A unified database/text retrieval system converts exact database type queries into text inclusion type queries suitable for text retrieval systems through the use of pseudo keywords. Boolean combination of the text inclusion type query elements may be readily manipulated for optimization and applied to a unified index for rapid search results. Absolute relevance values and relevance multiplier values may be added to the query elements to provide a relevance-based sorting not only of text but also of exact match type search results. Relevance values may be deduced automatically from a variety of sources.