A method, system, and computer program product for performing searching that generates improved queries, retrieves meaningful and relevant information, and presents the retrieved information to the user in a useful and comprehensive manner is described. The method of searching comprises the steps of: receiving from a user a search query requesting information, retrieving at least one recommendation relating to the search query, generating an expanded query based on the received query, performing a search using the expanded query to retrieve documents, and generating themes relating to the retrieved documents. The at least one recommendation relating to the search query is retrieved from a recommendation database. The recommendation database is generated by performing the steps of: performing data mining using users search query logs, user search patterns, and user profile information to generate a plurality of recommendations relating to search query strings, generating a data structure including the recommendations relating to search query strings, and generating a text index based on information in the data structure.