JP2010186295A - Information search system, information search method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively acquire a search result previously in preparation for a user's search request, in an information search system for displaying a candidate for a keyword for searching content. <P>SOLUTION: A screen display means 2 displays a part or all of keyword candidates to be used on a screen when searching a content DB 6. A keyword availability determination means 3, on the basis of a screen display state (for example, whether or not it is displayed) of each keyword candidate, determines the degree of availability that the candidate is used as a keyword for searching the content DB 6. A search control means 4 uses keyword candidates in descending order of the degree of the availability to search the content DB 6, and a search result storage means 5 stores the search result by the search control means 4. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information search technique, and more particularly to a search result prefetching technique.

  As a technique for improving search efficiency in an information search system, a technique called prefetching of search results is known. This technology is a technology in which contents predicted to be searched by the user are acquired in advance from a server or the like and stored in a high-speed memory in preparation for the next search request of the user. By prefetching the content, when the user inputs a search request for the prefetched content, the requested content can be immediately read from the memory and presented to the user, so that information retrieval efficiency can be improved. .

  By the way, the following techniques are known as techniques relating to prefetching (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Non-Patent Document 1).

  Patent Document 1 describes a technique in which a user terminal pre-reads a message from a bulletin board server in an electronic bulletin board system including a bulletin board server and a user terminal. Specifically, after a user selects a message using a message list, if a message is not selected even after a predetermined time has passed, an unread message among the messages on the message list is displayed as a bulletin board server. Read ahead.

  Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for prefetching a Web page that a user will access in the near future based on predetermined information embedded in the Web page (such as an HTML <link> tag). Is described.

  On the other hand, as an information search system, keyword candidates used to search for content are displayed on the screen, and when a keyword is selected by the user, content corresponding to the selected keyword is searched. There are some (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP-A-6-187263 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-92015

Link prefetching FAQ, [October 3, 2008 search, URL, http://developer.mozilla.org/Ja/Link_prefetching_FAQ]

  According to the technique described in Patent Document 1, since an unread message in the message list is pre-read, the user can refer to the message efficiently. However, since the technique described in Patent Document 1 performs prefetching without considering which messages are easy to be referred to by the user among unread messages, messages that are not referred to by the user are prefetched. However, there is a high possibility that a message referred to by the user is not prefetched.

  In addition, according to the technique described in Non-Patent Document 1, a Web page linked to a Web page that is referred to by the user is pre-read, so that the user can efficiently reference the linked Web page. can do. However, the technique described in Non-Patent Document 1 performs prefetching of a web page without considering which web page of linked web pages is easily accessed by the user. Therefore, there is a high possibility that a Web page that is not accessed by the user is prefetched, but a Web page that is accessed by the user is not prefetched.

  By the way, even in an information search system that displays keyword candidates used for content search on the screen and searches for content using the keyword selected by the user, in order to increase search efficiency, search results and content It is desirable to carry out pre-reading. Therefore, consider a case where the prefetching technique described in Patent Document 1 or Non-Patent Document 1 is applied to the information retrieval system as described above.

  First, consider the case where the prefetching technique described in Patent Document 1 is applied to the information retrieval system described above. In this case, for each unselected keyword among the keyword candidates, the content corresponding to that keyword is pre-read. However, when the technique described in Patent Document 1 is applied, special consideration is given to which of the unselected keywords is easily selected by the user, that is, ease of use as a keyword search request. Therefore, there is a problem that the search result cannot be effectively acquired in advance in preparation for the user's search request. Specifically, search results for keywords that are difficult to use as search requests are acquired before search results for keywords that are easy to use as search requests, and as a result, the search results requested at the time of the search request are prefetched. This causes a problem that the user cannot browse the search result immediately.

  Next, consider the case where the prefetching technique described in Non-Patent Document 1 is applied to the information retrieval system described above. In this case, for each keyword candidate, the content corresponding to the keyword is pre-read. However, even when the technology described in Non-Patent Document 1 is used, content prefetching is performed without special consideration for ease of use as a keyword search request. The same problem occurs when applying the existing technology.

[Object of invention]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and in an information search system in which keyword candidates for searching for content are displayed on the screen, the search results are effective in advance in preparation for a user search request. There is to be able to get to.

