System for creating and maintaining a database of information utilizing user opinions
First Claim
1. A system for creating and maintaining information in a database of subjects, available to a population of users, comprising:
- a) describing a database subject using a plurality of natural-language terms, each of such plurality of natural-language terms having relevance to the subject according to an involved subset of such population of users;
b) rating the degree of relevance of each of such plurality of natural-language terms to such database subject according to each of such involved subset of such population of users;
c) associating, in such database, such respective natural-language terms and respective degrees of relevance with each such database subject; and
d) computing, for such involved subset of such population of users, in such database, an overall degree of relevance of each of such plurality of natural-language terms to such database subject.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for automatically creating and maintaining a database of information utilizing user opinions about subjects, particularly exceptional experiences. Described is an Internet system assisting/motivating a population of users interested in information about certain categories of subjects to automatically maintain the database content and to improve the usefulness and quality of the database information without any substantial management by the website owner-manager. The user opinions are primarily in the form of both comments and ratings about which natural-language terms best describe a particular subject, enabling user searches of the subject database to be by way of preferred such descriptive natural-language terms, which terms are further preferred to be evaluative and approving.
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Citations
41 Claims
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1. A system for creating and maintaining information in a database of subjects, available to a population of users, comprising:
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a) describing a database subject using a plurality of natural-language terms, each of such plurality of natural-language terms having relevance to the subject according to an involved subset of such population of users;
b) rating the degree of relevance of each of such plurality of natural-language terms to such database subject according to each of such involved subset of such population of users;
c) associating, in such database, such respective natural-language terms and respective degrees of relevance with each such database subject; and
d) computing, for such involved subset of such population of users, in such database, an overall degree of relevance of each of such plurality of natural-language terms to such database subject. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41)
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12. An Internet website client-server computer system, for use to determine a level of subject interest for each one of a population of users by capturing other users'"'"' (of such population of users) opinions about the degree of relevance of each of a respective set of natural language descriptive terms to each of a respective set of subjects, comprising:
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a) a server database system of subjects, each associated with a set of relevant natural-language terms for describing each such subject;
i) wherein each of a respective subset of such terms has been assigned, by each of a subpopulation of such population of users, a degree of relevance with respect to a respective such subject;
b) a client interface system arranged so that such one user may select a set of preferred such natural-language terms which, to such one user, best describe preferred “
subjects of interest”
to such one user;
c) a server computer processor system connected with said server database system and said client interface system; and
d) a server computer software system, operational with said server computer processor system, arranged to provide search processing using such server database system to;
i) determine an overall, according to such population of users, degree of relevance of each such preferred natural-language term to each such associated subject of such server database system, and ii) determine a set of search-return “
subjects of interest”
each having at least a specified aggregate degree of relevance considering each such overall degree of relevance of each such preferred natural-language descriptive term to each associated such subject; and
iii) return such set of search-return “
subjects of interest”
to such client interface system of such one user. - View Dependent Claims (13)
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14. A business system, for a developer of web computer systems of the type involving supporting a community of users searching for particular subject information, to achieve additional revenue from customers using such computer systems, comprising the steps of:
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a) providing for such computer systems to operate essentially without customer website management;
b) providing for such computer systems to directly motivate and automatically manage the direct collection of sponsor revenue from respective entities desiring to sponsor a respective particular item of such subject information; and
c) charging such customer, for use of such computer systems, an amount comprising a portion of such sponsor revenue. - View Dependent Claims (15)
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16. A business system, for a developer, for use by customers having websites, of web computer systems of the type involving supporting a community of users interacting with a database searching for particular subject information, comprising:
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a) providing for such computer systems to comprise software management systems to directly manage such database and such community of users essentially without customer website management; and
b) providing for variables in such software management systems to be configurable by such customer without affecting such direct management operations;
c) wherein such software management systems comprise;
i) soliciting of sufficient information from users for automatic role qualification enhancing software selection and maintenance of a management sub-community;
ii) measuring management efforts of each of such management sub-community;
iii) queing of qualified users for a next opening in such management sub-community;
iv) setting of goals for each of such management community; and
v) managing a reward system to reward management efforts of each of such management sub-community.
