Automatic information collection system using most frequent uncommon words or phrases

• US 6,760,694 B2
• Filed: 03/21/2001
• Issued: 07/06/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/21/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: White, Craig R., Al-Kazily, Binnur
• Primary Examiner(s): LE, UYEN T
• Application Number:
  US09/814,267
• Publication Number:
  US 20020136279A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,203 Days
• Field of Search: 707/102, 707/104.1, 707/1, 707/2, 707/10, 709/224
• US Class Current: 704/2
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/958 Organisation or management of web site content, e.g. publishing, maintaining pages or automatic linking
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

Systems and corresponding methods that facilitate the automatic organization and collection of electronic information accessed or communicated by a computer user are provided. One embodiment of the system automatically monitors the type and content of electronic files, such as web pages, emails, and other sources for content that are accessed, received, or transmitted by a user. The system then analyzes this information and determines keywords or categories of information included in each content source. The content sources are then classified and referenced in one or more databases for future rapid access.

Claims

1. A method for facilitating review of information that has been accessed by a user comprising:

parsing a content source;

identifying one or more keywords included in the content source by identifying one or more uncommonly used words or phrases that most frequently appear in the content source;

establishing one or more associations between said one or more keywords and the content source;

updating the content of a database that is separate from and that excludes the content source based on said associations, wherein the database contains references to one or more content sources, keywords, and associations between said one or more content sources and keywords so as to enable searching for at least one of content sources that comprise a given keyword and keywords that are contained by a given content source.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the association between a keyword and a content source indicates that the content source contains the keyword.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

accessing the content source based on the associations included in the database.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

evaluating the content source based on the associations included in the database.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the act of accessing the content source includes:

selecting a keyword associated with the content source from the database.

6. The method of claim 4 wherein the act of evaluating the content source includes:

viewing one or more keywords associated with the content source, in response to selecting a reference to the content source from the database.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the act of updating the content of the database comprises:

storing in the database a reference to the content source, if the database does not include a reference to the content source.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the act of updating the content of the database further comprises:

storing in the database said one or more keywords associated with the content source, if the database does not include said one or more keywords.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the act of updating the content of the database further comprises:

storing in the database the associations between said one or more keywords and the content source, if the database does not include the associations.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the act of updating the content of the database further comprises:

removing associations between one or more keywords included in the database and the content source, if the content source is no longer associated with said one or more keywords.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the act of updating the content of the database further comprises:

removing a keyword from the database, if the keyword is no longer associated with any content source referenced in the database.

12. The method of claim 10 wherein the act of updating the content of the database further comprises:

removing a reference to a content source from the database if the content source is no longer associated with any keyword included in the database.

13. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

searching a communications network for content sources that include one or more of said keywords stored in the database.

14. The method of claim 10 further comprising:

searching one or more communications networks for content sources that are relevant to the content sources referenced in the database.

15. The method of claim 14 further comprising:

providing the search results to the user.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising presenting the content of the database to the user in a template.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising filtering the information stored in the database with the template according to one or more keywords to enable a user to identify content previously accessed by the user that is relevant to the one or more keywords.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the content comprises storing the number of times the one or more keywords appear in the content source.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein updating the content comprises storing a universal resource locator (URL) or a path and file name.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the content source comprises a web page.

16. A system for facilitating review of information that has been accessed by a user, said system comprising logic code configured for execution by a processor, wherein execution of the code can cause the system to perform the following acts:

parsing a content source;

identifying one or more keywords included in the content source by identifying one or more uncommonly used words or phrases that most frequently appear in the content source;

establishing an association between said one or more keywords and the content source; and

updating content of a database that is separate from and that excludes the content source based on said association, wherein the database contains references to one or more content sources, keywords, and associations between said one or more content sources and keywords so as to enable searching for at least one of content sources that comprise a given keyword and keywords that are contained by a given content source.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein execution of the code can cause the system to further perform the following act:

storing in the database said one or more keywords associated with the content source, if the database does not include said one or more keywords.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein execution of the code can cause the system to further perform the following act:

storing in the database the associations between said one or more keywords and the content source, if the database does not include the associations.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein execution of the code can cause the system to further perform the following act:

removing associations between one or more keywords included in the database and the content source;

if the content source is no longer associated with said one or more keywords.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein execution of the code can cause the system to further perform the following act:

removing a keyword from the database, if the keyword is no longer associated with any content source referenced in the database.

25. The system of claim 16, wherein execution of the code can cause the system to further perform the following act:

presenting the content of the database to the user in a template.

26. The system of claim 16, wherein execution of the code can cause the system to further perform the following act:

filtering the information stored in the database according to one or more keywords to enable a user to identify content previously accessed by the user that is relevant to the one or more keywords.

27. The system of claim 16, wherein execution of the code can cause the system to further perform the following act:

storing the number of times the one or more keywords appear in the content source.

28. The system of claim 16, wherein execution of the code can cause the system to further perform the following act:

updating the content by storing a universal resource locator (URL) or a path and file name.

30. The method of claim 16, wherein the content source comprises a web page.