29. An adaptive method for obtaining representative text items from a plurality of text items in 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 field 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 field attribute value of the first plurality of text items based on a first frequency of occurrence of the field 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 field 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; and 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 the field 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 field attribute value of the second plurality of text items based on a second frequency of occurrence of the field attribute in the second active computer task, the second representative field attribute value being different than the first representative field attribute value; for each of the second plurality of text items, assigning a second weight with a second magnitude that is determined based on the second representative field attribute, the 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.
29. An adaptive method for obtaining representative text items from a plurality of text items in 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 field 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 field attribute value of the first plurality of text items based on a first frequency of occurrence of the field 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 field 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; and 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 the field 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 field attribute value of the second plurality of text items based on a second frequency of occurrence of the field attribute in the second active computer task, the second representative field attribute value being different than the first representative field attribute value; for each of the second plurality of text items, assigning a second weight with a second magnitude that is determined based on the second representative field attribute, the 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. 30. The method of claim 29 , wherein the at least one field attribute includes at least one of an email sender field, an email recipient field, a signature field, and a salutation field.