System and method of archiving family history

• US 20060039030A1
• Filed: 08/17/2005
• Published: 02/23/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/17/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: TightKnit, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Eric T. Peterschmidt
• Inventors: Peterschmidt, Eric T.
• Granted Patent: US 7,463,792 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 358/1.150
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually

Abstract

Digital media and contextual data relating to the digital media are archived by a system for archiving family history. The system includes a storage medium, a network interface, and a control processor. The storage medium stores the digital media and contextual data. The network interface communicates with a network to send and receive digital media and contextual data. The control processor operates a relational database for organizing the contextual data by arranging the contextual data within contextual tables.

Claims

1. A system for archiving family history comprising:

a storage medium for storage of digital media and contextual data relating to the digital media;

a network interface for communicating the digital media and contextual data over a network; and

a control processor operating a relational database for organizing the contextual data by arranging the contextual data within contextual tables.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the network interface further comprises a web server for transmitting web page data for generation of a web page, wherein the web server transmits the digital media and contextual data relating to the digital media along with the transmission of web page data.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the web server receives contextual data relating to the digital media, and wherein the archiving system stores received contextual data in the storage medium.

4. The system of claim 1 further comprising a copy terminal to generate the digital media from non-digital media, wherein the copy terminal is connected to the network for communicating the digital media for storage within the storage medium.

5. The system of claim 1, the contextual tables further comprising:

a first table, stored in the storage medium, for storing data related to the digital media;

a second table, stored in the storage medium, for storing data related to a person relating to the digital media; and

a third table, stored in the storage medium, for storing data related to an event relating to the digital media.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the first table comprises a media record, the media record being associated with the digital media, the second table, and the third table.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the media record contains a unique media identifier representative of the digital media.

8. A method of archiving family history, the method comprising:

receiving digital media through a network interface;

storing the digital media in a storage medium;

storing contextual data, arranged in contextual tables, on the storage medium;

transmitting a portion of the digital media and the contextual data through the network interface in response to a request received through the network interface.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein storing contextual data, arranged in contextual tables, further comprises:

generating a media record within a media table for storing data relating to the digital media;

generating an event record within an event table for storing data relating to an event related to the digital media; and

generating a person record within an event table for storing data relating to a person related to the digital media.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

generating an object record within an object table for storing data relating to an object related to the digital media.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising transmitting web page data along with the digital media and configuration data.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein the digital media is a digital image.

13. The method of claim 8, wherein the digital media is an electronic document.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein the digital media is a digital audio recording.

15. The method of claim 8, wherein the digital media is a digital video recording.

16. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

transmitting data for generating a user interface to display the digital media and the contextual data.

17. A method of receiving the identification of people in a digital image stored within an archiving system, the method comprising:

a. displaying a digital image on a computer screen;

b. displaying a first set of options on a computer screen;

c. receiving a first input indicating that the user would like to enter data relating to the digital image;

d. displaying a second set of options relating to the type of data that can be input relating to the digital image;

e. receiving a second input indicating that the user would like to identify the people in the digital image;

f. displaying a message on the screen asking the user to click on a person in the digital image that they would like to identify;

g. receiving a third input indicating the location of the person in the digital image;

h. displaying a second message on the screen requesting a name of the person;

i. receiving a fourth input indicating the name of the person;

j. associating the name of the person with the digital image;

l. repeating steps f through j.

18. A method of receiving contextual data from a user relating to a digital image, the method comprising:

displaying a digital image on a computer screen;

displaying a first set of options on a computer screen;

receiving a first input indicating that the user would like to enter data relating to the digital image;

displaying a second set of options relating to the type of data that can be input relating to the digital image;

receiving a second input indicating that the user would like to provide data relating to an event to which the digital image pertains;

displaying a message requesting data relating to the event to which the digital image pertains;

receiving a third input including data relating to the event to which the digital image pertains; and

associating the data with the digital image.

19. A method of archiving family history, the method comprising:

receiving digital media through a network interface;

storing the digital media in a storage medium;

generating a unique media identifier;

associating the unique media identifier with the digital media;

generating a media record within a media table for storing data relating to the digital media;

associating the media record with the digital media;

generating an event record within an event table for storing data relating to an event related to the digital media;

generating a unique event identifier;

associating the unique event identifier with the event record and with the media record;

generating a person record within a person table for storing data relating to a person related to the digital media;

generating a unique person identifier; and

associating the unique person identifier with the person record and with the media record.