Information organization and navigation by user-generated associative overlays
First Claim
1. A system for linking together digital information objects of a digital information space comprising:
- an overlay created by a user, the overlay maintained separate from the digital information objects;
at least one concept node within the overlay, each concept node expressing a concept, each concept described by at least one keyword;
at least one information node within the overlay, each information node representing one of the digital information objects, each information node linkable to each concept node; and
a user interface in communication with the overlay and the digital information space, the user interface operative to(a) accept at least one keyword from the user,(b) accept input from the user indicating a digital information object in the digital information space to be accessed,(c) display contents of the accessed digital information object, and(d) display at least one user-selectable link associated with each keyword common to both the displayed contents of the accessed digital information object and to a concept described by the keyword, the user-selectable link providing access to another digital information object in the digital information space.
2 Assignments
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Accused Products
Abstract
Digital information objects in a digital information space are linked through the use of an overlay. A dynamic association between an accessed digital information object and each concept node in the overlay is established if the accessed digital information object and the overlay include at least one common concept. Links to other digital information objects are displayed if those objects are represented by information nodes within the overlay linked to a concept node expressing a common concept. At least a portion of the overlay may be exported for incorporation into other overlays or for various information processing functions.
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Citations
29 Claims
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1. A system for linking together digital information objects of a digital information space comprising:
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an overlay created by a user, the overlay maintained separate from the digital information objects; at least one concept node within the overlay, each concept node expressing a concept, each concept described by at least one keyword; at least one information node within the overlay, each information node representing one of the digital information objects, each information node linkable to each concept node; and a user interface in communication with the overlay and the digital information space, the user interface operative to (a) accept at least one keyword from the user, (b) accept input from the user indicating a digital information object in the digital information space to be accessed, (c) display contents of the accessed digital information object, and (d) display at least one user-selectable link associated with each keyword common to both the displayed contents of the accessed digital information object and to a concept described by the keyword, the user-selectable link providing access to another digital information object in the digital information space. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. A method of user controlled, dynamic linking of digital information objects in a digital information space, the method comprising:
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creating an overlay distinct from any digital information object in the digital information space; accepting input from a user establishing at least one concept node in the overlay, each concept node including at least one keyword phrase establishing a concept, each keyword phrase including at least one keyword; accepting input from a user establishing at least one information node in the overlay, each information node representing a digital information object in the digital information space, each information node associated with a concept node including a concept common to both the information node and the concept node; scanning the contents of a selected digital information object for a keyword phrase included in each concept node; and displaying a user-selectable link for each keyword phrase found in the scanned contents, each user-selectable link providing access to at least one related digital information object, wherein the information node representing each of the at least one related digital information object is associated with at least one concept node including at least one keyword phrase found in the scanned contents. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23, 24, 25)
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26. A method of sharing information linking together digital information objects of a digital information space, the method comprising:
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creating an overlay comprising at least one concept node, each concept node expressing one concept; accessing a digital information object in the digital information space; establishing a link between the digital information object and each concept node expressing at least one concept commonly expressed by the digital information object and the concept node; and exporting the at least one concept node from the overlay for use in at least one other overlay. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29)
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Specification