System and method for enhancing keyword relevance by user's interest on the search result documents

• US 20060031183A1
• Filed: 08/04/2004
• Published: 02/09/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Newbold, David L., Rodriguez, Raudel S., Bolin, Michael, Oral, Tolga
• Granted Patent: US 7,634,461 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

A system and method are provided for enabling a user to search for documents that the user has previously viewed on its local machine. The system includes three main components: the desktop integration module, the index module, and the graphical user interface module. The desktop integration module is an application which monitors documents with which the user interacts for predetermined events, and obtains content data and metadata from the monitored documents. The index module indexes the content data and metadata received from the desktop integration module. The graphical user interface module then permits a user to utilize the desktop integration module and index module by allowing a user to search for a document.

Claims

1. A method of enhancing the relevance of search results to a particular user'"'"'s interest in one or more documents, the method comprising:

monitoring at least one access of said one or more documents by the user;

collecting data associated with said at least one access of said one or more documents, wherein said collected data includes at least one of an amount of time the user spends on the document, a number of times the user has viewed the document, and whether the user printed the document; and

based on the collected data, determining a level of interest in the document.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein collecting data associated with said at least one interaction with said one or more documents includes collecting data to determine the amount of time the user has spent on the document, wherein determining the amount of time the user has spent on the document comprises:

determining a time the user first accessed said document; and

determining a duration in which the user continues to use said document wherein one or more criteria are met indicating the user is still interacting with the document.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said one or more criteria includes at least one of having the document open, having the document in focus, and receiving an input or output operation within a predetermined time interval.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the document is in focus when it is the active window.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein receiving an input or output operation includes at least one of receiving a keystroke and receiving a mouse movement.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

entering said collected data into an index with an entry for said accessed document, wherein said index may be searched and search results may be sorted by relevance.

7. A system for enhancing the relevance of search results to a particular user'"'"'s interest in one or more documents that the user has previously accessed, the system comprising:

a metadata module for collecting data characterizing a user'"'"'s interaction with said one or more documents;

a relevance calculation module for determining a user'"'"'s interest in said one or more documents based on the collected data; and

an index module for storing an entry for each of said one or more documents wherein said entry includes a relevance score, and wherein said relevance score is determined by said relevance calculation module.

8. The system of claim 7 wherein said collected data includes at least one of an amount of time the user spends on the document, a number of times the user has viewed the document, and whether the user printed the document.

9. The system of claim 7 wherein said collected data includes the amount of time the user has spent on the document, and wherein the system further comprises:

a document monitor for determining whether one or more criteria for using a document have been met.

10. The system of claim 9 wherein said criteria includes at least one of having the document open, having the document in focus, and receiving an input or output operation within a predetermined time interval.

11. A computer-implemented system having computer-implemented means for enhancing the relevance of search results to a particular user'"'"'s interest in one or more documents, the system comprising:

means for monitoring at least one access of said one or more documents by the user;

means for collecting data associated with said at least one access of said one or more documents, wherein said collected data includes at least one of an amount of time the user spends on the document, a number of times the user has viewed the document, and whether the user printed the document; and

based on the collected data, means for determining a level of interest for the user in the document.

12. The computer implemented system of claim 11 wherein said means for collecting data from the user'"'"'s interaction with said one or more documents includes means for collecting data to determine the amount of time the user has spent on the document, wherein said means for determining the amount of time the user has spent on the document comprises:

means for determining a time the user first accessed said document; and

means for determining a duration in which the user continues to use said document wherein one or more criteria are met indicating the user is still accessing the document.

13. The system of claim 12 wherein said criteria includes at least one of having the document open, having the document in focus, and receiving an input or output operation within a predetermined time interval.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the document is in focus when it is the active window.

15. The system of claim 13 wherein receiving an input or output operation includes at least one of receiving a keystroke and receiving a mouse movement.

16. The system of claim 11 further comprising:

means for entering said collected data into an index with an entry for said accessed document, wherein said index may be searched and search results may be sorted by relevance.