A framework for integrating information retrieval on CORBA

We propose a flexible architecture for querying various information sources on the Internet and WWW through distributed object paradigms We propose an integrated information retrieval (IIR) method based on CORBA. The design of the IIR interface follows the style of the common object service specification (COSS). The objective of design of IIR is not only to provide the programmer with a uniform interface to code a software application with the capability of querying a variety of information sources on the Internet, but also to provide a flexible and extensible environment for the system developer to add new agents to the system facility. Since the architecture of IIR is of an N-tier client/server model and its interface is uniform, any specific application that needs to retrieve information or mine data from the Internet need only easily initiate the query operation of an agent via IIR.