System and method for managing document retention of shared documents

• US 20040019846A1
• Filed: 07/24/2002
• Published: 01/29/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 07/24/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Xerox Corporation (Xerox Holdings Corp.)
• Inventors: Castellani, Stefania, Chidlovskii, Boris
• Granted Patent: US 7,171,620 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/500
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access

Abstract

The visibility of shared documents in a collaborative recommender system is managed by analyzing both the document'"'"'s substance and user actions that are performed on the document. The document'"'"'s substance includes both metadata and content. User actions include both user ratings and semantic actions. The visibility of the shared documents is updated when either a user action or an event occurs.

Claims

1. A method for managing retention of a document submitted to a recommender system, comprising:

defining a visibility value that estimates the document'"'"'s importance to users of the recommender system;

determining over a time interval;

(a) whether higher quality siblings of the document exist in the recommender system, and (b) whether a user action or event occurred;

adjusting the visibility value of the document in the recommender system as a function of;

(a) a user action when the user action occurs over the time interval, and (b) the document'"'"'s substance when an event occurs over the time interval;

decreasing the visibility value of the document in the recommender system as a function of the document'"'"'s substance when no user action or event occurs over the time interval; and

removing the document from the recommender system when;

(a) higher quality siblings of the document exist in the recommender system, or (b) the visibility value of the document in the recommender system is less than a threshold value.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein an event occurs when a computed lifetime of the document reaches a computed average lifetime of documents in the recommender system having a document type representing the document.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising:

identifying the document type representing the document by analyzing the document'"'"'s substance;

computing the average lifetime of the document as a function of the number of user actions performed between a time when the document was submitted to the recommender system and a time when the last user action occurred; and

computing the average lifetime of documents having the document type representing the document as a function of the computed average lifetime of the document.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the visibility value is adjusted during a subsequent time interval that occurs after the time interval in which the event occurs.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the document'"'"'s substance is analyzed by extracting document metadata providing time information about the document.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein a user action is one of a user rating and a semantic action.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein a semantic action is one of saving and removing the document from the recommender system.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the visibility value increases when the document is saved and decreases when the document is removed.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein the visibility of the document is decreased exponentially as a function of the document'"'"'s substance when no user action or event occurs over the time interval.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the visibility value is decreases exponentially as a function of a forgetfulness value that is updated when a user action or an even occurs over the time interval.

11. A system for managing retention of a document submitted to a recommender system, comprising:

means for defining a visibility value that estimates the document'"'"'s importance to users of the recommender system;

means for determining over a time interval;

(a) whether higher quality siblings of the document exist in the recommender system, and (b) whether a user action or event occurred;

means for adjusting the visibility value of the document in the recommender system as a function of;

(a) a user action when the user action occurs over the time interval, and (b) the document'"'"'s substance when an event occurs over the time interval;

means for decreasing the visibility value of the document in the recommender system as a function of the document'"'"'s substance when no user action or event occurs over the time interval; and

means for removing the document from the recommender system when;

(a) higher quality siblings of the document exist in the recommender system, or (b) the visibility value of the document in the recommender system is less than a threshold value.

12. The system according to claim 11, wherein an event occurs when a computed lifetime of the document reaches a computed average lifetime of documents in the recommender system having a document type representing the document.

13. The system according to claim 12, further comprising:

means for identifying the document type representing the document by analyzing the document'"'"'s substance;

means for computing the average lifetime of the document as a function of the number of user actions performed between a time when the document was submitted to the recommender system and a time when the last user action occurred; and

means for computing the average lifetime of documents having the document type representing the document as a function of the computed average lifetime of the document.

14. The system according to claim 11, wherein the visibility value is adjusted during a subsequent time interval that occurs after the time interval in which the event occurs.

15. The system according to claim 11, wherein the document'"'"'s substance is analyzed by extracting document metadata providing time information about the document.

16. The system according to claim 11, wherein a user action is one of a user rating and a semantic action.

17. The system according to claim 16, wherein a semantic action is one of saving and removing the document from the recommender system.

18. The system according to claim 17, wherein the visibility value increases when the document is saved and decreases when the document is removed.

19. The system according to claim 11, wherein the visibility of the document is decreased exponentially as a function of the document'"'"'s substance when no user action or event occurs over the time interval.

20. An article of manufacture, comprising:

a storage medium; and

program instructions stored on the storage medium for managing retention of a document submitted to a recommender system communicating with an importance predictor having a processor;

the processor in executing the program instructions;

defining a visibility value that estimates the document'"'"'s importance to users of the recommender system;

determining over a time interval;

(a) whether higher quality siblings of the document exist in the recommender system, and (b) whether a user action or event occurred;

adjusting the visibility value of the document in the recommender system as a function of;

(a) a user action when the user action occurs over the time interval, and (b) the document'"'"'s substance when an event occurs over the time interval;

decreasing the visibility value of the document in the recommender system as a function of the document'"'"'s substance when no user action or event occurs over the time interval; and

removing the document from the recommender system when;

(a) higher quality siblings of the document exist in the recommender system, or (b) the visibility value of the document in the recommender system is less than a threshold value.