An information search system according to the present invention includes:
Screen display means for displaying part or all of the keyword candidates used when searching the content storage unit on the screen;
For each of the candidates, based on the screen display state of the candidates, usability determination means for determining the degree of usability that the candidates are used as keywords for searching the content storage unit;
Search control means for searching the content storage unit using the candidates in descending order of the degree of availability;
Search result storage means for storing the search results of the search control means.

An information search method according to the present invention includes:
A first step in which the screen display means displays part or all of the keyword candidates used when searching the content storage unit on the screen;
A usability determination unit for each of the candidates, based on a screen display state of the candidate, to determine a degree of usability that the candidate is used as a keyword for searching the content storage unit; Steps,
A third step in which the search control means searches the content storage unit using the candidates in descending order of the degree of availability;
The search result storage means includes a fourth step of storing the search result of the search control means.

A program for causing a computer to function as an information retrieval system,
The computer,
Screen display means for displaying a part or all of keyword candidates used when searching the content storage unit on the screen;
For each of the candidates, usability determination means for determining a degree of usability that the candidate is used as a keyword for searching the content storage unit based on the screen display state of the candidate,
Search control means for searching the content storage unit using the candidates in descending order of the possibility of use,
It is made to function as search result storage means for storing the search results of the search control means.

  According to the present invention, in an information search system in which keyword candidates for searching for content are displayed on the screen, it is possible to effectively obtain a search result in advance in preparation for a user search request. it can.

It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of 1st Embodiment of the information search system concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the keyword candidate which the keyword production | generation means 1 produces | generates. It is a figure which shows the example of a keyword candidate's display. It is a figure for demonstrating the screen display state of a keyword candidate. It is the figure which described the formula for determining the degree of availability of a keyword candidate. It is the figure which showed the example of the degree of availability of a keyword candidate. It is the figure which showed a mode that a search is performed from the keyword candidate with a large degree of usability. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a search result. It is a flowchart which shows the process example of 1st Embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of 2nd Embodiment of the information search system concerning this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process example of 2nd Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the modification of 1st Embodiment.

[First Embodiment]
Next, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Referring to FIG. 1, a first embodiment of an information search system according to the present invention includes a keyword generation unit 1, a screen display unit 2, a keyword availability determination unit 3, a search control unit 4, and a search. The result storage means 5 and a content database (content DB) 6 are included. The information retrieval system can be realized by a computer. When implemented by a computer, for example, a disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like on which a program for causing the computer to function as an information search system is prepared, and the computer is caused to read the program. The computer controls its own operation according to the read program, so that the keyword generation means 1, the screen display means 2, the keyword availability determination means 3, the search control means 4, the search result are controlled on the computer. Storage means 5 is realized.

  The content DB 6 is realized by a disk device or the like, and stores a set of contents to be searched. As content here, arbitrary data, such as a document file and an image file, can be used, for example.

  The keyword generating unit 1 generates keyword candidates (keyword candidates) for searching the content DB 6. As the keyword candidate here, for example, a keyword prepared in advance or a keyword extracted from the content DB 6 or the like can be used. FIG. 2 shows an example of keyword candidates.

  The screen display means 2 displays part or all of the keyword candidates generated by the keyword generation means 1 on a screen of a display device such as an LCD (not shown). FIG. 3 shows an example in which keyword candidates are displayed on the screen. In the example of FIG. 3, a rectangular display area (candidate display area) for displaying keyword candidates is provided on the screen, and the screen display means 2 converts some of the keyword candidates shown in FIG. Displayed in the candidate display area. A scroll bar for scrolling the candidate display area in the vertical direction is provided on the right side of the candidate display area, and the screen display means 2 scrolls the candidate display area in the vertical direction according to the operation of the scroll bar. Thus, keyword candidates that are not currently displayed in the candidate display area (shown in gray characters below the candidate display area in FIG. 3) can be displayed in the candidate display area.

  For each keyword candidate, the keyword availability determination unit 3 determines the degree of possibility (usability) that the keyword candidate is used as a keyword when searching for content based on the screen display state of the keyword candidate. judge. In other words, the keyword availability determination unit 3 determines, for each keyword candidate, the degree of availability as a search request for the keyword candidate based on the screen display state of the keyword candidate.

