12. The system as recited in claim 10 wherein the research mechanism automatically formulates and applies a SOL query.
10. A system for combining types of items of information from a plurality of text-based information sources in a plurality of formats, into items in a database, with at least one information source including unstructured written text and structured text, and at least one item of information including one or more attributes, with each attribute having at least one value, the system comprising: an extractor configured to extract and organize items of information from the structured and unstructured written text of each information source, to generate an index plan, with each item in the plan organized as a hierarchic data structure representing the item's attributes, their values and the locations of the text in the information source supporting those values; and a research mechanism configured to research and consolidate the items of information in the index plan into items in the database to avoid duplication of items in the database.