There are a number of ways to search. A navigational search uses a hierarchy structure or taxonomy to enable users to browse information. A direct search allows users to query information using one or more keywords. A faceted search often combines elements of both navigational and direct searches by allowing users to explore the information by applying multiple filters and/or keywords to a facet hierarchy.
The facet hierarchy classifies the information along dimensions, called facets. Facets correspond to properties of the information, and are often derived by analysis of text or documents using various extraction techniques or from metadata associated with the information. For example, online retailers often use a faceted hierarchy that reflects product attributes, such as type, brand, price, etc. Facet values can be added to the facet hierarchy manually or extracted automatically using text mining software.
An n-dimensional facet cube can be generated using the facets, wherein the facet cube allows multi-dimensional access to data. Each facet is a separate dimension of the facet cube, and the intersection of two or more dimensions can be computed and displayed, such as all products of a particular type, brand and price, sold in a given time period. This allows users to query for complex relationships in the facet values, and discover previously unknown relationships in the facet values.
However, there is a need in the art for improved techniques of deriving facet values.