  As the screen display state of the keyword candidates, for example, a state such as whether or not the keyword candidates are currently displayed in the candidate display area can be used. This is because the keyword candidates displayed in the candidate display area can be directly operated by the user and thus are easily used as a search request. On the other hand, the keyword candidates that are not displayed cannot be directly operated by the user. This is because it is difficult to use as a search request.

  For keyword candidates not displayed in the candidate display area, as shown in FIG. 4A, the scroll amount for displaying the keyword candidates in the candidate display area is set to the keyword candidate screen display state. Can do. This is because a keyword candidate with a small scroll amount can be displayed in the candidate display area with a scroll operation smaller than a keyword candidate with a large scroll amount, so that the former is more easily used as a search request than the latter. In the example of FIG. 4A, the scroll amount is set to the minimum movement amount necessary for matching the boundary line (contour line) of the candidate display area with the rectangle circumscribing the keyword candidate. The minimum amount of movement required for displaying in the candidate display area may be the scroll amount between the keyword candidate and the candidate display area.

  For the keyword candidates displayed in the candidate display area, as shown in FIG. 4B, the distance (minimum distance) between the display position of the keyword candidate and the display position of the boundary line of the candidate display area Can be set as a screen display state of keyword candidates. As the display position of the keyword candidate, a rectangular display position circumscribing the keyword candidate, the center of gravity of the rectangle, or the like can be used. This is because when a search request is made, keyword candidates are selected by the cursor, but the cursor moves continuously on the screen, so if the cursor is outside the candidate display area, the keyword candidates are close to the boundary line of the candidate display area This is because they are likely to be selected in order and used as a search request.

  Further, for the keyword candidates displayed in the candidate display area, as shown in FIG. 4C, the display position of the keyword candidate and the display position of the cursor used for selecting the keyword candidate (the predetermined part of the cursor) The distance (minimum distance) to the display position) can be set as the keyword candidate screen display state. This is because a keyword candidate close to the cursor can be selected with fewer operations than a far keyword candidate, and is likely to be used as a search request.

  The screen display state of keyword candidates is not limited to the above, and a screen reflecting the degree of availability as a keyword search request can be used.

  The degree of availability as a search request for each keyword candidate is determined based on the screen display state.

  For example, whether or not a keyword candidate is displayed in the candidate display area in one screen display state can be used when the keyword candidate is displayed in the candidate display area rather than when it is not displayed. It is only necessary to prepare a function that increases the degree of performance and determine the degree of availability. An example of such a function is a function f shown in FIG. When the distance d between the keyword candidate and the candidate display area is 0 (when the keyword candidate is displayed in the candidate display area), the function f sets the degree of availability of the keyword candidate as 1. When the distance d between the keyword candidate and the candidate display area is d> 0 (when the keyword candidate is not displayed in the candidate display area), the function that sets the degree of availability of the keyword candidate to 0 It is.

  In addition, as to whether or not the keyword candidates that are in another screen display state are displayed in the candidate display area and the scroll amount between the keyword candidates that are not displayed in the candidate display area and the candidate display area, When the value is displayed in the candidate display area, the degree of usability is greater than when it is not displayed, and when the keyword candidate is not displayed in the candidate display area, the scroll amount is large. A function that reduces the degree of availability is prepared, and the degree of availability is determined using this function.

  Furthermore, in another screen display state, whether or not the keyword candidate is displayed in the candidate display area, and the display position of the keyword candidate displayed in the candidate display area and the display position of the boundary line of the candidate display area When the keyword candidate is displayed in the candidate display area, the degree of availability is greater than when the keyword candidate is displayed in the candidate display area and the minimum distance is displayed in the candidate display area. Prepares a function that decreases the degree of availability as the minimum distance increases, and uses this function to determine the degree of availability. An example of such a function is a function g shown in FIG. This function g is obtained when the minimum distance d between the display position of the keyword candidate and the display position of the boundary line of the candidate display area is d <0 (when the keyword candidate is not displayed in the candidate display area) When the degree of availability is 0 and the minimum distance d is d ≧ 0 (when a keyword candidate is displayed in the candidate display area), the degree of availability is 1 / (d + 1). Is.

  In addition, whether or not the keyword candidate is displayed in the candidate display area, which is another screen display state, and the distance (minimum distance) between the keyword candidate display position and the cursor display position, are keyword candidates. When the icon is displayed in the candidate display area, the degree of usability is greater than when it is not displayed, and when it is displayed in the candidate display area, the distance from the cursor is A function is prepared in which the degree of availability becomes smaller as the value becomes larger, and the degree of availability is determined using this function. An example of such a function is a function h shown in FIG. This function h is used when the distance d between the display position of the keyword candidate and the display position of the boundary line of the candidate display area is d <0 (when the keyword candidate is not displayed in the candidate display area). When the degree of possibility is 0 and the minimum distance d is d ≧ 0 (when the keyword candidate is displayed in the candidate display area), the degree of availability is 1 / (L + 1) It is. Here, L is the distance between the keyword candidate display position and the cursor display position.

  Further, a weighted linear sum of the degree of availability determined using each of the functions f to h described above may be calculated by the following equation (1) and used as the degree of availability of the keyword candidate. . Further, the degree of availability may be determined using any one or two of the functions f to h, and the weighted linear sum may be used as the degree of availability of the keyword candidate. .

p = α · f (d ₁ ) + β · g (d ₂ ) + γ · h (L, d ₂ ) (1)

Here, p is the degree of availability of the keyword candidate, d ₁ is the distance between the keyword candidate display position and the boundary display position of the candidate display area, and d ₂ is the keyword candidate displayed in the candidate display area. , L is a distance between the keyword candidate display position and the cursor display position, and α, β, and γ are weighting factors.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of the degree of availability as a search request for each keyword candidate determined using Expression (1). The calculation method described here is merely an example, and any calculation method may be used as long as the degree of availability as a search request is obtained from the screen display state of the keyword candidates.

  The search control means 4 searches the content DB 6 using the keyword candidates with the highest degree of availability based on the degree of availability of each keyword candidate determined by the keyword availability determination means 3. FIG. 7 shows an example of the search result. Here, based on the degree of availability as a search request obtained as shown in FIG. 6, the search results are sequentially acquired from the keyword candidates having the highest availability.

  The search result storage means 5 includes a high-speed memory (not shown) such as a semiconductor memory therein, and writes the search result in the memory every time the search control means 4 acquires the search result. As a result, the search results are written in the memory in order from the keyword candidates having the highest degree of availability.

  Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8, when the user selects a keyword (in this example, a printer) to be used for searching for content from the keyword candidates displayed in the candidate display area and makes a search request, search control means 4 retrieves the content corresponding to the keyword from the memory in the retrieval result storage means 5 and displays it in the retrieval result display area on the screen. In this way, since there is no disk I / O that becomes a bottleneck at the time of search, the user can view the search result immediately. In addition, even if the search result viewed here does not have a desired result and the user reselects another keyword as a search request, it is highly likely that the search result has been acquired in advance, so the search corresponding immediately You can view the results. If the requested content is not stored in the memory in the search result storage unit 5, the search control unit 4 searches the content DB 6 for the corresponding content and presents it to the user.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  The keyword generating means 1 generates keyword candidates for searching the content DB 6 (step A1).

  Next, the screen display means 2 displays all or part of the keyword candidates generated by the keyword generation means 1 in the candidate display area on the screen (step A2).

  Next, the keyword availability determination means 3 determines the degree of availability as a search request for each keyword candidate based on the screen display state of each keyword candidate displayed on the screen display means 2 (step A3). .

  Next, the search control unit 4 searches the content DB 6 using the keyword candidate having the highest degree of availability based on the degree of availability determined by the keyword availability determination unit 3 (steps A4 to A4). A6). At this time, the search result storage means 5 stores the searched result (step A7).

  Further, the search control means 4 repeats the search of the content DB 6 using the keyword candidates having the highest degree of usability in order, and ends the processing when all the keyword candidates have been processed (steps A5 to A9).

