SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR TOPICAL DOCUMENT SEARCHING

• US 20100257161A1
• Filed: 06/14/2010
• Published: 10/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/26/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bloomberg Finance LP (Bloomberg LP), Bloomberg, Inc. (Bloomberg LP), Bloomberg LP, Bureau of National Affairs Incorporated (Bloomberg LP)
• Original Assignee: Bloomberg Finance LP (Bloomberg LP)
• Inventors: Grenet, Philippe, KEMP, Richard Douglas
• Granted Patent: US 9,519,707 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/723
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/382 using citations hypermedia G06F16/94
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation

Abstract

Systems and methods are providing for searching for documents within topically-defined clusters. A search space is defined, starting with one or more source documents, by examining references from one documents to another and following the networks of references to some level of indirection. Depending on the embodiment, references may be followed from a document containing a reference to a referred-to document, or from a referred-to document to a document containing a reference, or both. Once a search space has been defined, a query is executed, and documents within the search space that satisfy the query parameters are identified.

In certain embodiments of the invention, the documents primarily relate to legal materials, and one or more source documents are associated with one or more topics within a topic directory. In such embodiments, a search query may be limited to one or more selected topics by executing the search query within a search space defined using the associated document or documents as the source.

Claims

1. A computer system for identifying one or more electronic documents within a collection of electronic documents, the system comprising:

one or more processors programmed at least to

(1) store, in a memory operatively coupled to at least one of the processors, a search level that is a whole number that is at least two,

(2) accept a search query through an interface operatively coupled to at least one of the processors,

(3) define a subset of a collection of electronic documents, the subset comprising a plurality of electronic documents,

(4) execute the search query against all documents in the subset, thereby identifying as responsive documents all documents in the subset that satisfy the query, and

(5) provide information that identifies one or more of the responsive documents through an interface operatively coupled to at least one of the processors;

wherein the subset comprises one or more source documents within the collection and one or more additional documents within the collection, the one or more additional documents being identifiable by a process carried out for a number of iterations equal to the search level and comprising

(1) a first iteration that comprises finding one or more references in one or more of the electronic source documents, each of the references identifying a respective document in the collection, and adding to the subset each document in the collection that is identified by any of the found references but is not already in the subset, and

(2) one or more subsequent iterations, each of which comprises finding one or more references in one or more of the documents added to the subset in the immediately previous iteration, each of the references identifying a respective document in the collection, and adding to the subset each document in the collection that is identified by any of the found references but is not already in the subset.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more processors are programmed at least to

compute rankings of the identified responsive documents, the computed ranking of each respective identified responsive document depending at least upon the iteration in which that document would first be added to the subset, and

provide information that identifies a plurality of the responsive documents through an interface operatively coupled to at least one of the processors; and

the provided information that identifies a plurality of the responsive documents comprises information about the ranking of the identified documents.

3. A computer system for identifying one or more electronic documents within a collection of electronic documents, the system comprising:

one or more processors programmed at least to

(1) store, in a memory operatively coupled to at least one of the processors, a search level that is a whole number that is at least two,

(2) accept a search query through an interface operatively coupled to at least one of the processors,

(3) define a subset of a collection of electronic documents that comprises a plurality of electronic documents,

(4) execute the search query against all documents in the subset, thereby identifying as responsive documents all documents in the subset that satisfy the query, and

(5) provide information that identifies one or more of the responsive documents through an interface operatively coupled to at least one of the processors;

wherein the subset comprises one or more source documents within the collection and one or more additional documents within the collection, the one or more additional documents being identifiable by a process carried out for a number of iterations equal to the search level and comprising

(1) a first iteration that comprises finding one or more citing documents within the collection, each citing document comprising at least one reference to at least one of the electronic source documents, and adding to the subset each of the found citing documents that is not already in the subset, and

(2) one or more subsequent iterations, each of which comprises finding one or more citing documents within the collection, each citing document comprising at least one reference to at least one of the documents added to the subset in the immediately previous iteration, and adding to the subset each of the found citing documents that is not already in the subset.

4. The computer system of claim 3, wherein:

the one or more processors are programmed at least to

compute rankings of the identified responsive documents, the computed ranking of each respective identified responsive document depending at least upon the iteration in which that document would first be added to the subset, and

provide information that identifies a plurality of the responsive documents through an interface operatively coupled to at least one of the processors; and

the provided information that identifies a plurality of the responsive documents comprises information about the ranking of the identified documents.

5. A method of identifying one or more documents within a collection of documents, the method being performed by a computer system that comprises one or more processors, a memory operatively coupled to at least one of the processors, and a computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by at least one of the processors and operatively coupled to at least one of the processors, the method comprising:

storing in the memory a search level that is a whole number that is at least two;

storing in the memory a definition of a subset of a collection of electronic documents, the collection of documents comprising a plurality of documents, and the subset comprising one or more source documents within the collection and one or more additional documents within the collection, the one or more additional documents being identifiable by a process carried out for a number of iterations equal to the search level and comprising;

(1) a first iteration that comprises finding one or more references in one or more of the electronic source documents, each of the references identifying a respective document in the collection, and adding to the subset each document in the collection that is identified by any of the found references but is not already in the subset, and

(2) one or more subsequent iterations, each of which comprises finding one or more references in one or more of the documents added to the subset in the immediately previous iteration, each of the references identifying a respective document in the collection, and adding to the subset each document in the collection that is identified by any of the found references but is not already in the subset;

at least one of the processors receiving through at least one interface operatively coupled to the processor a definition of a search query through an interface operatively coupled to at least one of the processors;

at least one of the processors executing instructions retrieved from the computer-readable storage medium to identify all responsive documents within the subset that satisfy the one or more criteria comprised by the search query, and

at least one of the processors executing instructions retrieved from the computer-readable storage medium to transmit through one of the interfaces information that identifies one or more of the responsive documents.

