Method and apparatus for structuring and managing the participatory evaluation of documents by a plurality of reviewers
First Claim
1. A computer implemented method for structuring the evaluation of at least one document by a plurality of reviewers who participate in and contribute to said evaluation, said at least one document prepared by at least one preparer, said method comprising the steps off(a) defining a workflow graph structure which specifies said evaluation, and storing it into a memory, said workflow graph structure comprising a generic review, a plurality of roles, a plurality of stages, a generic document, a criterion to finalize the role for each of said plurality of roles, a criterion to finalize the stage for each of said plurality of stages, and a criterion to finalize the document for said generic document;
- (b) creating said at least one document having a plurality of aspects to be reviewed independently, each of said plurality of aspects corresponding to one of said plurality of roles;
(c) associating zero or more authorized reviewers to said at least one document and to each of said plurality of roles;
(d) creating at least one review for said at least one document associated to at least one of said plurality of roles;
(e) analyzing said at least one document and said at least one review relative to said workflow graph structure, processing a subset of said plurality of roles and a subset of said plurality of stages responsive to the actions of said plurality of reviewers, consistent with said criteria to finalize the role associated to said subset of said plurality of roles, said criteria to finalize the stage associated to said subset of said plurality of stages, and said criterion to finalize the document;
(f) notifying said authorized reviewers associated to said plurality of roles outgoing from each of the processed stages when its associated said criterion to finalize the stage is satisfied.
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Abstract
A method for structuring the process of participatory document evaluation by a plurality of reviewers utilizing a feed-forward synchronization schema defined as a workflow graph (52) construct. The workflow graph construct allows one to define efficient document evaluation strategies that take advantage of the inherent parallelism within a business process, and take into account the data dependencies exhibited by the business process. Independent aspects of each document are evaluated in parallel, and a stage evaluation is started when all required data (including data provided by other reviewers) is available. The workflow graph construct assembles together a set of workflow objects (review (46), roles (48), stages (50), document (44)), and associates a set of functional properties to each of them. The topology of the workflow graph describes the synchronization schema, while the functional properties provide additional flexibility and further refine the evaluation strategy. A method for managing the process of participatory document evaluation by a plurality of reviewers utilizing a programmed computer system. Documents to be reviewed are prepared by a set of preparers, and are stored into a database (38). Reviewers participate in the review process by evaluating aspects of the document within their area of expertise. Depending on the information in each individual document, a set of reviewers is notified that the document is ready for their review. Each reviewer is notified at the time appropriate for his/her role via electronic mail by a workflow manager (30).
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer implemented method for structuring the evaluation of at least one document by a plurality of reviewers who participate in and contribute to said evaluation, said at least one document prepared by at least one preparer, said method comprising the steps off
(a) defining a workflow graph structure which specifies said evaluation, and storing it into a memory, said workflow graph structure comprising a generic review, a plurality of roles, a plurality of stages, a generic document, a criterion to finalize the role for each of said plurality of roles, a criterion to finalize the stage for each of said plurality of stages, and a criterion to finalize the document for said generic document; -
(b) creating said at least one document having a plurality of aspects to be reviewed independently, each of said plurality of aspects corresponding to one of said plurality of roles; (c) associating zero or more authorized reviewers to said at least one document and to each of said plurality of roles; (d) creating at least one review for said at least one document associated to at least one of said plurality of roles; (e) analyzing said at least one document and said at least one review relative to said workflow graph structure, processing a subset of said plurality of roles and a subset of said plurality of stages responsive to the actions of said plurality of reviewers, consistent with said criteria to finalize the role associated to said subset of said plurality of roles, said criteria to finalize the stage associated to said subset of said plurality of stages, and said criterion to finalize the document; (f) notifying said authorized reviewers associated to said plurality of roles outgoing from each of the processed stages when its associated said criterion to finalize the stage is satisfied. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An apparatus for managing the participatory evaluation of at least one document by a plurality of reviewers, said participatory evaluation described by a workflow graph structure, the apparatus comprising:
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(a) a graph description interface module for specifying said workflow graph structure using an external representation, said workflow graph structure comprising a generic review, a plurality of roles, a plurality of stages, a generic document, a criterion to finalize the role for each of said plurality of roles, a criterion to finalize the stage for each of said plurality of stages, and a criterion to finalize the document for said generic document; (b) a preparer interface module for allowing a plurality of preparers to create, store, retrieve, and modify said at least one document, having a plurality of aspects to be reviewed, each of said plurality of roles corresponding to one of said plurality of aspects; (c) an identifying procedure used to associate zero or more authorized reviewers to said at least one document and to each of said plurality of roles, thereby allowing said authorized reviewers to review the aspects corresponding to said each of said plurality of roles; (d) a reviewer interface module used by said authorized reviewers to create, store, retrieve, and modify a plurality of reviews for said at least one document and said plurality of roles; (e) a translation module for generating an internal representation of said workflow graph structure from said external representation, and storing it in a memory; (f) a workflow manager accessing said at least one document, said plurality of reviews, said internal representation;
analyzing and updating said at least one document based on its associated said plurality of reviews;(g) a notification module for informing said authorized reviewers of the appropriate time for creating said plurality of reviews for said plurality of roles. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification