Optimized Query Terms Creation Based on Meta-Search and Clustering

Meta-search is a search engine that sends users´ requests to several other search engines and/or databases and returns the results from each one. Concepts are defined in a semantic network that contains links to the original terms. This article provides a framework of three layers, meta-search layer, concept layer, concept clustering and sorting layer to guide user to refine the query terms. The first layer, meta-search layer provides the ability to get the relevant document fetched by traditional search engines, including title, brief, URL, and document. Concept layer derives concepts from retrieved documents by a concept dictionary. The last layer clusters the concepts, and provides the refined query terms for individual semantic domain of the origin query term. Then the system guides user to choose the query terms which describe options most precisely and get better results from search engines. At last the testing results prove that refined query terms can be developed and costing time is acceptable.