23. The system of claim 19 , wherein the content-descriptor file relates to obtaining the desired information from a website.
19. An information-retrieval system for retrieving information from an information source, the information source being periodically updated with current information, comprising: (a) a speech-recognition engine coupled to a processor and a media server and adapted to receive a speech command from a particular user of a plurality of users via an electronic-communication device to access desired information, wherein each of the plurality of users has a respective electronic-communication device, the media server configured to identify and access an information source from a plurality of information sources via the network, the speech-recognition engine adapted to select speech-recognition grammar established to correspond to the speech commands received, the speech-recognition grammar associated with the desired information; (b) the media server, adapted to select at least one information-source-retrieval instruction corresponding to the speech-recognition grammar established for a particular speech command, the at least one information-source-retrieval instruction stored in a database associated with the media server and adapted to retrieve information from a particular one of the information sources that has the desired information; (c) a web-browsing server, adapted to provide access, by the speech command, to a portion of the information source to retrieve the desired information, by using a processor of the web-browsing server, which process (i) performs an instruction that requests information from an identified webpage, and (ii) utilizes a content extractor within the web-browsing server to separate a portion of the information from other information, the information derived from only a portion of the webpage containing information of interest to the particular user, wherein the content extractor uses a content-descriptor file containing a description of the portion of information and wherein the content-descriptor file indicates a location of the portion of the information within the information source and selecting, by the web-browsing server, the desired information from the information source and retrieving only the portion of the information desired by the particular user according to the at least one information-source-retrieval instruction; (d) a speech-synthesis engine coupled to the media server, and adapted to convert the portion of the information from the information source into an audio message for the particular user of the plurality of users and conveying the audio message through the electronic-communication device to the particular user of the plurality of users; and (e) a graphical display interface coupled to the media server and adapted to provide for display the desired information retrieved from the information source to certain others of the plurality of users.