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17. A business system, supplied by a developer, for use by customers having websites comprising web server computer systems of the type involving supporting a community of users, having client computer systems, interacting with a database searching for particular subject information, comprising providing, for website use:
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a) computer software means for direct automatic management of such database and such community of users essentially without customer website management; and
b) computer software means for permitting such customer to configure a large set of variables in such computer software means for direct automatic management of such database and such community of users without affecting full operation of such direct automatic management;
c) wherein such computer software means for direct automatic management of such database and such community of users essentially without customer website management comprises;
i) computer software means for soliciting of sufficient information from such users for automatic role qualification enhancing automatic selection and automatic maintenance of a management sub-community;
ii) computer software means for automatically measuring management efforts of each of such management sub-community;
iii) computer software means for automatically providing queing of qualified users for a next opening in such management sub-community;
iv) computer software means for automatic setting of goals for each of such management community; and
v) computer software means for automatically managing a reward system to reward management efforts of each of such management sub-community. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A business system, supplied by a developer, for use by customers having websites comprising web server computer systems of the type involving supporting a community of users, having client computer systems, interacting with a database searching for particular subject information, comprising providing, for website use:
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a) computer software means for direct automatic management of such database and such community of users essentially without customer website management; and
b) computer software means for permitting such customer to configure a large set of variables in such computer software means for direct automatic management of such database and such community of users without affecting full operation of such direct automatic management;
c) wherein such computer software means for direct automatic management of such database and such community of users essentially without customer website management comprises;
i) computer software means for soliciting of sufficient information from such users for automatic role qualification enhancing automatic selection and automatic maintenance of a management sub-community;
ii) computer software means for automatically measuring management efforts of each of such management sub-community;
iii) computer software means for automatically providing queing of qualified users for a next opening in such management sub-community;
iv) computer software means for automatic setting of goals for each of such management community;
v) computer software means for automatically managing a reward system to reward management efforts of each of such management sub-community;
vi) computer software means for automatically assisting such management sub-community to solicit subject sponsors; and
vii) computer software means to permit such subject sponsors automatically to send website materials and pay fees;
viii) computer software means for automatically aggregating all user-proposed items for database adds, changes, and deletions into a review queue to which such management sub-community has access; and
ix) computer software means for automatically requiring at least one of such management sub-community to review and approve any such item before website publication is implemented;
x) wherein;
(1) such review queue is multi-level based essentially on item “
aging”
; and
(2) escalating rewards are offered to at least a set of such management sub-community for disposal of “
older”
items;
xi) wherein such computer software means for automatically managing a reward system to reward management efforts of each of such management sub-community comprises a computer software system configurable to automatically allocate percentage rewards to a particular one of such management sub-community as a percentage of a settable pool; and
xii) wherein such percentage rewards from such pool may be paid only to a settable percentage of such management sub-community. - View Dependent Claims (29)
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30. A computer system, usable by a large population of Internet users, for creating and maintaining information in a searchable database of defined categories of subjects, comprising, in combination:
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a) storage means for storing a large corpus of natural language terms for describing such subjects;
b) relevancy storage means for storing, associated with each such defined category, at least a respective subset of such terms most relevant, according to said population, to such subject within such respective defined category;
c) processing means for updating such relevancy storage means;
d) processing means for presenting to one such user, in association with one such subject, a plurality of such terms most relevant to such subject;
e) interface processing means for assisting such user to choose from such plurality of such presented terms a plurality of such-user-preferred most-relevant such terms to such subject;
f) interface processing means for assisting such user to rate on a predefined scale the relative degree of relevance of each such most-relevant term to such one subject;
g) storage means for storing such respective ratings of such respective most-relevant terms for such respective subject according to each of a subpopulation of such respective users;
h) processing means for computing, for such subpopulation, a preselected type of overall degree of relevance to each respective such subject of each respective such most-relevant term;
i) interface processing means for assisting a particular user to base a subject search at least upon a chosen set of particular-user-preferred such natural language terms;
j) processing means for, using such particular user'"'"'s preferred such set of particular-user-preferred such natural-language terms, searching such database for database subjects associated with such set of particular-user-preferred such natural-language terms;
k) processing means for determining a set of relevant such database subjects as are correlated with a determined specified high aggregate degree of relevance among such respective overall degrees of relevance of such set of respective particular-user-preferred such natural-language terms; and
l) interface processing means for presenting to such particular user information about such determined set of such relevant database subjects which might be of interest to such particular user. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33, 34)
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35. An Internet website client-server computer system, for use to determine by e-mail survey a level of subject approval for each one of a population of survey participants by capturing each such participant'"'"'s opinions about the degree of relevance of each of a respective set of natural language terms to each of a respective set of subjects, comprising:
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a) a client interface system arranged so that a survey taker may indicate at least;
i) a defined question for the survey, ii) a such set of subjects to be evaluated, iii) a such set of natural-language terms to be rated as to relevancy to each subject, iv) a participant audience, and v) a time-frame for response;
b) a server computer processor system connected with said client interface system; and
c) a server computer software system, operational with said server computer processor system, arranged to provide survey processing comprising;
i) compiling a survey file and survey document in accordance with survey taker input, ii) communicating such survey document to such participant audience, and iii) receiving and tabulating responses.
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36. The system according to
claim 36 further comprising displaying survey results at a publicized URL.
Specification