SYSTEM, METHOD, AND APPARATUS FOR MANAGEMENT OF MEDIA OBJECTS

• US 20110055175A1
• Filed: 08/27/2009
• Published: 03/03/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines SA (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Travis, Amy D., DeLuca, Lisa Seacat, Nesbitt, Pamela A.
• Granted Patent: US 8,768,846 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 707/694
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/435 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/48 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually

Abstract

A computer program product that includes a computer useable storage medium to store a computer readable program for tracking media object data that, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform operations. The operations include storing usage data for a media object which is used in a first message. The usage data indicates historical usage of the media object by a user. The operations also include recalling the stored usage data for the media object in response to associating the media object with a second message. The operations also include communicating to the user the stored usage data corresponding to the media object prior to sending the second message with the media object to a recipient.

Claims

1. A computer program product comprising a computer useable storage medium to store a computer readable program for tracking media object data, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a computer, causes the computer to perform operations comprising:

storing usage data for a media object used in a first message, wherein the usage data indicates historical usage of the media object by a user;

recalling the stored usage data for the media object in response to associating the media object with a second message; and

communicating to the user the stored usage data corresponding to the media object prior to sending the second message with the media object to a recipient.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to perform further operations comprising requesting confirmation from the user to send the second message with the media object to the recipient based on the usage data for the media object.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the operation to store the usage data comprises storing the data to a usage data repository coupled to the computer.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the operation to store the usage data comprises storing the usage data to a data repository connected to the computer via a network.

5. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the operation to store the usage data comprises storing a date on which the media object was received by the user.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the operation to store the usage data comprises storing a time at which the media object was received by the user.

7. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the operation to store the usage data comprises storing a source identifier to identify a sender of the media object.

8. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the operation to store the usage data comprises storing a recipient identifier to identify a previous recipient of the media object from the user.

9. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the operation to store the usage data comprises storing user input commentary corresponding to the media object.

10. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on the computer, causes the computer to perform further operations comprising storing a user-defined rule to control a relationship between the media object and the recipient.

11. A system for tracking media object usage, the system comprising:

a display device to display messages to a user; and

a communication client coupled to the display device, the communication client comprising;

a message composer to facilitate composing a message from the user; and

a media object tracker to generate usage data corresponding to a media object associated with a first message, wherein the usage data indicates historical usage of the media object by the user, wherein the media object tracker is further configured to recall the usage data for the media object and send the usage data to the display for viewing by the user in response associating the media object with a second message.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising a data repository coupled to the communication device, wherein the data repository is configured to store the usage data corresponding to the media object, wherein the usage data comprises date and time stamps corresponding to communication of the media object.

13. An apparatus for tracking media object usage, the apparatus comprising:

a detection engine to detect an association between a media object and a first message;

an entry update engine coupled to the detection engine, the entry update engine to store usage data in a media object directory within a data repository, wherein the usage data indicates the association between the media object and the first message; and

a lookup engine coupled to the detection engine, the lookup engine to recall the stored usage data for the media object and to communicate the stored usage data to a user in response to detection of an association between the media object and a second message.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the detection engine is further configured to detect the media object attached to the second message.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the detection engine is further configured to detect the media object embedded within a body of the second message.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the detection engine is further configured to detect the association between the media object and the second message within a synchronous communication, wherein the synchronous communication is a substantially real-time communication between the user and a recipient.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the detection engine is further configured to detect the association between the media object and the second message within an asynchronous communication between the user and a recipient.

18. A computer implemented method for tracking usage data for a media object, the method comprising:

generating a log to track usage data for a media object used in a first message, wherein the usage data indicates historical usage of the media object by a user;

storing the usage data log on an electronic storage device coupled to a communication device;

recalling the stored usage data for the media object in response to associating the media object with a second message; and

communicating to the user the stored usage data corresponding to the media object prior to sending the second message with the media object to a recipient.

19. The computer implemented method of claim 18, further comprising requesting confirmation from the user to send the second message with the media object to the recipient.

20. The computer implemented method of claim 18, wherein recalling the stored data for the media object further comprises initiating a data retrieval process in response to a trigger event, wherein the trigger event comprises an action to attach the media object to the second message or to embed the media object within the second message.