System for ranking the relevance of information objects accessed by computer users
First Claim
1. In a computerized information access system, a method for presenting items of information to users, comprising the steps of:
- a) storing user profiles for users having access to the system, where each user profile is based, at least in part, on the attributes of information the user finds to be of interest;
b) determining an attribute-based relevance factor for an item of information which is indicative of the degree to which an attribute of that item of information matches the profile for a particular user;
c) determining a measure of correlation between the particular user'"'"'s interests and those of other users who have accessed said item of information;
d) combining said relevance factor and said degree of correlation to produce a ranking score for said item of information;
e) repeating steps b, c and d for each item of information to be presented to said particular user; and
f) displaying the items of information to the user in accordance with their ranking scores.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Information presented to a user via an information access system is ranked according to a prediction of the likely degree of relevance to the user'"'"'s interests. A profile of interests is stored for each user having access to the system. Items of information to be presented to a user are ranked according to their likely degree of relevance to that user and displayed in order of ranking. The prediction of relevance is carried out by combining data pertaining to the content of each item of information with other data regarding correlations of interests between users. A value indicative of the content of a document can be added to another value which defines user correlation, to produce a ranking score for a document. Alternatively, multiple regression analysis or evolutionary programming can be carried out with respect to various factors pertaining to document content and user correlation, to generate a prediction of relevance. The user correlation data is obtained from feedback information provided by users when they retrieve items of information. Preferably, the user provides an indication of interest in each document which he or she retrieves from the system.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. In a computerized information access system, a method for presenting items of information to users, comprising the steps of:
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a) storing user profiles for users having access to the system, where each user profile is based, at least in part, on the attributes of information the user finds to be of interest;
b) determining an attribute-based relevance factor for an item of information which is indicative of the degree to which an attribute of that item of information matches the profile for a particular user;
c) determining a measure of correlation between the particular user'"'"'s interests and those of other users who have accessed said item of information;
d) combining said relevance factor and said degree of correlation to produce a ranking score for said item of information;
e) repeating steps b, c and d for each item of information to be presented to said particular user; and
f) displaying the items of information to the user in accordance with their ranking scores. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 27)
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14. A computer-based information access system, comprising:
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a first database containing items of information to be provided to users of said system;
means for enabling users to indicate their degree of interest in particular items of information stored in said first database;
means for determining the correlation between the indicated interests of respective users and for storing information related thereto; and
means for predicting a given user'"'"'s likely degree of interest in a particular item of information on the basis of said information relating to the determined correlation and at least one attribute of the item of information. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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28. A method for displaying items of information to users, comprising the steps of:
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determining a relevance factor for an item of information, based upon an attribute of the item of information;
defining a relationship between the interests of a given user and those of other users;
determining a correlation factor for the item of information, based upon said defined relationship;
combining said relevance factor and said correlation factor to produce a ranking score for the item of information; and
displaying the item of information to the given user in accordance with its ranking score. - View Dependent Claims (29, 30)
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Specification