[Effect of the first embodiment]
According to the present embodiment, in the information search system in which keyword candidates used for searching for content are displayed on the screen, it is possible to effectively acquire a search result in advance in preparation for a user search request. Can be obtained. The reason is that the keyword candidates are displayed on the screen, the degree of availability as a search request for each keyword candidate is determined from the display state, and the content DB 6 is searched using the keyword candidates in descending order of the possibility of use. This is because the search result is stored in the search result storage means 5.

  Further, in the present embodiment, information such as whether or not the keyword candidate is displayed in the candidate display area is used as the screen display state of the keyword candidate, and the candidate keyword is displayed in the candidate display area. Keyword candidates that are not displayed in the candidate display area using the distance between the display position of the boundary line of the area and the display position of the keyword candidate and the distance between the display position of the cursor and the display position of the keyword candidate Since the scroll amount between the keyword candidate and the candidate display area is used, the degree of availability as a keyword candidate search request can be accurately determined.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  Referring to FIG. 10, the information search system of this embodiment is different from that of the first embodiment in that it includes screen update monitoring means 7. The screen update monitoring means 7 monitors the update of the screen, and when there is a screen update accompanied by a change in the screen display status of the keyword candidates, the keyword availability determining means 3 can use the keyword candidates after the screen update. The degree of is determined again. Examples of the screen update accompanying the change of the screen display state of the keyword candidates include an update of the candidate list screen displayed in the candidate display area. Note that the information search system of the present embodiment can also be realized by a computer in the same manner as the information search system of the first embodiment.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the present embodiment, the following operation is performed in addition to the operation of the first embodiment. The operations of the screen display means 2, the keyword availability determination means 3, the search control means 4, and the search result storage means 5 in the present embodiment indicated by steps A3 ′ to A9 ′ in FIG. Since it is the same as the operation of the constituent elements of the embodiment (steps A3 to A9), description thereof is omitted.

  The screen update monitoring means 7 monitors the screen update (step A10). When there is a screen update accompanying a change in the screen display status of keyword candidates, a series of operations of steps A3 ′ to A9 ′ are performed in the keyword availability determination unit 3, the search control unit 4, and the search result storage unit 5. Is executed again. Here, the search control means 4 may omit processing for already searched keyword candidates when searching again after receiving the screen update in step A6 ′.

[Effect of the second embodiment]
According to the present embodiment, it is possible to obtain an effect that a search result can be effectively acquired in advance in preparation for a user search request even when the screen is updated. The reason for this is that when the screen update is monitored and the screen display state of the keyword candidate is changed, a search request for the keyword candidate is made based on the screen display state of each keyword candidate after the screen update. This is because the degree of usability is determined again, the content DB 6 is searched using the keywords with the highest degree of usability in order, and the search result is stored in the search result storage means 5.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made.

  For example, when the upper limit value of the number of searches per keyword candidate is determined in advance and the search control means 4 searches for corresponding content in order from the keyword candidate having the highest degree of usability, the content is up to the upper limit value. At the time of the search, the search may be executed using a keyword candidate having the next highest possibility of use.

  The following modifications can also be made. When generating keyword candidates for content, the keyword generating means 1 generates keyword candidates for each of a plurality of predetermined attributes (for example, price range and processing speed) of the content. The screen display means 2 generates a candidate display area for each attribute on the screen. Further, the screen display means 2 performs processing for displaying the keyword candidates generated by the keyword generation means 1 in the candidate display area having the same attribute as the keyword candidates. For each keyword candidate, the keyword availability determination means 3 uses a search request for the keyword candidate based on the screen display state (such as the positional relationship between the keyword candidate and a candidate display area having the same attribute as the keyword candidate). Determining the degree of usability.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the search control unit 4 searches the content DB 6 after the keyword availability determination unit 3 determines the degree of availability of each keyword candidate. However, it can also be done as follows.

  When keyword candidates are generated by the keyword generation unit 1, the search control unit 4 searches the content DB 6 using all the generated keyword candidates, and stores the search results in a high-speed memory (not shown) such as a semiconductor memory. Store it in. After that, the search control means 4 uses the keyword candidates with the highest degree of availability determined by the keyword availability determination means 3 in order, and the search results corresponding to the keyword candidates are retrieved from the above high-speed memory. Search for. The search result storage unit 5 stores the search result of the search control unit 4.

