Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 78
Claim 1
Independent Claim
293 words
A method of adding a content pointer to a collection of shared content pointers contributed by a plurality of users, wherein each shared content pointer is associated with a content source, the content pointers organized into a plurality of categories, comprising the steps of: receiving a data item identifying a content source; determining a category of the collection of shared content pointers in which to store the data item comprising the substeps of; identifying a topic corresponding to the content source; comparing the topic to a first list of topics in a user-specific hierarchy of categories; if the topic is in the first list, identifying the category within the user-specific hierarchy corresponding to the topic; if the topic is not in the first list, comparing the topic to a second list of topics in a global hierarchy of categories; if the topic is in the second list, identifying the category within the global hierarchy corresponding to the topic; and establishing a category within the user-specific hierarchy corresponding to the topic; if the topic is not in the second list, establishing a category within the global hierarchy corresponding to the topic; and establishing a category within the user-specific hierarchy corresponding to the topic; wherein the global hierarchy of categories is initially determined by the steps of: for each content pointer in the collection of shared document content pointers, identifying a content vector corresponding to the content pointer; clustering the content vectors into a plurality of clusters; and recursively repeating the clustering step on each cluster in the plurality of clusters to derive a hierarchy of clusters; and storing the hierarchy of clusters as the global hierarchy of categories; and storing the data item as a content pointer in the determined category of the collection.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
293 words
A method of adding a content pointer to a collection of shared content pointers contributed by a plurality of users, wherein each shared content pointer is associated with a content source, the content pointers organized into a plurality of categories, comprising the steps of: receiving a data item identifying a content source; determining a category of the collection of shared content pointers in which to store the data item comprising the substeps of; identifying a topic corresponding to the content source; comparing the topic to a first list of topics in a user-specific hierarchy of categories; if the topic is in the first list, identifying the category within the user-specific hierarchy corresponding to the topic; if the topic is not in the first list, comparing the topic to a second list of topics in a global hierarchy of categories; if the topic is in the second list, identifying the category within the global hierarchy corresponding to the topic; and establishing a category within the user-specific hierarchy corresponding to the topic; if the topic is not in the second list, establishing a category within the global hierarchy corresponding to the topic; and establishing a category within the user-specific hierarchy corresponding to the topic; wherein the global hierarchy of categories is initially determined by the steps of: for each content pointer in the collection of shared document content pointers, identifying a content vector corresponding to the content pointer; clustering the content vectors into a plurality of clusters; and recursively repeating the clustering step on each cluster in the plurality of clusters to derive a hierarchy of clusters; and storing the hierarchy of clusters as the global hierarchy of categories; and storing the data item as a content pointer in the determined category of the collection.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
80 words
A system for maintaining a collection of shared document content pointers contributed by a plurality of users, wherein each shared document content pointer represents a document in a document repository, comprising: a plurality of user terminals in communication with the repository; a database in communication with the repository and the plurality of user terminals, wherein the database is adapted to store the collection of shared document content pointers; and software adapted to maintain the collection of shared document content pointers.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
80 words
A system for maintaining a collection of shared document content pointers contributed by a plurality of users, wherein each shared document content pointer represents a document in a document repository, comprising: a plurality of user terminals in communication with the repository; a database in communication with the repository and the plurality of user terminals, wherein the database is adapted to store the collection of shared document content pointers; and software adapted to maintain the collection of shared document content pointers.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
13 words
The system of claim 2 , wherein each user terminal includes a browser.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
31 words
The system of claim 2 , wherein a first portion of the software is executed by the database, and a second portion of the software is executed by each user terminal.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
24 words
The system of claim 4 , wherein the second portion of the software is downloaded on demand from the database to a user terminal.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system of claim 5 , wherein at least a portion of the collection of shared document content pointers is downloaded on demand from the database to a user terminal.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
33 words
The system of claim 6 , wherein the portion of the collection of shared document content pointers is uploaded to the database from the user terminal upon completion of a session of use.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
28 words
The system of claim 6 , wherein the portion of the collection of shared document content pointers is uploaded to the database from the user terminal on demand.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
26 words
The system of claim 6 , wherein a user command received by the second portion is transmitted from the user terminal to the database for processing.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
31 words
The system of claim 9 , wherein the portion of the collection of shared document content pointers is uploaded to the database from the user terminal together with the user command.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
38 words
The system of claim 2 , wherein the software adapted to maintain the collection of shared document content pointers is also adapted to maintain a plurality of user-specific document content pointer sets corresponding to the plurality of users.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
36 words
The system of claim 11 , wherein the software is adapted to publish a content pointer from a user-specific document content pointer set to the collection of shared document content pointers upon request by a user.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
28 words
The system of claim 2 , wherein the collection of shared document content pointers comprises a plurality of shared content pointers arranged in a global hierarchy of categories.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
30 words
The system of claim 4 , wherein the first portion is adapted to monitor the availability of each shared document content pointer in the collection of shared document content pointers.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
37 words
The system of claim 14 , wherein if a shared document content pointer is unavailable, the first portion is adapted to generate a recommendation for a similar document chosen from the collection of shared document content pointers.
