37. A computer system comprising: a database having a plurality of records in respective categories of information, each record having one or more facets to the respective category of information; means for receiving user input of a first search term formed of a first parameter indicative of at least one category of information of the database; a search engine to implement a search of the database for records of the at least one category of information; means for displaying, in response to the user input of the first search term, simultaneously displaying both in a same screen view: (a) a set of search results, including records from the database of the at least one category of information, and (b) a listing of any one or combination of facets and facet values of the records in the set of search results, the listing serving as suggested additional parameters for further refining the first search term upon user selection of the any one or combination of facets and facet values, wherein at least one of the any one or combination of facets and facet values is defined by a community of users and corresponds to content generated by the community of users; means for enabling user input of a second search term formed of a second parameter; and a refinement engine for refining the search based on the listing and additional user input or the second search term.
37. A computer system comprising: a database having a plurality of records in respective categories of information, each record having one or more facets to the respective category of information; means for receiving user input of a first search term formed of a first parameter indicative of at least one category of information of the database; a search engine to implement a search of the database for records of the at least one category of information; means for displaying, in response to the user input of the first search term, simultaneously displaying both in a same screen view: (a) a set of search results, including records from the database of the at least one category of information, and (b) a listing of any one or combination of facets and facet values of the records in the set of search results, the listing serving as suggested additional parameters for further refining the first search term upon user selection of the any one or combination of facets and facet values, wherein at least one of the any one or combination of facets and facet values is defined by a community of users and corresponds to content generated by the community of users; means for enabling user input of a second search term formed of a second parameter; and a refinement engine for refining the search based on the listing and additional user input or the second search term. 65. A system as claimed in claim 37 , wherein the database includes network community data from users interacting with a network portal or site, with the system further comprising: a central database formed of a plurality of such databases; a plurality of servers which read the central database; at least one highly optimized index of the data in the central database, where the index is created by and stored on a first server; replicas of said index which are created by the first server and are stored on servers other than the first server.