  By adopting such a configuration, it is possible to shorten the time until the search result is stored in the search result storage unit 5. This is because the search control means 4 corresponds to the keyword candidates in parallel with the screen display means 2 displaying the keyword candidates on the screen and the keyword availability determination means 3 determining the degree of availability of the keyword candidates. This is because the search result can be acquired. Further, the search control means 4 only needs to search a memory that is faster than the content DB 6 after the keyword availability determination means 3 determines the degree of availability of each keyword candidate.

  Further, a part of the keyword generation means 1, screen display means 2, keyword availability determination means 3, search control means 4, search result storage means 5 and content DB 6 shown in FIG. May be arranged in the client. A configuration example in this case is shown in FIG. Referring to FIG. 12, the server 10 and the client 20 are connected via a network 30. The server 10 includes a keyword generation unit 1, a search control unit 4, a content DB 6, and a transmission / reception unit 11. The client 20 includes a screen display unit 2, a keyword availability determination unit 3, a search result storage unit 5, a search unit 8, and a transmission / reception unit 21. The server 10 and the client 20 can be realized by computers controlled by programs.

  The operation of the information search system shown in FIG. 12 is as follows.

  The keyword generation unit 1 generates keyword candidates to be used when searching the content DB 6, and transmits the keyword candidates to the client 20 via the transmission / reception unit 11 and the network 30. The screen display means 2 in the client 20 displays the keyword candidates sent from the server 10 on the screen. Further, the keyword availability determination unit 3 determines the degree of availability as a search request for each keyword candidate based on the display state of the screen of each keyword candidate, and sends the determination result via the transmission / reception unit 21 and the network 30. To the server 10. The determination result includes information indicating the keyword candidate and the degree of availability. The search control means 4 in the server 10 searches the content DB 6 using the keyword candidates in descending order of possibility of use, and transmits the search result to the client 20. More specifically, the search result is transmitted to the client 20 every time the search for one keyword is completed. The search result storage means 5 in the client 20 writes the search result sent from the server 10 in a memory provided therein. When a search request is input by the user, the search unit 8 first searches the search result storage unit 5. If the requested content can be retrieved, it is presented to the user. On the other hand, if the corresponding content is not stored in the search result storage means 5, a search request is sent to the server 10. The search control means 4 in the server 10 searches for the corresponding content from the content DB 6 and returns it to the client 20. Thereby, the search means 8 in the client 20 presents a search result to a user.

  Also, some of the keyword generation means 1, screen display means 2, keyword availability determination means 3, search control means 4, search result storage means 5, content DB 6, and screen update monitoring means 7 shown in FIG. May be arranged in the server and the rest in the client. As a configuration example in such a case, the keyword generation unit 1, the search control unit 4, and the content DB 6 are arranged on the server, the screen display unit 2, the keyword availability determination unit 3, the search result storage unit 5, and A configuration may be adopted in which the screen update monitoring means 7 is arranged in the client. The server is also provided with the transmission / reception means 11 shown in FIG. 12, and the client is also provided with the transmission / reception means 21 and the search means 8 shown in FIG.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be applied to uses such as an information search system that prefetches search results in preparation for a user search request, and a program for realizing the information search system on a computer.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Keyword generation means 2 ... Screen display means 3 ... Keyword availability determination means 4 ... Search control means 5 ... Search result storage means 6 ... Content DB
7 ... Screen update monitoring means 8 ... Search means 10 ... Server 11 ... Transmission / reception means 20 ... Client 21 ... Transmission / reception means 30 ... Network

Claims (26)

Screen display means for displaying part or all of the keyword candidates used when searching the content storage unit on the screen;
For each of the candidates, based on the screen display state of the candidates, usability determination means for determining the degree of usability that the candidates are used as keywords for searching the content storage unit;
Search control means for searching the content storage unit using the candidates in descending order of the degree of availability;
An information search system comprising search result storage means for storing search results of the search control means. Screen update monitoring means for monitoring the update of the screen, and
The usability determining means determines again the degree of availability of each candidate when an update of the screen accompanied by a change in the screen display state of the candidate is detected by the screen update monitoring means,
The search control unit searches the content storage unit using the candidates in descending order of the usability of the candidates determined again by the usability determination unit. Information retrieval system described. Part or all of the candidates are displayed in a candidate display area provided on the screen,
The information search system according to claim 1, wherein the candidate screen display state includes whether or not the candidate is displayed in the candidate display area. Part or all of the candidates are displayed in a candidate display area provided on the screen,
3. The candidate screen display state includes a minimum distance between a candidate display position displayed in the candidate display area and a display position of a boundary line of the candidate display area. Information retrieval system described in 1. Part or all of the candidates are displayed in a candidate display area provided on the screen,
The information search system according to claim 1, wherein the candidate screen display state includes a scroll amount for displaying a candidate that is not displayed in the candidate display area in the candidate display area. Part or all of the candidates are displayed in a candidate display area provided on the screen,
3. The candidate screen display state includes a distance between a candidate display position displayed in the candidate display area and a cursor display position for selecting a candidate. Information retrieval system described. Part or all of the candidates are displayed in a candidate display area provided on the screen,
The screen display state of the candidate indicates whether or not the candidate display area is displayed and the distance between the candidate display position displayed in the candidate display area and the display position of the boundary line of the candidate display area. The information search system according to claim 1, further comprising: Part or all of the candidates are displayed in a candidate display area provided on the screen,
The candidate screen display state includes whether or not the candidate is displayed in the candidate display area and a scroll amount for displaying the candidate that is not displayed in the candidate display area in the candidate display area. The information search system according to claim 1 or 2. Part or all of the candidates are displayed in a candidate display area provided on the screen,
The candidate screen display state is whether or not the candidate display area is displayed, and the minimum distance between the candidate display position displayed in the candidate display area and the boundary display position of the candidate display area The information search system according to claim 1, further comprising: a scroll amount for displaying a candidate that is not displayed in the candidate display area in the candidate display area. Part or all of the candidates are displayed in a candidate display area provided on the screen,
The candidate screen display state is whether or not the candidate display area is displayed, and the minimum distance between the candidate display position displayed in the candidate display area and the boundary display position of the candidate display area And a distance between a display position of the candidate displayed in the candidate display area and a display position of a cursor for selecting the candidate. . Part or all of the candidates are displayed in a candidate display area provided on the screen,
The candidate screen display state is whether or not the candidate display area is displayed, and the minimum distance between the candidate display position displayed in the candidate display area and the boundary display position of the candidate display area And a scroll amount for displaying a candidate not displayed in the candidate display area in the candidate display area, a display position of the candidate displayed in the candidate display area, and a display position of a cursor for selecting the candidate The information retrieval system according to claim 1, further comprising a distance between   The usability determining means increases the degree of availability of the target candidate when the target candidate to be determined is displayed in the candidate display area as compared to when it is not displayed. The information search system according to claim 3, wherein   When the target candidate to be determined is displayed in the candidate display area, the usability determining unit determines the availability of the target candidate based on the display position of the target candidate and the candidate display area. 5. The information search system according to claim 4, wherein the information retrieval system is made smaller as the minimum distance from the display position of the boundary line becomes larger.   When the target candidate that is the determination target is not displayed in the candidate display area, the usability determination unit displays the degree of availability of the target candidate in the candidate display area. 6. The information search system according to claim 5, wherein the scroll amount is reduced as the scroll amount increases.   When the target candidate that is a determination target is displayed in the candidate display area, the usability determination unit determines the degree of availability of the target candidate and the display position of the target candidate and the display position of the cursor. The information retrieval system according to claim 6, wherein the information retrieval system is made smaller as the distance between the first and second objects increases.   The usability determination means increases the degree of usability of the target candidate when the target candidate that is the determination target is displayed in the candidate display area as compared to when it is not displayed, and When the target candidate is displayed in the candidate display area, the minimum distance between the display position of the target candidate and the display position of the boundary line of the candidate display area indicates the degree of availability of the target candidate. The information retrieval system according to claim 7, wherein the information retrieval system is reduced as the size increases.   