Claim 18
Independent Claim
66 words
A method for generating a recommendation from a collection of shared document content pointers contributed by a plurality of users, wherein each shared document content pointer represents a document, comprising the steps of: identifying at least one unavailable content pointer; searching at least a portion of the collection of shared document content pointers; and retrieving a group of content pointers that match the unavailable content pointer.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
66 words
A method for generating a recommendation from a collection of shared document content pointers contributed by a plurality of users, wherein each shared document content pointer represents a document, comprising the steps of: identifying at least one unavailable content pointer; searching at least a portion of the collection of shared document content pointers; and retrieving a group of content pointers that match the unavailable content pointer.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
101 words
A method for searching an information repository comprising the steps of: establishing a collection of shared content pointers, the content pointers contributed by and shared among a plurality of users; receiving at least one subject keyword; searching at least a portion of the collection of shared content pointers; and retrieving a group of content pointers that match the subject keyword; identifying a context within the collection of shared content pointers; ranking the group of content pointers based a computed match with the context; and wherein the context comprises a profile for a group of users chosen from the plurality of users.
Claim 21
Independent Claim
101 words
A method for searching an information repository comprising the steps of: establishing a collection of shared content pointers, the content pointers contributed by and shared among a plurality of users; receiving at least one subject keyword; searching at least a portion of the collection of shared content pointers; and retrieving a group of content pointers that match the subject keyword; identifying a context within the collection of shared content pointers; ranking the group of content pointers based a computed match with the context; and wherein the context comprises a profile for a group of users chosen from the plurality of users.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method of claim 17 , wherein the context comprises a profile for a single user chosen from the plurality of users.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
41 words
The method of claim 18 , wherein the profile comprises a content vector derived from at least one document represented by at least one content pointer in at least one selected topical category of content pointers contributed by the single user.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
31 words
The method of claim 17 , wherein the profile comprises a content vector derived from at least one document represented by at least one shared content pointer contributed by the group.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 17 , wherein the profile comprises a content vector derived from at least one document represented by at least one content pointer in at least one selected topical category of content pointers contributed by the group.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
52 words
The method of claim 17 , wherein the context comprises a profile for the plurality of users, said profile comprising a content vector derived from at least one document represented by at least one content pointer in at least one selected topical category of content pointers contributed by the plurality of users.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 17 , further comprising the step of ordering the group of retrieved content pointers in a ranking order, the order determined by a weighted set of user metrics.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 23 , wherein the set of user metrics are chosen from the group consisting of a popularity metric, a frequency of access metric, a recency of access metric, and a link structure metric.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
38 words
The method of claim 24 , wherein the step of identifying the popularity of each content pointer in the group of content pointers comprises determining what fraction of users in the plurality of users contributed the content pointer.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
93 words
The method of claim 17 , further comprising the steps of: identifying a context within the collection of shared content pointers; identifying a set of user metrics, the set of user metrics chosen from the group consisting of a popularity metric, a frequency of access metric, a recency of access metric, and a link structure metric; combining a computed match with the context, and at least one of the set of user metrics, for each content pointer into a composite measure; and ranking the group of content pointers based on the composite measure.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of claim 26 , further comprising the steps of: identifying a group of users comprising at least one user selected from the plurality of users; and wherein, the set of user metrics are identified with respect to the group of users.
