TECHNIQUES FOR INFORMATION COLLABORATION

• US 20100125798A1
• Filed: 11/18/2008
• Published: 05/20/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Micro Focus Software, Inc. (Open Text Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Novell Incorporated (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Brookhart, Christopher J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,843,831 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/752
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

Techniques for information collaboration are presented. Information topics are defined by users within a virtual community. Comments, links to other topics, search terms used in connection with the information topic, and bookmarks are recorded in connection with each of the information topics. Security access is custom designated for: the information topic as a whole, the comments, the links, the search terms, and/or the bookmarks. The security access defines whether other second users of the virtual community are to be given access to each of the information topics and/or to each comment, link, search term and/or bookmark associated with each of those information topics.

Claims

1. A machine-implemented method for information collaboration, comprising:

establishing an information topic within a website of a virtual community, the information topic and website established by and assigned to a first user within the virtual community;

associating with the information topic and on the direction of the first user;

comments, links to other topics within the virtual community, search terms used in connection with the information topic, and bookmarks, recorded in connection with the information topic; and

designating, by direction of the first user, a security access level to one or more of;

the information topic as a whole, the comments, the links, the search terms, and the bookmarks, wherein the security access level defines whether other second users of the virtual community are to be given access to;

the information topic as a whole, the comments, the links, the search terms, and the bookmarks.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising, graphically presenting the information topic, the comments, the links, the search terms, and the bookmarks in a hierarchical presentation within the website, wherein the hierarchical presentation is navigable within a World-Wide Web (WWW) browser.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

periodically receiving, from the first user, documents related to the information topic, additional links related to the information topic and/or files related to the information topic; and

making the documents, additional links, and files viewable from the website in connection with the information topic to the first user and the other second users subject to any additional first user defined security access levels.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising, periodically and dynamically monitoring the virtual community and actions of the first user and the other second users in connection with the information topic in response to a direction from the first user to monitor the information topic within the virtual community.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising, communicating messages to the first user that are sent from the second users in connection with the information topic in response to a direction from the first user that messages are permissible to the first user in connection with the information topic.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein associating further includes maintaining with each bookmark search terms used by the first user to establish that particular bookmark.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein designating further includes identifying the security access level as one or more of the following:

permission for global access by the other second users of the virtual community, permission for access by just the first user, and permission for access by a select grouping of the other second users of the virtual community.

8. A machine-implemented method for managing information collaboration, comprising:

periodically and dynamically mining information topics of a first user and other users within a virtual community for relationships to related information associated with a source information topic of the first user;

prioritizing the related information;

creating links to the related information; and

graphically presenting the prioritized and related information along with the links to the first user associated with the source information topic.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein periodically and dynamically mining further includes defining the relationships as search terms and/or bookmarks used in connection with the source information topic of the first user that are found in one or more of the following:

other topic nodes of the first user and other topic nodes of the other users of the virtual community.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein periodically and dynamically mining further includes identifying one or more of the search terms as being associated with and assigned to a particular bookmark of one of the information topics for one of the other users.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein identifying further includes previously monitoring search activity and bookmark activity of the first user and the other users to associate particular search terms with particular bookmarks.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein prioritizing further includes establishing a usefulness or credibility for portions of the related information by identifying how frequently a particular one of the information topics was adopted by the first user and the other users of the virtual community and using the usefulness and credibility when prioritizing the related information.

13. The method of claim 8 further comprising, importing a particular one of the information topics into the source information topic upon direction of the first user when the first user interacts with the prioritized related information and the links.

14. The method of claim 8 further comprising, sending a message composed by the first user to one of the other users upon the direction of the user when the first user interacts with a portion of the prioritized related information and the links that is owned by that other user.

15. A machine-implemented information collaboration system, comprising:

a virtual community implemented in a machine-accessible and computer-readable storage medium and that processes on a network; and

a website implemented in a machine-accessible and computer-readable storage medium that processes within the virtual community;

wherein the website includes a plurality of information topics defined by and managed by a first user of the virtual community, each information topic having a title, comments, search terms used in connection with searches related to that information topic, bookmarks related to that information topic, and links to other data related to that information topic as defined and adopted by the first user, and wherein the first user defines access rights to each information topic and each component of that information topic, and wherein the virtual community includes additional information topics defined on other websites by other second users of the virtual community, the first user and the other second users collaborate within the virtual community with respect to the information topics and other information topics subject to the access rights and other access rights defined by the other second users.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the website and the other websites are World-Wide Web (WWW) pages accessible via WWW browsers over the Internet to the first user and the other second users once the first user and the other second uses authenticate for access to the virtual community.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein each information topic is organized within a particular WWW page to which it relates in a hierarchical presentation that is navigable.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the website is represented within the virtual community as a user space for the user within the virtual community.

19. The system of claim 15, wherein the first user and the other second users can designate whether specific information topics are to be proactively and dynamically monitored within the virtual community.

20. The system of claim 15, wherein access rights and the other access rights permit a private access designation that permits just an owner to view and access, a global access designation that permits the first user and other second users of the virtual community to view and access, and/or a shared access designation that permits a selective number of users within the virtual community to view and access.

21. A machine-implemented information collaboration system, comprising:

an information topic interface implemented in a machine-accessible and computer-readable storage medium and to process on a machine of a network; and

an information manager implemented in a machine-accessible and computer-readable storage medium and to process on the machine or a different machine of the network;

wherein the information topic interface interacts with users of a virtual community to define information topics as defined by their respective first users, and wherein the first users assign security rights to the their information topics or to portions of their respective information topics that restrict access, and wherein the information manager mines the information topics to establish relationships and create related information for each of the information topics on behalf of their respective first users, and the information manager prioritizes, organizes, and presents the related information to the respective first users via the information topic interface for actions by the respective first users.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein at least one information topic includes a bookmark to link within the virtual community and the bookmark also includes search terms used by a particular first user to find and locate the bookmark.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the information topic interface includes a search bar that the particular user accessed for processing a search with the search terms, which permits the information manager to assign and associate the search terms with the bookmark.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein the information manager determines, when prioritizing the related information, whether particular first users have provided specific feedback on the related information.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein the first users freely send messages to one another within the virtual community in response to the information topics subject to permissions granted by the respective first users to receive the messages.