Information retrieval system having consistent search results across different operating systems and data base management systems

Abstract

An information retrieval system whereby identical search results can be derived irrespective of the kind of DBMS or OS. A keyword normalizing device normalizes a keyword transmitted from a client through a network. A normalized data searching device then searches normalized data in a data storage section for data corresponding to the normalized keyword, and supplies the data to source data acquiring device. The source data acquiring device acquires source data associated with the normalized data supplied thereto, from among source data in the data storage section, and supplies the acquired source data to a sorting device. The sorting device first sorts the normalized data and then the source data in order of the sorted normalized data, and supplies the resulting source data to a source data supply device. The source data supply device transmits the source data to the client through the network.