Claim 32
Independent Claim
72 words
A method for searching an information repository comprising the steps of: establishing a collection of content pointers, the content pointers contributed by a plurality of users; receiving at least one query keyword; augmenting the query with at least one additional keyword derived from the collection; searching the information repository; and retrieving at least one of a group of documents, each including content indicia, at least one content index matching the query keyword.
Claim 33
Independent Claim
72 words
A method for searching an information repository comprising the steps of: establishing a collection of content pointers, the content pointers contributed by a plurality of users; receiving at least one query keyword; augmenting the query with at least one additional keyword derived from the collection; searching the information repository; and retrieving at least one of a group of documents, each including content indicia, at least one content index matching the query keyword.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
30 words
The method of claim 28 , wherein the augmenting step comprises the steps of: identifying a context within the collection; and identifying at least one additional keyword within the context.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 29 , wherein the context comprises a profile, the profile selected from a group consisting of a user profile for a single user chosen from the plurality of users, a group profile for a group of users chosen from the plurality of users, and a profile for the plurality of users.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 30 , wherein the profile is derived from at least one document represented by at least one content pointer in at least one selected topical category of content pointers contributed by at least one user.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 28 , further comprising the step of ordering the retrieved documents in a ranking order, the order determined by a weighted set of user metrics.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 32 , wherein the set of user metrics are chosen from the group consisting of a popularity metric, a frequency of access metric, a recency of access metric, and a link structure metric.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 33 , wherein the step of identifying the popularity of each document in the group of documents comprises determining what fraction of users in the plurality of users contributed a content pointer representative of the document.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method of claim 33 , wherein the link structure comprises a computed inlink weight combined with a computed outlink weight.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 29 , further comprising the step of re-ranking the group of content pointers based on a spreading activation analysis of the group of content pointers.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
93 words
The method of claim 28 , further comprising the steps of: identifying a context within the collection of shared content pointers; identifying a set of user metrics, the set of user metrics chosen from the group consisting of a popularity metric, a frequency of access metric, a recency of access metric, and a link structure metric; combining a computed match with the context, and at least one of the set of user metrics, for each content pointer into a composite measure; and ranking the group of content pointers based on the composite measure.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
43 words
The method of claim 37 , further comprising the steps of: identifying a group of users comprising at least one user selected from the plurality of users; and wherein, the set of user metrics are identified with respect to the group of users.
Claim 44
Independent Claim
136 words
A method for searching an information repository comprising the steps of: establishing a collection of content pointers, the content pointers contributed by a plurality of users; receiving at least one query keyword; searching the information repository; identifying a context within the collection; retrieving at least one of a group of documents, each including content indicia, at least one content index matching the query keyword, wherein the retrieved at least one of a group of documents is ranked in accordance with a computed match with the context; and wherein the context comprises a profile, the profile selected from a group consisting of a user profile for a single user chosen from the plurality of users, a group profile for a group of users chosen from the plurality of users, and a profile for the plurality of users.
Claim 45
Independent Claim
136 words
A method for searching an information repository comprising the steps of: establishing a collection of content pointers, the content pointers contributed by a plurality of users; receiving at least one query keyword; searching the information repository; identifying a context within the collection; retrieving at least one of a group of documents, each including content indicia, at least one content index matching the query keyword, wherein the retrieved at least one of a group of documents is ranked in accordance with a computed match with the context; and wherein the context comprises a profile, the profile selected from a group consisting of a user profile for a single user chosen from the plurality of users, a group profile for a group of users chosen from the plurality of users, and a profile for the plurality of users.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 39 , wherein the profile is derived from at least one document represented by at least one content pointer in at least one selected topical category of content pointers contributed by at least one user.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
65 words
The method of claim 39 , further comprising: identifying at least one additional keyword within the context; augmenting the query with the at least one additional keyword derived from the collection to define an augmented query keyword; searching the information repository; and retrieving at least one of a group of documents, each including content indicia, at least one content index matching the augmented query keyword.
Claim 48
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 41 , wherein the augmented query keyword is derived from the collection context.
Claim 49
Dependent Claim
29 words
The method of claim 39 , further comprising the step of ordering the retrieved documents in a ranking order, the order determined by a weighted set of user metrics.
