WO2000050972A2

WO2000050972A2 - Network meta-information collection tool

Info

Publication number: WO2000050972A2
Application number: PCT/US2000/005008
Authority: WO
Inventors: Cecilia Lenk; James E. Gouldstone; James G. Reidy
Original assignee: Webivore Knowledge Systems, Llc
Priority date: 1999-02-26
Filing date: 2000-02-25
Publication date: 2000-08-31
Also published as: AU4004500A; WO2000050972A3; WO2000050972A9

Abstract

A method of collecting information received from a networked computer includes receiving a user selection from displayed information received from a networked computer (806), analyzing the information received from the network computer to determine at least one attribute of the user selection (808), and storing the selection and the determined attribute(s) (810).

Description

Network Information Collection Tool Background of the Invention This invention relates to information collection, more particularly to techniques for collecting information from different networked computers. The Internet's World-Wide-Web offers users easy access to a tremendous amount of information on a wide range of subjects. Search engines such as YahooJ can provide lengthy lists of sites related to almost any topic of interest. Unfortunately, formulating meaningful queries can prove difficult to both new and experienced search engine users. Additionally, even after entering a query, visiting the tremendous number of web-sites typically retrieved by a search engine can make Internet-based research time-consuming and frustrating.

Search engines also frequently list Internet sites that may be too advanced for users investigating a topic for the first time. For example, a junior high school student investigating evolution can easily find themselves viewing a web-page that presents an involved Ph.D. thesis instead of a page that presents material in an introductory manner. Beyond finding appropriate information, collecting information from the web requires careful organization of stored web content for later use.

Summary of the Invention

In general, in one aspect, a method of collecting information received from an Internet or Intranet URL (Uniform Resource Locator) includes receiving a user selection from a web-page corresponding to the URL and analyzing information included in the web-page to determine citation information for the user selection. The method further includes storing and displaying the selection and the determined citation information.

In general, in another aspect, a method of collecting information received from a networked computer includes receiving a user selection from displayed information received from a networked computer and analyzing the information received from the network computer to determine at least one attribute of the user selection. The method also includes storing the selection and the determined attribute(s). Embodiments may include one or more of the following features. The attribute may be the authorship of the received information. The analyzing may include examining tags (e.g., HTML <META> tags) included in the received information. The received information may be a web-page from an Internet or Intranet web-site. The user selection may be dragged-and-dropped, cut-and- pasted, or transferred to a storage medium (e.g., a user's hard disk). The user selection may include text, graphics, sounds, animation, video, etc. The method may further include displaying the stored selection and the determined attributes, for example, by dynamically generating HTML pages that include the stored selection and determined attributes. The method may include navigating through a hierachically organized grouping of topics to request the information received from the networked computer. A file may include information that describes the hierarchically organized grouping of topics.

In general, in another aspect, a computer program, disposed on a computer-readable medium, for collecting information received from a networked computer includes instructions for causing a processor to receive a user selection from displayed information received from a networked computer, analyze the information received from the network computer to determine at least one attribute of the user selection, and store the selection and the determined attribute(s).

In general, in another aspect, a tool for collecting information received from a networked computer includes means for receiving a user selection from displayed information received from a networked computer, means for analyzing the information received from the network computer to determine at least one attribute of the user selection, and means for storing the selection and the determined attribute(s). The tool may also include means for maintaining the tool in the foreground during display of the received information. Advantages may include one or more of the following. The methods, programs, and tools ease network-based research by speeding information location and collection and easing organization of the collected material. By automatically collecting and storing information needed for citations from tags and other information included in a web-page, users can clip information and provide citations without having to perform their own research to determine authorship, publication date, etc. By providing a persistent window in the foreground to collect user clippings, a user can quickly and easily access clipping functions.

Other advantages of the invention will become apparent in view of the following description, including the figures, and the claims.

Brief Description of the Drawings FIG. 1 is a screenshot of a tool for collecting web-page clippings. FIG. 2 is a listing of a file for producing a directory of web-pages hierarchically organized by topic.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are screenshots illustrating dragging-and-dropping of a file onto the tool.