6. The method of claim 5, comprising:

at least one of the processors executing instructions retrieved from the computer-readable storage medium to compute rankings of the identified responsive documents, the computed ranking of each respective identified responsive document depending at least upon the iteration in which that document would first be added to the subset; and

at least one of the processors executing instructions retrieved from the computer-readable storage medium to transmit through one of the interfaces information that identifies a plurality of the responsive documents;

wherein the provided information that identifies a plurality of the responsive documents comprises information about the ranking of the identified documents.

7. A method of identifying one or more documents within a collection of documents, the method being performed by a computer system that comprises one or more processors, a memory operatively coupled to at least one of the processors, and a computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions executable by at least one of the processors and operatively coupled to at least one of the processors, the method comprising:

storing in the memory a search level that is a whole number that is at least two;

storing in the memory a definition of a subset of a collection of electronic documents, the collection of documents comprising a plurality of documents, and the subset comprising one or more source documents within the collection and one or more additional documents within the collection, the one or more additional documents being identifiable by a process carried out for a number of iterations equal to the search level and comprising;

(1) a first iteration that comprises finding one or more citing documents within the collection, each citing document comprising at least one reference to at least one of the electronic source documents, and adding to the subset each of the found citing documents that is not already in the subset, and

(2) one or more subsequent iterations, each of which comprises finding one or more citing documents within the collection, each citing document comprising at least one reference to at least one of the documents added to the subset in the immediately previous iteration, and adding to the subset each of the found citing documents that is not already in the subset.

at least one of the processors receiving through at least one interface operatively coupled to the processor a definition of a search query through an interface operatively coupled to at least one of the processors;

at least one of the processors executing instructions retrieved from the computer-readable storage medium to identify all responsive documents within the subset that satisfy the one or more criteria comprised by the search query, and

at least one of the processors executing instructions retrieved from the computer-readable storage medium to transmit through one of the interfaces information that identifies one or more of the responsive documents.

8. The method of claim 7, comprising:

at least one of the processors executing instructions retrieved from the computer-readable storage medium to compute rankings of the identified responsive documents, the computed ranking of each respective identified responsive document depending at least upon the iteration in which that document would first be added to the subset; and

at least one of the processors executing instructions retrieved from the computer-readable storage medium to transmit through one of the interfaces information that identifies a plurality of the responsive documents;

wherein the provided information that identifies a plurality of the responsive documents comprises information about the ranking of the identified documents.

9. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by at least one processor within a computer system that comprises one or more processors and a memory operatively coupled to at least one of the processors, cause the computer system at least to:

store in the memory a search level that is a whole number that is at least two;

store in the memory a definition of a subset of a collection of electronic documents, the collection of documents comprising a plurality of documents, and the subset comprising one or more source documents within the collection and one or more additional documents within the collection, the one or more additional documents being identifiable by a process carried out for a number of iterations equal to the search level and comprising;

(1) a first iteration that comprises finding one or more references in one or more of the electronic source documents, each of the references identifying a respective document in the collection, and adding to the subset each document in the collection that is identified by any of the found references but is not already in the subset, and

(2) one or more subsequent iterations, each of which comprises finding one or more references in one or more of the documents added to the subset in the immediately previous iteration, each of the references identifying a respective document in the collection, and adding to the subset each document in the collection that is identified by any of the found references but is not already in the subset;

receive through at least one interface operatively coupled to at least one of the processors a definition of a search query through an interface operatively coupled to at least one of the processors;

identify all responsive documents within the subset that satisfy the one or more criteria comprised by the search query, and transmit through one of the interfaces information that identifies one or more of the responsive documents.

10. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the instructions comprise instructions that, when executed by at least one of the processors, cause the computer system at least to:

compute rankings of the identified responsive documents, the computed ranking of each respective identified responsive document depending at least upon the iteration in which that document would first be added to the subset; and

transmit through one of the interfaces information that identifies a plurality of the responsive documents;

wherein the provided information that identifies a plurality of the responsive documents comprises information about the ranking of the identified documents.

11. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable storage medium encoded with instructions that, when executed by at least one processor within a computer system that comprises one or more processors and a memory operatively coupled to at least one of the processors, cause the computer system at least to:

store in the memory a search level that is a whole number that is at least two;

store in the memory a definition of a subset of a collection of electronic documents, the collection of documents comprising a plurality of documents, and the subset comprising one or more source documents within the collection and one or more additional documents within the collection, the one or more additional documents being identifiable by a process carried out for a number of iterations equal to the search level and comprising;

(1) a first iteration that comprises finding one or more citing documents within the collection, each citing document comprising at least one reference to at least one of the electronic source documents, and adding to the subset each of the found citing documents that is not already in the subset, and

(2) one or more subsequent iterations, each of which comprises finding one or more citing documents within the collection, each citing document comprising at least one reference to at least one of the documents added to the subset in the immediately previous iteration, and adding to the subset each of the found citing documents that is not already in the subset.

receive through at least one interface operatively coupled to at least one of the processors a definition of a search query through an interface operatively coupled to at least one of the processors;

identify all responsive documents within the subset that satisfy the one or more criteria comprised by the search query, and

transmit through one of the interfaces information that identifies one or more of the responsive documents.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the instructions comprise instructions that, when executed by at least one of the processors, cause the computer system at least to:

compute rankings of the identified responsive documents, the computed ranking of each respective identified responsive document depending at least upon the iteration in which that document would first be added to the subset; and

transmit through one of the interfaces information that identifies a plurality of the responsive documents;

wherein the provided information that identifies a plurality of the responsive documents comprises information about the ranking of the identified documents.