The usability determination means increases the degree of usability of the target candidate when the target candidate that is the determination target is displayed in the candidate display area as compared to when it is not displayed, and When the target candidate is not displayed in the candidate display area, the degree of availability of the target candidate is reduced as the scroll amount for displaying the target candidate in the candidate display area increases. The information search system according to claim 8.   The usability determination unit is larger when the target candidate that is the determination target is displayed in the candidate display area than when the target candidate is not displayed, and the target candidate is the candidate display area Is displayed, the first usability degree that decreases as the minimum distance between the display position of the target candidate and the display position of the boundary line of the candidate display area increases, and the target candidate When displayed in the candidate display area, it is larger than when not displayed, and when the target candidate is not displayed in the candidate display area, the target candidate is displayed in the candidate display area. A weighted linear sum with a second availability level that decreases as the scroll amount for display on the screen becomes larger is used as the availability level of the target candidate. Information retrieval system according to Motomeko 9.   The usability determination means includes a first usability degree that increases when the target candidate to be determined is not displayed when the target candidate is displayed in the candidate display area, and the target candidate When the target candidate is displayed in the candidate display area, it is larger than when it is not displayed, and when the target candidate is displayed in the candidate display area, the display position of the target candidate is The second degree of usability that decreases as the minimum distance from the display position of the boundary line of the candidate display area increases, and is displayed when the target candidate is displayed in the candidate display area When the target candidate is displayed in the candidate display area, the distance between the target candidate display position and the cursor display position is large. More becomes smaller third information retrieval system of claim 10, the weighted linear sum of the degree of availability, characterized in that the degree of availability of the target candidate.   The usability determination unit is larger when the target candidate that is the determination target is displayed in the candidate display area than when the target candidate is not displayed, and the target candidate is the candidate display area Is displayed, the first usability degree that decreases as the minimum distance between the display position of the target candidate and the display position of the boundary line of the candidate display area increases, and the target candidate When displayed in the candidate display area, it is larger than when not displayed, and when the target candidate is not displayed in the candidate display area, the target candidate is displayed in the candidate display area. The second degree of usability that decreases as the scroll amount for display on the screen increases, and is not displayed when the target candidate is displayed in the candidate display area If the target candidate is displayed in the candidate display area, the smaller the distance between the target candidate display position and the cursor display position, the smaller The information search system according to claim 11, wherein a weighted linear sum with a degree of availability of 3 is set as a degree of availability of the target candidate.   The search control means searches the content storage unit in advance using all of the keyword candidates and stores the search result in a memory, and then the availability determined by the availability determination means. The information search system according to any one of claims 1 to 20, wherein content corresponding to the candidate is searched from the memory instead of the content storage unit in order from a candidate having a higher degree.   The server includes a part of the screen display unit, the usability determination unit, the search control unit, and the search result storage unit, and the client includes the rest. The information search system according to item 1. A first step in which the screen display means displays part or all of the keyword candidates used when searching the content storage unit on the screen;
A usability determination unit for each of the candidates, based on a screen display state of the candidate, to determine a degree of usability that the candidate is used as a keyword for searching the content storage unit; Steps,
A third step in which the search control means searches the content storage unit using the candidates in descending order of the degree of availability;
A search result storage means includes a fourth step of storing a search result of the search control means. The screen update monitoring means includes a fifth step of monitoring the update of the screen; and
The usability determining means determines again the degree of availability of each candidate when an update of the screen accompanied by a change in the screen display state of the candidate is detected by the screen update monitoring means,
The search control means uses the candidates in descending order of the usability determined when the usability determination means determines the availability degree of each of the candidates anew. The information search method according to claim 23, wherein the content storage unit is searched. A program for causing a computer to function as an information retrieval system,
The computer,
Screen display means for displaying a part or all of keyword candidates used when searching the content storage unit on the screen;
For each of the candidates, usability determination means for determining a degree of usability that the candidate is used as a keyword for searching the content storage unit based on the screen display state of the candidate,
Search control means for searching the content storage unit using the candidates in descending order of the possibility of use,
A program for functioning as search result storage means for storing search results of the search control means. The computer,
Function as screen update monitoring means for monitoring the update of the screen, and
The usability determining means determines again the degree of availability of each candidate when an update of the screen accompanied by a change in the screen display state of the candidate is detected by the screen update monitoring means,
The search control means uses the candidates in descending order of the usability determined when the usability determination means determines the availability degree of each of the candidates anew. The program according to claim 25, wherein the content storage unit is searched.

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