1. An adaptive method for obtaining representative text items from a plurality of text items in an active computer tasks, the method comprising: receiving first information indicative of a first active computer task, the first information including a first plurality of text items and a stylistic attribute associated with a first text item in the first plurality of text items; determining a genre associated with the first active computer task; determining a first representative stylistic attribute value of the first plurality of text items based on a first frequency of occurrence of the stylistic attribute in the first active computer task; for each of the first plurality of text items, assigning a first weight with a first magnitude, the first magnitude being determined based on the genre and the first representative stylistic attribute; ranking the first plurality of text items based on the first weight assigned to each of the first plurality of text items to produce a first plurality of ranked text items; generating and storing first representative text items based on the first plurality of ranked text items; wherein the first active computer task is a task other than entering search terms for the purpose of retrieving information; receiving second information indicative of a second active computer task, the second active computer task being different than the first active computer task, the second information including a second plurality of text items and a stylistic attribute associated with a second text item in the second plurality of text items, wherein the second plurality of text items is different than the first plurality of text items; determining a second representative stylistic attribute value of the second plurality of text items based on a second frequency of occurrence of the stylistic attribute in the second active computer task, the second representative stylistic attribute value being different than the first representative stylistic attribute value; for each of the second plurality of text items, assigning a second weight with a second magnitude being different than the first magnitude; ranking the second plurality of text items based on the second weight assigned to each of the second plurality of text items to produce a second plurality of ranked text items; and generating and storing second representative text items based on the second plurality of ranked text items; wherein the second active computer task is a task other than entering search terms for the purpose of retrieving information.