2. The method of claim 1 , including determining match scores for one or more matches between the search pattern and documents in the set of documents; wherein responding to the query includes providing a ranked set of information items containing the identified content in accordance with the match scores.
2. The method of claim 1 , including determining match scores for one or more matches between the search pattern and documents in the set of documents; wherein responding to the query includes providing a ranked set of information items containing the identified content in accordance with the match scores. 3. The method of claim 2 , wherein providing at least one of the one or more potential answers includes providing a ranked list of documents containing the identified content in accordance with the match scores.