FIG. 4 is a screenshot of a user-selected clipping. FIG. 5 is a screenshot of notes that a user can enter. FIG. 6 is a screenshot of a screen including saved clippings and corresponding citation information.

FIGS. 7A-7C are screenshots of a different user interface for the tool. FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a process for clipping information from different web-pages.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a computer.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments

The inventors have designed a tool that works with a user's browser to ease Interneflntranet based research. Using the tool, a user can quickly find web-pages that include information pertinent to the user, collect information from the web-pages, and organize the collected material. Additionally, the tool can automatically collect and store information needed for citations to Internet material.

Referring to FIG. 1, a browser screen 100 displays a URL's (Universal Resource Locator) 104 graphics and text 102. Briefly, a URL 104 identifies a resource (e.g., a file of HTML (HyperText Markup Language) instructions and data) at a remote network site. HTML instructions describe an arrangement of text, graphics, animation, video, sound, and other data provided by the resource. When a user specifies a URL 104, HTML files are delivered to the user's computer. A browser (e.g., NetscapeJ NavigatorJ, Microsoft¹ Internet ExplorerJ, or MosaicJ) constructs a display based on the received information. As shown, the browser is an independent application, however, browser functions can be incorporated into other applications. Additionally, many browsers can process formats other than HTML (e.g., XML).

FIG. 1 also shows a clipping tool 200 superimposed over the browser screen 100. The clipping tool 200 provides different functions for finding research material on the Internet and saving selections from the material (i.e., "clippings") for later use. These functions include a "Select" function that enables a user to quickly find a web-page of interest from a group of pre-selected sites; a "Collect" function that enables a user to save a clipping from a web-page; an "Edit" functions that enables a user to enter notes about the material; and a "List" function that enables a user to manage and view clipped material. The tool 200 presents these functions in a window that includes a tabbed GUI (graphical user interface) control that permits quick and intuitive access to the different functions. Like a palette in a word processing or drawing application, the clipping tool 200 remains completely visible regardless of whether the tool 200 or the browser 100 is active (i.e., is currently the target of user input). Thus, a user always has easy access to tool 200 functions without using operating system commands to bring the tool 200 to the foreground. The tool 200 and browser 100 can communicate in a variety of ways.

For example, a MicrosoftJ Internet ExplorerJ browser object can be instantiated by programming languages such as MicrosoftJ Visual BasicJ. Once instantiated, the tool 200 can control the behavior of the browser 100 using public methods and properties of the instantiated browser object. In another implementation, the tool 200 is a Java applet that includes instructions executed by a browser's Java interpreter. A wide variety of other implementations are possible.

As shown in FIG. 1, the "Select" function presents a directory 202 of different subject areas. As shown, the directory 202 organizes these subjects using a hierarchy of directory nodes. At the "bottom" of the hierarchy are nodes that refer to specific URLs. When a user navigates to a URL node, the system can provide a preview (e.g., a thumbnail or description)(not shown) of the corresponding URL. When a user selects (e.g., clicks a mouse) a URL node 204d, the tool 200 causes the browser 100 to download information from the URL associated with the node. As shown, the user has selected the "Metazoa: Animals, Animals, Animals" node 204d. By navigating through the different topics and by viewing URL previews, a user can quickly find information without formulating search engine queries and without spending time waiting for web- pages to download. Many different software development environments provide a GUI control to implement the directory shown in FIG. 1. For example, MicrosoftJ Visual BasicJ provides a Tree View control. Referring to FIG. 2, The tool 200 can build the directory 202 from a file 208 that identifies the different nodes in the directory. For nodes corresponding to specific web-pages, the file 208 can include both the URL 208 and any other information that might be needed for a citation to the web-page such as authorship 206 information.

Different files can include different directory information describing different hierarchies of nodes. For example, one directory file may include directory information suitable for high school students while another may include information for professional researchers. This enables researchers of different ages and having different research requirements to access suitable material.

