Automatic Library Referral System and Method
First Claim
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1. A method, comprising:
- electronically monitoring online activity between a client computer and an online store, including examining a description of the item in response to the item being placed in an electronic shopping cart, to determine that an item referenced in the online activity is a publication;
in response to identifying the referenced item is a publication, automatically querying an electronic library database that tracks the inventory of a library to determine whether the publication is available from the library; and
communicating to the client computer whether the publication is available from the library.
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Abstract
Online activity between a client computer and an online store is electronically monitored to determine that an item referenced in the online activity is a publication, such as a book or periodical. In response, an electronic library database is automatically queried to determine whether a physical or electronic copy of the publication is available from the library. The availability of the publication is communicated to a user of the client computer and the user is given an option to borrow the publication.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method, comprising:
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electronically monitoring online activity between a client computer and an online store, including examining a description of the item in response to the item being placed in an electronic shopping cart, to determine that an item referenced in the online activity is a publication; in response to identifying the referenced item is a publication, automatically querying an electronic library database that tracks the inventory of a library to determine whether the publication is available from the library; and communicating to the client computer whether the publication is available from the library. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system, comprising:
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an online store offering items for sale, including items that are publications; a client computer having a browser configured for selective communication with the online store over the Internet; a library system having an associated online, electronic library database configured for tracking the inventory of publications available from the library; and a software object residing on one or both of the client computer and a server of the online store, the software object configured to monitor online activity between the client computer and the online store to determine that an item referenced in the online activity is a publication and, in response to determining that the referenced item is a publication, automatically querying the library database to determine whether the publication is available from the library.
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12. A computer program product comprising a computer usable medium including computer usable program code for supplementing an online shopping session, the computer program product including:
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computer usable program code for electronically monitoring online activity between a client computer and an online store to determine that an item referenced in the online activity is a publication; computer usable program code for automatically querying an electronic library database in response to identifying the referenced item is a publication, to determine whether the publication is available from the library; and computer usable program code for communicating to the client computer whether the publication is available from the library. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification