Method and apparatus for improved information representation

• US 6,836,768 B1
• Filed: 04/27/2000
• Issued: 12/28/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 04/27/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: MEC Management, LLC (Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation, North Dakota)
• Original Assignee: Surfnotes Inc.
• Inventors: Hirsch, Scott
• Primary Examiner(s): ALAM, SHAHID AL
• Application Number:
  US09/559,137
• Time in Patent Office: 1,706 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/10, 707/100, 707/2, 707/5, 707/103.R, 715/513, 715/501.1, 715/514, 709/218, 717/146, 717/117
• US Class Current: 715/225
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9538 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/959 Network
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99932 Access augmentation or optimizing
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99944 Object-oriented database structure

Abstract

A information search and navigation system indexes, categorizes and condenses data from text or other documents. In various embodiments, the invention further can utilize user information goals, document or website types and multi-page link path options that together provide a fast, multi-page Web navigation system.

Claims

1. A system for converting one or more source documents into summary notes comprising:

a content input for receiving said one or more source documents;

a sentence divider for dividing at least some of said one or more source documents into a plurality of sentences;

a sentence analyzer for identifying key sentences in said one or more source documents and extracting key sentences of said one or more source documents;

a set of possible categories of sentences;

a sentence store for holding categorized sentences extracted from said source documents; and

one or more interfaces for providing flexible access to sentences.

2. The system according to claim 1 wherein said one or more source documents comprises one or more documents retrieved by a search engine.

3. The system according to claim 1 wherein said one or more source documents comprises one or more documents retrieved from a network.

4. The system according to claim 1 wherein said one or more source documents comprises a document indicated by a user by reference to a universal resource locator.

5. The system according to claim 1 further comprising:

a link engine able to analyze links in accordance with a set of link analysis rules and to initiate fetching and parsing additional content indicated by links.

6. The system according to claim 1 wherein said system can display data consistently across different sized display screens on different information devices.

7. The system according to claim 1 wherein said system is embodied into a media containing logic instructions that when transmitted into appropriately configured logic device will cause the device to embody said system.

8. The system according to claim 1 wherein said sentence analyzer uses one or more factors in determining which sentences are key sentences, said factors selected from the group comprising:

writing style of a sentence;

length of a sentence;

punctuation level of a sentence;

location of a sentence in a document;

length of a document in which a sentence occurs;

number of words per sentence on average in a document compared with number of words in a sentence;

number of proper nouns in the sentence; and

number of words flagged as important words in a sentence.

9. The system according to claim 1 further wherein said sentence analyzer scores characteristics of sentences and determines a cumulative importance score for one or more sentences in a document.

10. The system according to claim 8 further wherein sentences having higher than a particular score may then be included in said store as key sentences.

11. The system according to claim 8 further wherein sentences may be arranged in order by relative score or in the same order said sentences were in the original content.

12. A method of converting one or more source documents into summary notes comprising:

receiving content input of said one or more source documents;

dividing at least some of said one or more source documents into a plurality of sentences;

identifying key sentences in said one or more source documents and extracting key sentences of said one or more source documents;

providing a set of possible categories of sentences;

holding categorized sentences extracted from said source documents in a storage; and

providing one or more interfaces for flexible access to sentences.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said one or more source documents comprises one or more documents retrieved by a search engine.

14. The method of claim 12 herein said one or more source documents comprises one or more documents retrieved from a network.

15. The method of claim 12 wherein said one or more source documents comprises a document indicated by a user by reference to a universal resource locator.

16. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

analyzing links in accordance with a set of link analysis rules and to initiate fetching and parsing additional content indicated by links.

17. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

using one or more factors in determining which sentences are key sentences, said factors selected from the group comprising;

writing style of a sentence;

length of a sentence;

punctuation level of a sentence;

location of a sentence in a document;

length of a document in which a sentence occurs;

number of words per sentence on average in a document compared with number of words in a sentence;

number of proper nouns in the sentence; and

number of words flagged as important words in a sentence.

18. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

scoring characteristics of sentences and determining a cumulative importance score for one or more sentences in a document.

19. The method of claim 12 further comprising:

storing sentences having higher than a particular score as key sentences.

20. A system for converting one or more source documents into summary notes comprising:

means for receiving content input of said one or more source documents;

means for dividing at least some of said one or more source documents into a plurality of sentences;

means for identifying key sentences in said one or more source documents and extracting key sentences of said one or more source documents;

means for providing a set of possible categories of sentences;

means for holding categorized sentences extracted from said source documents in a storage; and

means for providing one or more interfaces for flexible access to sentences.