A method, information system, and computer-readable medium is provided for segmenting a plurality of data, such as multimedia data, and in particular an image document stream. Segment boundary points may be used for retrieving and/or browsing the plurality of data. Similarly, segment boundary points may be used to summarize the plurality of data. Examples of image document streams include video, PowerPoint slides, and NoteLook pages. A genetic method having a fitness or evaluation function using information retrieval concepts, such as importance and precedence, is used to obtain segment boundary points. The genetic method is able to evaluate a large amount of data in a cost effective manner. The genetic method is also able to run incrementally on streaming video and adapt to usage patterns by considering frequently accessed images.