Referring to FIG. 3A, a user can specify which directory 208 the tool 200 displays by dragging-and-dropping a directory file 208 onto the tool 200. The tool 200 interprets the file 208 contents to construct a directory. Of course, a wide variety of other techniques for loading information exist. For example, the tool 200 can present a GUI control that enables a user to navigate through different system folders and documents in search of a particular directory file. Referring to FIG. 4, after accessing a URL either by using the directory shown in FIG. 1 or by using more traditional browser techniques (e.g., directly entering a URL or by selecting a link), the tool 200 allows a user to create or add to a list of web-page clippings. As shown, the tool's 200 "Collect" function presents a control 210 that accepts text, graphics, and other information selected from a web-page. As shown, a user has selected a paragraph 212 discussing animal morphology. By using a mouse, a user can "drag" (e.g., moving the mouse while depressing a mouse button) the selection 212 from the web-page and drop the selection (e.g., releasing the mouse button) onto the tool 200. Alternatively, the user can copy the selection for later pasting into the tool. The tool 200 stores the selected information. The tool 200 can also analyze the source of the selection (e.g., the web-page originally received from a networked computer) for attributes of the selected information. For example, the tool 200 can collect information needed for a citation to the clipping such as the author of the source or the date the material was first published. For example, the tool 200 can examine <META> HTML tags (e.g., "<META NAME=" AUTHOR" CONTENT="JOHN DOE">") of the web-page that included the selection. The tool 200 can also examine text included in the web-page to extract information. For example, the tool 200 can look for text that includes words such as "author" and analyze the text that follows to see if it corresponds to a person's name. The tool 200 can also look for other text (e.g., "title" and "published").

Additionally, the tool 200 can query the browser 100 for information such as the URL currently being displayed. The tool 200 can also use system functions to determine other information such as the time a URL was loaded into memory. Additionally, if the user reached the URL via the directory file, the tool 200 can retrieve authorship information stored in the directory file (see FIG. 2).

Referring to FIG. 5, after clipping a web-page, the tool 200 automatically initiates its "Edit" function to enable a user to enter notes 214 describing the clipping. These notes 214 enable a user to preserve thoughts about the clipping such as how the clipping might be incorporated into a paper and ideas for subsequent research. The tool 200 also generates a default title 212 for the clipping (e.g., the first few words of selected text). As shown, the tool 200 can also display a thumbnail 213 of any selected graphics.

Referring to FIG. 6, the tool's 200 "List" function lists different collected clippings 220. Selecting the tool's 200 "View" button 221 causes the tool 200 to dynamically prepare HTML instructions for a display 223 that includes the web-page clippings 212 and the collected citation information 224-238. As shown, citation information can include when the material was clipped 226, the type of material 228 (e.g., text or graphics), the name of the page 230, and its URL 232. The information can further include the site name 234, authors 236, and site URL 238. The display 223 further includes any notes the user may have entered for the clipping. The URLs 232, 238 can be displayed as

5 active HyperLinks that enable a user to quickly return to the page used to produce the clipping. A user can quickly cut-and-paste information from the display 223 for incorporation into other documents.

Referring to FIGS. 7A-7B, any number of different user interfaces can provide functions described above. As shown in FIG. 7A, the tool 200 "Search"

10 function uses pull-down menus that enable a user to navigate through a directory 204 to view the content of different network sites. As shown in FIGS. 7B and 7C, the tool's 200 "Collect" function provides a thumbnail 213 image of selected content and an area to enter notes 214.

Referring to FIG. 8, a user can navigate to a web-page either using

15 traditional methods 804 or by reading in a directory file 800 and navigating to a web-page by selecting different topics and sub-topics 802. After reaching a web-page, the user can select a clipping 806. The tool can analyze the web-page's contents (e.g., HTML instructions and text) to determine citation information 808. Additionally, the tool can use information stored in the

20 directory file. The selected clipping and citation information are saved 810. Thereafter, the tool can dynamically produce an HTML instruction file that includes the clippings.

