METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR UNOBTRUSIVE SEARCH RELEVANCE FEEDBACK

• US 20080222131A1
• Filed: 03/07/2007
• Published: 09/11/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/07/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Original Assignee: The Boeing Co.
• Inventors: Wang, Yanxin Emily
• Granted Patent: US 8,386,478 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/5
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation

Abstract

Methods and systems for receiving feedback from a user regarding the relevance of search results to a search query are provided. The method includes presenting at least one search result responsive to a search query by the user, selecting ones of the at least one search result that are determined by the user to be relevant to the search query, and increasing a relevance ranking of the selected search results in future searches based on the determination.

Claims

1. A method of receiving feedback from a user regarding the relevance of search results to a search query, said method comprising:

presenting at least one search result responsive to a search query by the user;

selecting ones of the at least one search result that are determined by the user to be relevant to the search query; and

increasing a relevance ranking of the selected search results in future searches based on the determination.

2. A method in accordance with claim 1 further comprising selecting one or more data sources to be searched from a plurality of data sources.

3. A method in accordance with claim 1 further comprising entering one or more keywords on which to search the selected data sources for search results relevant to the one or more keywords.

4. A method in accordance with claim 1 further comprising displaying a search document collection panel that includes a document repository and a notes panel.

5. A method in accordance with claim 1 wherein presenting at least one search result comprises presenting a ranked search result listing wherein the ranking is based on a determination of the relevance of the search result to the search query.

6. A method in accordance with claim 4 wherein presenting at least one search result comprises presenting a file identifier of at least one electronic file to the user in the search document collection panel.

7. A method in accordance with claim 6 wherein selecting ones of the at least one search result comprises dragging and dropping the file identifier from the search document collection panel to the document repository.

8. A method in accordance with claim 6 wherein selecting ones of the at least one search result comprises:

opening the electronic file; and

cutting at least a portion of the electronic file and pasting the portion to the notes panel.

9. A method in accordance with claim 6 wherein selecting ones of the at least one search result comprises entering a text based note into the notes panel.

10. A method in accordance with claim 9 wherein selecting ones of the at least one search result comprises dragging and dropping a note from the notes panel to the document repository.

11. A method in accordance with claim 9 wherein increasing a relevance ranking of the selected search results comprises increasing a relevance ranking of notes added to the document repository.

12. A system for improving the relevancy of electronic search results over a plurality of searches comprising:

an adaptive search engine communicatively coupled to a plurality of data items from one or more data sources stored in at least one database, said data sources searchable using a search query entered by a user wherein said search query comprises at least one keyword; and

a user interface configured to display to the user a ranked search result listing of data items in a first display area, said user interface comprising a data item repository area wherein when a data item listed in said first display area is selected and copied to the data repository a relevance of the data item with respect to the at least one keyword is increased.

13. A system in accordance with claim 12 wherein said user interface further comprises a note area, wherein when a note generated in said note area is selected and copied to the data repository a relevance of the note with respect to the at least one keyword is increased.

14. A system in accordance with claim 12 further comprising a data source selector configured to permit the user to select one or more data sources to be searched from a plurality of data sources.

15. A system in accordance with claim 12 configured to receive one or more keywords entered by the user on which to search the selected data sources for search results relevant to the one or more keywords.

16. A system in accordance with claim 12 configured to present a ranked search result listing wherein the ranking is based on a determination of the relevance of the search result to the search query.

17. A method of performing searches of a plurality of data sources that each includes at least one data item, the searches performed using relevance feedback from previous searches, said method comprising:

presenting a first search result of the data sources based on a search query, wherein the search result includes at least one data item in ranked order based on a relevance of the search item to the search query;

unobtrusively monitoring a selection of data items by a user;

associating selected data items with an increased relevance to the search query; and

presenting a second search result wherein the ranking of the data items included in the search result is based on the association from a previous search.

18. A method in accordance with claim 17 wherein the search query comprises at least one keyword.

19. A method in accordance with claim 17 wherein associating selected data items with an increased relevance to the search query comprises dragging and dropping the data item from the search result to a document repository.

20. A method in accordance with claim 17 wherein associating selected data items with an increased relevance to the search query comprises dragging and dropping a note from a notes panel to a document repository wherein a note includes at least one of a portion of a data item, an annotation entered by the user wherein the annotation includes a text entry, an audio entry, a video entry, and an image entry.