Method and apparatus for digital media management, retrieval, and collaboration

• US 20020188621A1
• Filed: 04/21/2002
• Published: 12/12/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ben Group, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Emotion, Inc. (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Flank, Sharon, Sperer, Ruth, Romer, Donna
• Granted Patent: US 7,418,444 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/104.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5838 using colour
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/5846 using extracted text
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99931 Database or file accessing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99948 Application of database or data structure, e.g. distributed, multimedia, or image

Abstract

The software according to the invention incorporates a glossary management tool that makes it easy for each client to customize terminology to the needs of a particular business. With this tool, termed a glossary manager, a company can customize a number of feature names in the system to provide a more familiar context for their users. A system administrator can also customize the manner in which “thumbnail” or “preview” images are presented. The system performs clustering on search queries, and searches media records multi-modally, using two or more approaches such as image searching and text searching. An administrator can tune search parameters. Two or more streams of metadata may be aligned and correlated with a media file, facilitating later searching. The system evaluates itself. It folds popularity information into rankings of search results.

Claims

1. A method for use with a system storing digital media records and comprising a search engine searching said stored digital media records, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving search requests from users;

logging the search requests;

expanding the search requests;

applying a statistical clustering algorithm, thereby grouping similar search requests together;

identifying, using a semantic net hierarchy, a lowest-level term in the hierarchy that subsumes all of the queries in a grouping of search requests;

communicating the identified term to a user.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the expanding is performed using a thesaurus.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the expanding is performed using a semantic net comprising synonyms and super-terms.

4. A method for use with a system storing digital media records and comprising a search engine searching said stored digital media records, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving search requests from users;

by the search engine, searches based upon the search requests, yielding respective search results, each search result defining selected digital media records, the digital media records each having associated metadata;

logging the search results and the metadata associated with digital media records selected therein;

expanding the metadata, defining expanded query metadata results;

applying a statistical clustering algorithm, thereby grouping similar expanded query metadata results together;

identifying, using a semantic net hierarchy, a lowest-level term in the hierarchy that subsumes all of the expanded query metadata results in the grouping of expanded query metadata results;

communicating the identified term to a user.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the expanding is performed using a thesaurus.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the expanding is performed using a semantic net comprising synonyms and super-terms.

7. A method for use with a system storing digital media records and comprising a search engine searching said stored digital media records, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving search requests from users;

performing, by the search engine, searches based upon the search requests, yielding respective search results, each search result defining selected digital media records or being empty;

logging the search requests for which the search result is empty;

expanding the logged search requests;

applying a statistical clustering algorithm to the logged search requests, thereby grouping similar search requests together;

communicating a group of search requests to a user.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the expanding is performed using a thesaurus.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the expanding is performed using a semantic net comprising synonyms and super-terms.

10. A method for use with a system storing digital media records and comprising a search engine searching said stored digital media records, the system permitting user expressions of interest in particular stored digital media records, the method comprising the steps of:

search requests from users;

performing, by the search engine, searches based upon the search requests, yielding respective search results, each search result defining selected digital media records;

logging the search requests for which a user has expressed interest in a

selected digital media record;

expanding the logged search requests;

applying a statistical clustering algorithm to the logged search requests, thereby grouping similar search requests together;

communicating a group of search requests to a user.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the expanding is performed using a thesaurus.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the expanding is performed using a semantic net comprising synonyms and super-terms.

13. The method of claim 10 wherein a user expressing interest in a selected digital media record comprises the user placing the selected digital media record into an online shopping cart.

14. The method of claim 10 wherein a user expressing interest in a selected digital media record comprises the user purchasing rights to use the selected digital media record.

15. The method of claim 10 wherein a user expressing interest in a selected digital media record comprises the user placing the selected digital media record into an online projects folder or other work space.