Referring to FIG. 9, a computer platform 900 includes a monitor 902, a keyboard 904, a pointing device 906 such as a mouse, and a digital computer

25 910. The digital computer 910 includes memory 912, a processor 914, a mass storage device 916, and other customary components such as a memory bus and peripheral bus (not shown). The platform 900 further includes a network connection 908. Mass storage device 916 can store instructions for an operating system (e.g., MicrosoftJ WindowsJ), a browser, and the tool 200. The instructions may be transferred to memory 912 and processor 914 in the course of operation. Of course, instructions for the tool 200 may be stored on a variety of mass storage devices such as a floppy disk, CD-ROM, or PROM (not shown).

The techniques described here are not limited to any particular hardware or software configuration; they may find applicability in any computing or processing environment that may be used for speech recognition. The techniques may be implemented in hardware or software, or a combination of the two. Preferably, the techniques are implemented in computer programs executing on programmable computers that each include a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and one or more output devices. Program code is applied to data entered using the input device to perform the functions described and to generate output information. The output information is applied to one or more output devices.

Each program is preferably implemented in a high level procedural or object oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system, however, the programs can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language.

Each such computer program is preferable stored on a storage medium or device (e.g., CD-ROM, hard disk or magnetic diskette) that is readable by a general or special purpose programmable computer for configuring and operating the computer when the storage medium or device is read by the computer to perform the procedures described in this document. The system may also be considered to be implemented as a computer-readable storage medium, configured with a computer program, where the storage medium so configured causes a computer to operate in a specific and predefined manner. Other embodiments are within the scope of the following claims. What is claimed is:

Claims

1. A method of collecting information received from an Internet or Intranet URL (Uniform Resource Locator), the method comprising: receiving a user selection from a web-page corresponding to the URL; analyzing information included in the web-page to determine citation information for the user selection; storing the selection and the determined citation information; and displaying the stored selection and the determined citation information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the citation information comprises the author of the web-page.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the analyzing comprises examining META tags included in the web-page.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the analying comprises examining text included in the web-page.

5. A method of collecting information received from a networked computer, the method comprising: receiving a user selection from displayed information received from a networked computer; analyzing the information received from the network computer to determine at least one attribute of the user selection; and storing the selection and the determined attribute(s).

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the attribute comprises authorship of the received information.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the analyzing comprises examining tags included in the received information.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the tags comprise HTML

(HyperText Markup Language) META tags.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the analyzing comprises examining text included in the received information.

10. The method of claim 5, wherein the received information comprises a web-page and the networked computer comprises an Internet or Intranet site.

11. The method of claim 5, wherein receiving a user selection comprises receiving a selection that has been dragged and dropped by a user.

12. The method of claim 5, wherein the selection comprises at least one of the following: graphics, text, sound, video, and animation.

13. The method of claim 5, further comprising displaying the stored selection and the determined attributes.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the displaying comprises dynamically generating an HTML page that includes the stored selection and determined characteristics.

15. The method of claim 5, further comprising navigating through a hierachically organized grouping of topics to request the information received from the networked computer.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising reading a file that includes information describing the hierarchically organized grouping of topics.

17. A computer program, disposed on a computer-readable medium, for collecting information received from a networked computer, the program including instructions for causing a processor to: receive a user selection from displayed information received from a networked computer; analyze the information received from the network computer to determine at least one attribute of the user selection; and store the selection and the determined attribute(s).

18. The computer program of claim 17, wherein the attribute comprises authorship of the received information.

19. The computer program of claim 17, wherein the instructions for causing a processor to analyze comprise instructions for causing a processor to examine tags included in the received information.

20. The computer program of claim 19, wherein the tags comprise HTML (HyperText Markup Language) META tags.

21. The computer program of claim 17, wherein the received information comprises a web-page and the networked computer comprises an Internet or Intranet site.

22. A tool for collecting information received from a networked computer, comprising: means for receiving a user selection from displayed information received from a networked computer; means for analyzing the information received from the network computer to determine at least one attribute of the user selection; and means for storing the selection and the determined attribute(s).

23. The tool of claim 22, further comprising means for maintaining the tool in the foreground during display of the received information.