Claim 50
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 43 , wherein the set of user metrics are chosen from the group consisting of a popularity metric, a frequency of access metric, a recency of access metric, and a link structure metric.
Claim 51
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 44 , wherein the step of identifying the popularity of each document in the group of documents comprises determining what fraction of users in the plurality of users contributed a content pointer representative of the document.
Claim 52
Independent Claim
77 words
A method for searching an information repository comprising the steps of: establishing a collection of content pointers, the content pointers contributed by a plurality of users; receiving at least one query keyword; searching the information repository; retrieving at least one of a group of documents, each including content indicia, at least one content index matching the query keyword; and ordering the retrieved documents in a ranking order, the order determined by a weighted set of user metrics.
Claim 53
Independent Claim
77 words
A method for searching an information repository comprising the steps of: establishing a collection of content pointers, the content pointers contributed by a plurality of users; receiving at least one query keyword; searching the information repository; retrieving at least one of a group of documents, each including content indicia, at least one content index matching the query keyword; and ordering the retrieved documents in a ranking order, the order determined by a weighted set of user metrics.
Claim 54
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 46 , wherein the set of user metrics are chosen from the group consisting of a popularity metric, a frequency of access metric, a recency of access metric, and a link structure metric.
Claim 55
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method of claim 47 , wherein the step of identifying the popularity of each document in the group of documents comprises determining what fraction of users in the plurality of users contributed a content pointer representative of the document.
Claim 56
Independent Claim
94 words
A method for generating ordered recommendations of content sources from an information repository comprising the steps of: establishing a collection of content pointers, the content pointers contributed by a plurality of users, each content pointer associated with a content source; receiving at least one query keyword; searching the information repository; retrieving a group of content sources that each includes a content profile matching the query keyword; identifying a context within the collection; and ranking the group of content sources based on a computed match between each content source's content profile and the identified context.
Claim 57
Independent Claim
94 words
A method for generating ordered recommendations of content sources from an information repository comprising the steps of: establishing a collection of content pointers, the content pointers contributed by a plurality of users, each content pointer associated with a content source; receiving at least one query keyword; searching the information repository; retrieving a group of content sources that each includes a content profile matching the query keyword; identifying a context within the collection; and ranking the group of content sources based on a computed match between each content source's content profile and the identified context.
Claim 58
Dependent Claim
24 words
The method of claim 49 , wherein the retrieved group of content sources is ranked in accordance with a computed match with the context.
Claim 59
Dependent Claim
55 words
The method of claim 50 , wherein the context comprises a profile, the profile selected from a group consisting of a user profile for a single user chosen from the plurality of users, a group profile for a group of users chosen from the plurality of users, and a profile for the plurality of users.
Claim 60
Dependent Claim
39 words
The method of claim 51 , wherein the profile is derived from at least one document represented by at least one content pointer in at least one selected topical category of content pointers contributed by at least one user.
Claim 61
Dependent Claim
32 words
The method of claim 49 , wherein the ranking step further comprises the step of ordering the group of retrieved content sources in accordance with a set of user recommendation priority metrics.
Claim 62
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method of claim 53 , wherein the user recommendation priority metrics are chosen from the group consisting of a popularity metric, a frequency of access metric, a recency of access metric, and a link structure metric.
Claim 63
Dependent Claim
58 words
The method of claim 49 , further comprising the steps of: identifying at least one associate keyword from within the context; augmenting the query with at least one associate keyword derived from the collection; searching the information repository; and retrieving at least one of a group of documents, each including a content profile matching the augmented query keyword.
Claim 64
Dependent Claim
17 words
The method of claim 55 , wherein the augmented query keyword is derived from the collection context.
Claim 65
Independent Claim
114 words
A method for generating ordered recommendations of content sources from an information repository comprising the steps of: establishing a collection of content pointers, the content pointers contributed by a plurality of users, each content pointer associated with a content source; receiving at least one query keyword; searching the information repository; retrieving a group of content sources that match the query keyword; identifying a context within the collection; identifying a set of user recommendation priority metrics; combining a computed match with the context and the set of user recommendation priority metrics for each content source into a composite recommendation metric; and ranking the group of content sources based on each content source's composite recommendation metric.
