System and method for displaying usage metrics as part of search results

• US 20060031196A1
• 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 8,261,196 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/338 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/38 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually

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 displaying search results and usage metrics for a search of one or more documents that a user has previously accessed, the method comprising:

presenting a user interface, said user interface providing a search results listing and one or more graphical visualizations characterizing the search results;

receiving input from the user to trigger the display of usage metrics for a selected one of said one or more documents; and

updating said user interface to display said usage metrics, wherein said usage metrics include at least one of a document name, a document location, a number of times the document has been accessed by the user, a total amount of time the user has spent on the document, and a last time the user has accessed the document.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving an input from the user further comprises receiving a mouse click action and wherein updating said user interface further comprises:

presenting a pop-up window displaying said usage metrics.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein receiving input from the user further comprises receiving input to indicate an input device is hovering over a selected document and wherein updating said user interface further comprises:

modifying said one or more graphical visualizations characterizations characterizing said search results.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said one or more graphical visualizations include at least one of a calendar and a histogram and wherein modifying said one or more graphical visualizations comprises:

displaying on said histogram indicia indicating each time said selected document has been used and presenting indicia indicating an action that was performed relative to said selected document;

and highlighting on said calendar one or more days on which said selected document has been accessed.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising presenting usage metrics within said search results listing.

6. A computer implemented system having computer implemented means for displaying search results and usage metrics for a search of one or more documents that a user has previously accessed, the system comprising:

means for presenting a user interface, said user interface providing a search results listing and one or more graphical visualizations characterizing the search results;

means for receiving input from the user to trigger the display of usage metrics for a selected one of said one or more documents; and

means for updating said user interface to display said usage metrics, wherein said usage metrics include at least one of a document name, a document location, a number of times the document has been accessed by the user, a total amount of time the user has spent on the document, and a last time the user has accessed the document.

7. The system of claim 6 wherein said means for receiving an input from the user further comprises means for receiving a mouse click action and said means for updating said user interface further comprises:

means for presenting a pop-up window displaying said usage metrics.

8. The system of claim 6 wherein said means for receiving input from the user further comprises means for receiving input to indicate an input device is hovering over a selected document and said means for updating said user interface further comprises:

means for modifying said one or more graphical visualizations characterizations characterizing said search results.

9. The system of claim 8 wherein said one or more graphical visualizations include at least one of a calendar and a histogram and wherein said means for modifying said one or more graphical visualizations comprises:

means for displaying on said histogram indicia indicating each time said selected document has been used and means for presenting indicia indicating an action that was performed relative to said selected document;

and means for highlighting on said calendar one of more days on which said selected document has been accessed.

10. The system of claim 6 further comprising means presenting usage metrics within said search results listing.