8. A computer-readable storage medium tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a processor to perform steps comprising: searching an inverted index formed from words recognized from audio signals to locate query terms in a search query and producing query matches for occurrences of the query terms in the inverted index; identifying text snippets from the query matches, each text snippet containing at least one query term and at least one word that is not part of the search query, all of the text snippets for an audio signal together representing less than the duration of the audio signal; displaying the query terms that were used to perform the search; displaying the text snippets associated with a selected audio signal such that a displayed query term in a displayed text snippet is a selectable link such that when a user selects the query term, playback of the audio signal is initiated at a start time of the query term in the audio signal; displaying a timeline having a length representing the duration of the selected audio signal and displaying a separate marker for each query match on the timeline to indicate the temporal position of each query match in the selected audio signal, wherein displaying a marker on the timeline comprises multiplying the ratio of the temporal position of the query term to the duration of the selected audio signal by the length of the displayed timeline to determine a location for the marker on the timeline and wherein displaying a marker comprises setting the height of the marker based on a word score for the search match such that the marker is taller for higher word scores and such that different markers on the timeline have different heights; based on an indication that a user has selected a word in a text snippet, requesting a segment of an audio signal, the segment containing less than the entire time span of the audio signal and starting at the start time of the query term; and based on an indication that a user has selected a marker on the timeline, requesting a second segment of the audio signal, the second segment containing less than the entire time span of the audio signal.
8. A computer-readable storage medium tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by a processor to perform steps comprising: searching an inverted index formed from words recognized from audio signals to locate query terms in a search query and producing query matches for occurrences of the query terms in the inverted index; identifying text snippets from the query matches, each text snippet containing at least one query term and at least one word that is not part of the search query, all of the text snippets for an audio signal together representing less than the duration of the audio signal; displaying the query terms that were used to perform the search; displaying the text snippets associated with a selected audio signal such that a displayed query term in a displayed text snippet is a selectable link such that when a user selects the query term, playback of the audio signal is initiated at a start time of the query term in the audio signal; displaying a timeline having a length representing the duration of the selected audio signal and displaying a separate marker for each query match on the timeline to indicate the temporal position of each query match in the selected audio signal, wherein displaying a marker on the timeline comprises multiplying the ratio of the temporal position of the query term to the duration of the selected audio signal by the length of the displayed timeline to determine a location for the marker on the timeline and wherein displaying a marker comprises setting the height of the marker based on a word score for the search match such that the marker is taller for higher word scores and such that different markers on the timeline have different heights; based on an indication that a user has selected a word in a text snippet, requesting a segment of an audio signal, the segment containing less than the entire time span of the audio signal and starting at the start time of the query term; and based on an indication that a user has selected a marker on the timeline, requesting a second segment of the audio signal, the second segment containing less than the entire time span of the audio signal. 10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 8 wherein the computer-executable instructions provide for the further step of requesting a segment of an audio signal, the segment containing less than the entire time span of the audio signal, based on an indication that a user has selected a marker.