Claim 66
Independent Claim
114 words
A method for generating ordered recommendations of content sources from an information repository comprising the steps of: establishing a collection of content pointers, the content pointers contributed by a plurality of users, each content pointer associated with a content source; receiving at least one query keyword; searching the information repository; retrieving a group of content sources that match the query keyword; identifying a context within the collection; identifying a set of user recommendation priority metrics; combining a computed match with the context and the set of user recommendation priority metrics for each content source into a composite recommendation metric; and ranking the group of content sources based on each content source's composite recommendation metric.
Claim 67
Dependent Claim
72 words
The method according to claim 57 further comprising the steps of: identifying a group of users comprising at least one user selected from the plurality of users; identifying the set of user recommendation priority metrics with respect to the group; and wherein the user recommendation priority metrics are chosen from the group consisting of a popularity metric, a frequency of access metric, a recency of access metric, and a link structure metric.
Claim 68
Dependent Claim
59 words
An information repository search engine comprising: a collection of content pointers, the content pointers contributed by a plurality of users; a user input engine, configured to receive at least a keyword query input; a query augmentation engine, configured to derive an associate keyword from the collection; and a search engine, configured to search the collection of shared content pointers.
Claim 69
Dependent Claim
59 words
An information repository search engine comprising: a collection of content pointers, the content pointers contributed by a plurality of users; a user input engine, configured to receive at least a keyword query input; a query augmentation engine, configured to derive an associate keyword from the collection; and a search engine, configured to search the collection of shared content pointers.
Claim 70
Dependent Claim
30 words
The information repository search engine of claim 59 , wherein the query augmentation engine combines the identified associate keyword with the keyword query input to define an enhanced keyword vector.
Claim 71
Dependent Claim
50 words
The information repository search engine of claim 60 , further comprising a retrieval engine, the retrieval engine configured to retrieve at least one of a group of content sources, each identified by a content pointer and each including content indicia, at least one content index matching the enhanced keyword vector.
Claim 72
Dependent Claim
32 words
The information repository search engine of claim 59 , further comprising a contextualization engine, the contextualization engine identifying a context within the collection, wherein the associate keyword is derived from the context.
Claim 73
Dependent Claim
61 words
The information repository search engine of claim 61 , further comprising a recommendation engine, the recommendation engine ordering a set of retrieved content sources in accordance with a set of user recommendation metrics, the user recommendation metrics chosen from the group consisting of a popularity metric, a frequency of access metric, a recency of access metric, and a link structure metric.
Claim 74
Dependent Claim
101 words
In a search engine of the type configured to search an information repository on the basis of at least a query keyword input by a user, the search engine retrieving at least one of a group of content sources, each content source including content indicia, a recommendation engine comprising: a collection of content pointers, the content pointers contributed by a plurality of users; a metrics identification engine, the metrics identification engine identifying a set of user recommendation metrics; and an ordering engine, the ordering engine ordering a set of retrieved content sources in accordance with the set of user recommendation metrics.
Claim 75
Dependent Claim
101 words
In a search engine of the type configured to search an information repository on the basis of at least a query keyword input by a user, the search engine retrieving at least one of a group of content sources, each content source including content indicia, a recommendation engine comprising: a collection of content pointers, the content pointers contributed by a plurality of users; a metrics identification engine, the metrics identification engine identifying a set of user recommendation metrics; and an ordering engine, the ordering engine ordering a set of retrieved content sources in accordance with the set of user recommendation metrics.
Claim 76
Dependent Claim
37 words
The recommendation engine of claim 64 , wherein the user recommendation metrics are chosen from the group consisting of a popularity metric, a frequency of access metric, a recency of access metric, and a link structure metric.
Claim 77
Dependent Claim
48 words
The recommendation engine of claim 64 , further comprising: a contextualization engine, the contextualization engine identifying a context within the collection; and wherein the ordering engine orders a set of retrieved content sources in accordance with a computed match between the context and each content source's content indicia.
Claim 78
Dependent Claim
64 words
The recommendation engine of claim 66 , further comprising: combining means for computing a match between the context, and at least one of the set of user metrics, for each content pointer into a composite measure; and wherein the ordering engine orders a set of retrieved content sources in accordance with the computed match between the composite measure and each content source's content indicia.