Peter Morville is collecting examples of search patterns on flickr. You can see them at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/morville/collections/72157603785835882/
He presented some examples from the flickr collection and explained his search categories at the 2008 IA Summit, presentation can be found here:
Search is among our most important and complex challenges. As the choice of first resort for many users and tasks, search is a defining element of the user experience. And, as a unique amalgam of content, metadata, technology and design, the search results interface demands intense cross-disciplinary collaboration.
In this fast-paced session, we’ll describe a pattern language for search that explains user psychology and information seeking behavior, highlights emerging technologies and interaction models, illustrates repeatable solutions to common problems, and positions us all to design better search interfaces and applications.
