each search result of the second set of search results, wherein:
the factor is inversely proportional to a number of times each search result of the second set of search results from the second shared repository is displayed to the first user of the first search engine in response to the search query, and
the factor is proportional to a number of times each search result of the second set of search results from the second shared repository is selected by the first user of the first search engine; and

determining, by the one or more computer processors, a second search score for each of the plurality of search results, wherein:
the second search score for each of the second set of search results comprises the first search score of a search result of the second set of search results multiplied by the factor associated with the search result, and
the second search score for each of the first set of search results is not revised using the factor and remains the first search score of a search result of the first set of search results.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
updating, by the one or more computer processors, the factor for each search result of the second set of search results.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein updating the factor for each search result of the second set of search results comprises:
determining, by the one or more computer processors, whether each search result of the plurality of search results is selected by the user;
responsive to determining that a search result of the plurality of search results is selected by the user, increasing, by the one or more computer processors, the factor proportionally to an order in which the search result is displayed; and
responsive to determining that a search result from the plurality of search results is not selected by the user, decreasing, by the one or more computer processors, the factor inversely proportionally to the order in which the search result is displayed.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein updating the factor for each search result of the second set of search results comprises:
decreasing, by the one or more computer processors, the factor by a value to reduce influence of past data on the factor, wherein the value is a same value for each factor of each search result of the second set of search results.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first search engine and the second search engine correspond to an information source containing frequently asked questions and answers.

6. A computer program product comprising:
one or more computer readable storage media; and
program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, the program instructions comprising:
program instructions to receive a search query from a first user associated with a first shared repository, wherein the search query is received by a cross-search engine;
program instructions to direct a first search engine to perform a first search of the search query in the first shared repository;
program instructions to direct a second search engine to perform a second search of the search query in a second shared repository;
program instructions to receive a plurality of search results, wherein:
the plurality of search results includes a first set of search results from the first search engine searching the first shared repository and a second set of search results from a second search engine searching the second shared repository, and
each search result of the plurality of search results includes a first search score;

program instructions to determine a factor for each search result of the second set of search results, wherein:
the factor is inversely proportional to a number of times each search result of the second set of search results from the second shared repository is displayed to the first user of the first search engine in response to the search query, and
the factor is proportional to a number of times each search result of the second set of search results from the second shared repository is selected by the first user of the first search engine; and

program instructions to determine a second search score for each of the plurality of search results, wherein:
the second search score for each of the second set of search results comprises the first search score of a search result of the second set of search results multiplied by the factor associated with the search result, and
the second search score for each of the first set of search results is not revised using the factor and remains the first search score of a search result of the first set of search results.

7. The computer program product of claim 6 , further comprising program instructions, stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, to:
update the factor for each search result of the second set of search results.

8. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the program instructions to update the factor for each search result of the second set of search results comprise:
program instructions to determine whether each search result of the plurality of search results is selected by the user;
program instructions, responsive to determining that a search result of the plurality of search results is selected by the user, to increase the factor proportionally to an order in which the search result is displayed; and
program instructions, responsive to determining that a search result of plurality of search results is not selected by the user, to decrease the factor inversely proportionally to the order in which the search result is displayed.

9. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the program instructions to update the factor for each search result of the second set of search results comprise:
program instructions to decrease the factor by a value to reduce influence of past data on the factor, wherein the value is a same value for each factor of each search result of the second set of search results.

10. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein the first search engine and the second search engine correspond to an information source containing frequently asked questions and answers.

11. A computer system comprising:
one or more computer processors;
one or more computer readable storage media; and
program instructions, stored on the one or more computer readable storage media, for execution by at least one of the one or more computer processors, the program instructions comprising:
program instructions to receive a search query from a first user associated with a first shared repository, wherein the search query is received by a cross-search engine;
program instructio

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Takeuchi Emiko
• Takuma Daisuke
• Toyoshima Hirobumi

Classifications

• G06F16/248

  Presentation of query results · CPC title

• G06F16/27

  Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor · CPC title

• G06F16/24578 Primary

  using ranking · CPC title

• G06F16/951

  Indexing; Web crawling techniques · CPC title

• G06F16/9538

  Presentation of query results · CPC title