Method of and System for Browsing and Displaying Items from a Collection

• US 20120036482A1
• Filed: 09/29/2010
• Published: 02/09/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Copia Interactive LLC
• Original Assignee: Copia Interactive LLC
• Inventors: Haynes, Raymond Lee II, Nelson, Dave, Smigielski, Robb
• Granted Patent: US 9,038,000 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/838
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0483 Interaction with page-structured environments, e.g. book metaphor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/169 Annotation, e.g. comment data or footnotes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/171 by use of digital ink
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data

Abstract

In accordance with an embodiment, a method of browsing and displaying items from a collection is provided. Information about each of plurality of items in a collection is stored. A plurality of user-entered tags is obtained. Each tag comprises a term associated with one or more of the items in the collection. The tags are stored in machine-readable storage media. An image that is representative of an item is displayed on a display screen along with images that are representative of each of a plurality of associated tags. In response to a user selecting a particular one of the displayed tags, an image representing the selected tag is displayed along with a plurality of images that are representative of items associated with the selected tag. In response to the user selecting a particular one of the displayed items, an image that is representative of the selected item can be displayed along with a plurality of images that are representative of tags associated with the selected item.

Claims

1. A method of browsing and displaying items from a collection comprising steps of:

storing information about each of plurality of items in a collection;

obtaining a plurality of user-entered tags, the tags comprising terms associated with one or more of the items in the collection;

storing the tags in machine-readable storage media;

displaying an image that is representative of an item on a display screen along with images that are representative of each of a plurality of associated tags; and

in response to a user selecting a particular one of the displayed tags, displaying an image representing the selected tag along with a plurality of images that are representative of items associated with the selected tag.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein in response to the user selecting a particular one of the displayed items, an image that is representative of the selected item is displayed along with a plurality of images that are representative of tags associated with the selected item.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein each item is associated with a plurality of tags and each tag is associated with one or more of the items.

4. The method according to claim 1, further comprising obtaining tags from sources other than users.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the items comprise books and electronic books and wherein the images that are representative of the items comprise images of book covers.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the images that are representative of each of the plurality of associated tags have a characteristic that represents relevancy of the tag to the item.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the characteristic is a size of the tag images.

8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the relevancy of the tag to the item is determined from the number of times that users have associated the tag with the item.

9. The method according to claim 2, wherein the images that are representative of each of the plurality of associated items have a characteristic that represents relevancy of the tag to the item.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the characteristic is a size of the item images.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein the relevancy of the tag to the item is determined from the number of times that users have associated the tag with the item.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein said displaying the image that is representative of the item on the display screen along with images that are representative of each of the plurality of associated tags comprises displaying lines connecting the item to each of the associated tags.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein said displaying the image that is representative of the selected tag along with the plurality of images that are representative of items associated with the selected tag comprises displaying lines connecting the tag to each of the associated items.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein said displaying the image that is representative of the item on the display screen along with images that are representative of each of the plurality of associated tags comprises selecting a subset of tags from a group of tags that are associated with the item.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the tags in the subset are selected according to relevancy to the item.

16. The method according to claim 14, wherein the tags in the subset are selected at least partially at random.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein said displaying the image that is representative of the selected tag along with the plurality of images that are representative of items associated with the selected tag comprises selecting a subset of items from a group of items that are associated with the tag.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the items in the subset are selected according to relevancy to the tag.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein the items in the subset are selected at least partially at random.

20. A system for browsing and displaying items from a collection comprising:

a plurality of remote devices under control of users; and

one or more servers in communication with the plurality of remote devices wherein the one or more servers store information about each of plurality of items in a collection and wherein the one or more servers store a plurality of tags entered into the remote devices by the users, the tags comprising terms associated with one or more of the items in the collection, and wherein the one or more servers cause an image that is representative of an item to be displayed on a display screen of a particular one of the remote devices along with images that are representative of each of a plurality of associated tags, wherein in response to a user selecting a particular one of the displayed tags, the one or more servers cause an image representing the selected tag to be displayed on the display screen along with a plurality of images that are representative of items associated with the selected tag.

21. The method according to claim 20 wherein in response to the user selecting a particular one of the displayed items, the one or more servers cause an image that is representative of the selected item to be displayed on the display screen along with a plurality of images that are representative of tags associated with the selected item.

22. Computer-readable media having stored thereon a software program, which when executed, causes one or more computers to perform a method of browsing and displaying items from a collection comprising steps of:

storing information about each of plurality of items in a collection;

obtaining a plurality of user-entered tags, the tags comprising terms associated with one or more of the items in the collection;

storing the tags in machine-readable storage media;

displaying an image that is representative of an item on a display screen along with images that are representative of each of a plurality of associated tags; and

in response to a user selecting a particular one of the displayed tags, displaying an image representing the selected tag along with a plurality of images that are representative of items associated with the selected tag.

23. The computer-readable media according to claim 22, wherein in response to the user selecting a particular one of the displayed items, an image that is representative of the selected item is displayed along with a plurality of images that are representative of tags associated with the selected item.