Integrated method and apparatus for capture, storage, and retrieval of information

• US 20050091186A1
• Filed: 10/24/2003
• Published: 04/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2003
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Net Snippets Limited
• Original Assignee: Net Snippets Limited
• Inventors: Elish, Alon
• Application Number:
  US10/693,297
• Publication Number:
  US 20050091186A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/954 Navigation, e.g. using categorised browsing

Abstract

An integrated method and apparatus is provided for capturing, storing, organizing, and sharing pertinent information from a plurality of sources in a simple and effective manner. The invention allows for the local capture of pertinent information from files, Web pages, Web files, e-mail items, and the like, as well as portions thereof. The pertinent information may be captured in any granularity that is selected by a user. The invention also provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for a consistent handling and viewing of all information. The integrated method and apparatus can operate in conjunction with a software browser, such as Microsoft'"'"'s Internet Explorer, Netscape'"'"'s Navigator, or any other commercial or custom-designed browser that allows access to information.

Claims

1. An apparatus for capturing, organizing, and sharing information retrieved from a plurality of disparate data sources, comprising:

means for capturing a user selected piece of information that is accessed by said user during a browsing session;

means for processing said selected information to store said selected piece of information, along with any other information previously captured by said user, in an integrated, user accessible file hierarchy, wherein said file hierarchy maintains said information without regard to said information format;

means for editing any of said selected information via a common user interface; and

means for organizing and sharing said selected information.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising:

means for generating a bibliography report.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said selected information is a snippet.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said snippet further comprises:

metadata content.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said metadata content comprises:

any of a source uniform resource locator (URL) address, time, date, title, author, user annotations, keywords, and custom information.

6. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein said snippet comprises:

any of an entire file, and a portion of a file.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein said file comprises:

any of a hypertext markup language (HTML) file, an image file, an audio file, a video file, a flash file, and a word processing file.

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said image file format comprises:

any of a PDF, TIFF, Post Script, and RIP format.

9. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said audio file format comprises:

any of an MP3, WAV, SND, AU, and AIF format.

10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein said video file format comprises:

any of an MPEG and AVI format.

11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said browsing session is implemented using a browser which comprises:

any of a Web browser and a wireless application protocol (WAP) compliant browser.

12. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said WAP compliant browser is executed over any of a mobile phone and a personal digital assistance (PDA).

13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein said Web browser comprises:

any of Microsoft'"'"'s. Internet Explorer, Netscape'"'"'s Navigator, and a custom browser.

14. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said data source comprises:

any of a Web page, a Web file, an email item, a file system, and a database.

15. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said capturing means further comprises:

means for selecting information to create said selected information; and

means for enabling a drag and drop of said selected information into a destination directory.

16. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said editing means further comprises:

means for editing said selected information; and

means for editing any metadata content associated with said selected information.

17. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said editing means comprises:

any of an HTML editor, a text editor, and a media editor.

18. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said organizing means further comprises:

means for saving retrieved information in a destination directory associated with a category.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein said destination directory comprises:

any of a local directory and a shared directory.

20. The apparatus of claim 18, further comprising:

means for generating said bibliography report in a predefined style.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, wherein said bibliography predefined style comprises:

any of an MLA style, APA style, Chicago style, and user defined style.

22. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said means for sharing said information further comprises:

means for sending said information via an email system.

23. The apparatus of claim 3, further comprising:

a search engine for searching among said snippets.

24. A method for capturing, organizing, and sharing information retrieved from a plurality of disparate information sources in a plurality of different data formats, said method comprising the steps of:

selecting piece of information that is provided to a user during a browsing session;

enabling said user to drag and drop said selected piece of information to a destination directory which contains information previously selected by said user, wherein said directory maintains said information without regard to information format;

any of determining and generating metadata content associated with said piece of selected information;

providing said user with a means for editing said selected piece of information and said associated metadata content; and

processing said selected piece of information to store said selected piece of information in an integrated, user accessible file hierarchy comprising said destination directory, along with said associated metadata content.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein said method further comprises the step of:

generating a bibliography report.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein said selected information is a snippet.

27. The method of claim 25, wherein said snippet comprises:

any of a file and a portion of a file.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein said browsing session is implemented with a browser which comprises:

any of a Web browser and a wireless application protocol (WAP) compliant browser.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein said WAP compliant browser is executed over any of a mobile phone and a personal digital assistance (PDA).

30. The method of claim 28, wherein said Web browser comprises:

any of Microsoft'"'"'s Internet Explorer and Netscape'"'"'s Navigator.

31. The method claim 24, wherein said data source comprises:

any of a Web page, a Web file, an email item, a file system, and a database.

32. The method of claim 24, wherein said data format:

any of an HTML file, an image file, an audio file, a video file, a flash file, and a word processing file.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein said image file format comprises:

any of a PDF, TIFF, Post Script, and RIP format.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein said audio file format comprises:

any of an MP3, WAV, SND, AU, and AIF format.

35. The method of claim 32, wherein said video file format comprises:

any of an MPEG and AVI format.

36. The method of claim 24, wherein said metadata content comprises:

any of a source URL, time, date, title, author, user annotations, keywords, and custom information.

37. The method of claim 24, wherein said metadata content is saved as an extensible markup language (XML) file in said destination directory.

38. The method of claim 24, wherein said editing means comprises:

any of an HTML editor, a text editor, and a media editor.

39. The method of claim 24, said processing step comprises the steps of:

adding HTML tags to said selected information;

converting relative URLs in said selected information to absolute URLs; and

stripping embedded data from said selected information.

40. The method of claim 24, wherein said embedded data comprises:

any of Java scripts, JavaScript, frame images, images, and client scripts.

41. The method of claim 26, said step of generating said bibliography report comprising the steps of:

selecting a bibliography style from a predefined style;

selecting a directory that comprises at least two snippets;

composing a single XML file from all XML files included in said selected directory;

providing an extensible style-sheet language (XSL) engine with said XML file; and

generating said bibliography report using said XSL engine.

42. The method of claim 40, wherein said bibliography predefined style comprises:

any of an MLA style, APA style, Chicago style, and user defined style.

43. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of:

packaging said destination directory content in a compressed file; and

sending said compressed file as an email message.

44. The method of claim 40, wherein said destination directory further comprises:

at least one sub-directory.

45. A computer program stored on a tangible medium, wherein execution of said computer program implements the method of claim 24.

46. An apparatus for capturing, organizing, and sharing information retrieved from a plurality of disparate data sources, comprising:

means at a user system, operatively communicative with a browser at said user system, for capturing a user selected piece of information that is accessed by said user during a browsing session with said browser;

wherein said user selection is accomplished by a gesture based highlighting of said piece of information and gesture based positioning of said piece of information within an information capture location;

wherein said piece of information comprises at least a portion of a discrete information element encountered by said user during said browsing session;

means for processing said selected information to store said selected piece of information and associated metadata, along with any other information previously captured by said user, in an integrated, user accessible file hierarchy, wherein said file hierarchy maintains said information without regard to said information format;

means for editing any of said selected information via a common user interface; and

means for organizing and sharing said selected information without regard to said information format.