1. An information retrieval system, comprising: a search query generator, in a computer, responsive to a selection of a level within a hierarchical relationship of terms describing an organizational framework for information, for constructing a search query of terms that are based upon the selected level, and for providing the search query of terms to a search engine to search any of a plurality of information sources selected by a user; and a user interface which provides information about documents located at a user-selected information source by the search engine documents to said user.
1. An information retrieval system, comprising: a search query generator, in a computer, responsive to a selection of a level within a hierarchical relationship of terms describing an organizational framework for information, for constructing a search query of terms that are based upon the selected level, and for providing the search query of terms to a search engine to search any of a plurality of information sources selected by a user; and a user interface which provides information about documents located at a user-selected information source by the search engine documents to said user. 2. The information retrieval system of claim 1 , wherein said search query contains the term at the selected level of the hierarchical relationship and terms from lower levels of the hierarchical relationship which depend from the selected level.