Configurable briefing presentations of search results on a graphical interface

• US 6,014,662 A
• Filed: 11/26/1997
• Issued: 01/11/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Moran, Michael Edward, Schaffer, Jeffrey Stephen
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Coby, Frantz
• Application Number:
  US08/979,806
• Time in Patent Office: 776 Days
• Field of Search: 707/7, 707/203, 707/103, 707/3, 707/4, 707/10
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/34 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/35 Clustering; Classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/38 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99934 Query formulation, input preparation, or translation

Abstract

A user interface is provided that performs much of the work in searching and organizing of search data. It defines search terms and sources ahead of time for subjects that have wide usage, or are suggested by the user. It then organizes collections of search documents pertaining to a selected subject into a book divided into sections according to topics about the subject. Each section of the book is represented by a tab on the book that can be used to select between the various topics in the book. The books can be used to organize information from numerous sources about any number of subjects including companies, products, industries, geographies and people. Standard books can be personalized to fit the users need. For example, the content and organization of a book on a company can be changed depending on whether the user of the book owns the company'"'"'s stock, competes with the company, or sells products to it. Preferably, the books are automatically updated with an update event occurs, and provide an indication on the screen that an event has occurred.

Claims

1. A computerized method of searching and presenting information dispersed in various search sources having different organizational formats which sources are searched for information on a subject in particular search categories and subcategories, comprising the steps of:

automatically maintaining and updating an on-line database about the subject by extracting information in the particular search categories and subcategories from the various search sources;

providing for presentation on a computer controlled screen a representation of a book covering each search category, said representation including a plurality of indicia for dividing the presentation of each of the books into sections each section represented by one of the indicia, each such indicia representing either a searched source format or a search subcategory;

presenting to a user a personalized version of a selected book configurated to the interests of the user;

allowing the user to select any one of the indicia to view a section of the book covering search results in the source format or subcategory represented by said indicia;

responding to selection of an indicia by having a computer system issue a search through the on-line database for information in the selected section of the personalized version of the book; and

responding to said selection of one indicia by displaying the search results of the selected section of the book whereby different versions of the book can be provided to different users.

2. The method of claim 1 including the step of including for selection by the user a multiplicity of external search sources from the group consisting of newspapers, journals, websites and government reports.

3. The method of claim 2 including the step of including headlines and headings of articles of the external sources in the book under an applicable indicia title.

4. The method of claim 3 including the step of providing for the selection of a full text display of an article represented by one of the headings or headlines when the user selects the headline.

5. The method of claim 4 including the step of removing headings and headlines from the book when they are older than a fixed period of time.

6. A computer program on a computer usable medium for performing a computer search through information on a plurality of subjects in various search sources having different organizational formats for information on a particular subject in search categories and subcategories, said computer program comprising:

database code for maintaining and updating an on-line database on the particular subject by extracting information in the search categories and subcategories;

display code for providing on a computer controlled screen a representation of a book covering a search category requested by the user, said representation having a plurality of indicia for dividing the presentation of information from the search sources into sections each section represented by one of the indicia each indicia representing a search source type or a search subcategory;

selection code for permitting a user to choose any one of the selected indicia to view search results in the section represented by the selected indicia;

search code for responding to the choice of an indicia for having a computer system perform a search through the database and the search sources with different information formats covering the chosen category and subcategories;

document management code for organizing code information retrieved from the searched sources in accordance with the indicia; and

results code responsive to said selection for displaying in book form, on the screen, results that are limited to the information in the categories and subcategories requested.

7. The computer program of claim 6 wherein the document management code includes:

document collection code for checking data sources to obtain documents or references from data sources;

document indexing code for searching through said data sources; and

document categorizing code for placing applicable data from said data sources into categories represented by said books and indices.

8. The computer software of claim 7 including code providing for selection by the user of a multiplicity of external sources from the group consisting of newspapers, journals, web sites and government reports.

9. The computer program of claim 8 wherein computer code for presenting headlines and headings of articles in the external sources.

10. The computer program of claim 9 including code for allowing the user to view in a full text display one of the articles represented.

11. The computer program of claim 10 where said full text display is in said representation of the book.

12. The computer program of claim 9 including editing code for a user of the computer system to make changes to the books contents.

13. The computer program of claim 12 wherein at least one of said subcategories represented by a indicia contains reference to pertinent web sites which are accessed by selecting said reference.

14. The computer program of claim 13 including access code for accessing a network of computers wherein at least one of said computers contains means for making entries into said representation of a book appearing on a display screen of another computer.

15. The computer program of claim 14 including transfer means to move information from the databases supporting the interface into other documents contained on a computer in the network of computers.

16. The computer software of claim 7 including automatic document routing code for providing documents related to said book provided automatically to user to update the book.

17. A computer system for searching and presenting information, randomly dispersed in documents of various search sources having different organizational formats, which sources are searched for information in particular search categories and subcategories comprising the steps of:

format means for providing on a screen a representation of a book covering the search category, said representation including a plurality of indicia dividing the presentation of information of the search category into sections each section represented by one of the indicia, each such indicia representing either a searched source format or a search subcategory;

configuration means for configuring the book to suit the interests of a particular user;

selection means for allowing the user to select any one of the preselected indicia in the configurated book to view search results covering search results in the category and subcategory in the section represented by said indicia;

response means for responding to selection of an indicia by having a computer system issue a search through the search sources for information in the selected category and subcategories;

categorization means for categorizing information retrieved in accordance with the selected indicia; and

display means for responding to said selection by displaying search results in said characterization of the book where information about a category is personalized to the particular user whereby personalized versions of a book covering the same category can be provided to different users.

18. The system of claim 17 including means for selection by the user a multiplicity of external search sources from the group consisting of newspapers, journals, websites and government reports.

19. The system of claim 17 including a document management means including:

document collection means for checking data sources to obtain documents or references from data sources;

document indexing means for searching through said data sources; and

document categorizing means for placing applicable data from said data sources into categories represented by said books and indices.

20. A method of searching and presenting information on a subject in search sources containing both information related to and unrelated to the subject, comprising the steps of:

preparing a database of the subject;

continuously updating the database with information about the subject by automated computer searching on-line through a multiplicity of search sources containing information that is both related and unrelated to the subject, said search sources selected from the group consisting of newspapers, journals, websites and government reports;

dividing the information about the subject into preselected categories and subcategories;

providing on a screen a representation of a book covering the selected category, said representation having a plurality of indicia representing search source types and subcategories selectable by the user for dividing the presentation of information from the searched sources into segments each segment represented by one of the indicia, each such indicia representing a search source type or search subcategory; and

configuring the representation of the book to the interests of a user;

responding to selection of an indicia by the user by displaying search results in said segment of the book represented by the selected indicia.

21. The method of claim 20 including the step of allowing the user to make changes to the book content.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein said subject is companies and said category is a particular company.

23. The method of claim 22 including notifying the user on the screen when there is a change in or addition to the book.