KNOWLEDGE-BASED MODERATOR FOR ELECTRONIC MAIL HELP LISTS

A method of updating a knowledge base containing information about a subject matter, the knowledge base being used to automatically respond to messages containing questions or comments relating to the subject matter, the method includes the steps of logging the message in a log if the knowledge base does not address the message; providing the logged message to a subject matter expert; and permitting the subject matter expert, but not other users of the knowledge base, to update the knowledge base in response to the logged message. The method further includes the steps of sending the logged message to one or more persons on a list of people with knowledge about the subject matter; receiving a message from at least one of the persons and logging the received message in association with the logged message; and the step of providing the logged message further provides the received message to the subject matter expert. The method of the present invention represents and uses stored knowledge to formulate a query for each entry and associate the query with a piece of the stored knowledge so that the piece of stored knowledge is retrieved when a message satisfies the query.