Techniques for annotating portions of a document relevant to concepts of interest

• US 7,395,501 B2
• Filed: 08/06/2002
• Issued: 07/01/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Graham, Jamey, Stork, David G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bashore; William L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tran; Quoc A
• Application Number:
  US10/214,380
• Publication Number:
  US 20030051214A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,156 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/5, 364/419.19, 395/336, 715/230, 715/236, 715/254, 715/273, 715/700, 705/10
• US Class Current: 715/254
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/30 of unstructured textual data document management systems G06F16/93
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/34 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/40 of multimedia data, e.g. slideshows comprising image and additional audio data retrieval of still image data G06F16/50; retrieval of audio data G06F16/60; retrieval of video data G06F16/70
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

An automatic reading assistance application for documents available in electronic form. An automatic annotator is provided which finds concepts of interest and keywords. The operation of the annotator is personalizable for a particular user. The annotator is also capable of improving its performance overtime by both automatic and manual feedback. The annotator is usable with any electronic document. Another available feature is a thumbnail image of all or part of a multi-page document wherein a currently displayed section of the document is highlighted in the thumbnail image. Movement of the highlighted area in the thumbnail image is then synchronized with scrolling through the document.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for displaying an electronically stored document comprising:

receiving user input identifying one or more concepts from a plurality of concepts;

displaying the document including visually emphasizing locations in the document that are relevant to the one or more concepts, the visually emphasized locations corresponding to locations of one or more keywords located in the document, the one or more keywords associated with the one or more concepts and identified from a plurality of keywords stored for the plurality of concepts, wherein presence of a keyword from the one or more keywords in the document implies discussion of a concept with which the keyword is associated; and

displaying a relevance indicator for each concept in the one or more concepts, the relevance indicator for each concept indicating a degree of relevance of the document to the concept.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying the document comprises highlighting sections of the document surrounding the locations that are relevant to the one or more concepts.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying the document comprises displaying a balloon pointing to a user-selected one of the locations that are relevant to the one or more concepts, the balloon identifying a concept from the one or more concepts to which text in the user-selected one of the locations is relevant.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein displaying the document comprises displaying marginal notations identifying the locations that are relevant to the one or more concepts.

5. A computer-implemented method for annotating an electronically stored document comprising:

storing first information identifying a plurality of concepts and one or more keywords associated with each concept in the plurality of concepts;

receiving information identifying one or more concepts from the plurality of concepts;

identifying, from the first information, one or more keywords associated with each concept in the one or more concepts, wherein presence of a keyword from the one or more keywords in the document implies discussion of a concept with which the keyword is associated;

searching the electronic document to identify locations in the electronic document of the one or more keywords;

visually emphasizing the locations of the one or more keywords in the electronic document; and

determining a relevance value for each concept in the one or more concepts, the relevance value for each concept indicating relevance of the electronic document to the concept.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein searching the electronic document comprises using a probabilistic inference method to identify the locations in the electronic document of the one or more keywords.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the probabilistic inference method comprises a Bayesian belief network.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

accepting user input defining a structure of the Bayesian belief network.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising modifying the Bayesian belief network in accordance with content of previously annotated electronic documents.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

accepting user input indicating a degree of relation between the locations and the concepts in the one or more concepts; and

modifying the Bayesian belief network responsive to the user input indicating the degree of relation.

11. A computer-implemented method for displaying an electronically stored document comprising:

receiving user input identifying one or more concepts from a plurality of concepts;

identifying one or more keywords associated with each concept in the one or more concepts, wherein presence of a keyword from the one or more keywords in the document implies discussion of a concept with which the keyword is associated;

searching the document to identify locations of the keywords associated with concepts in the one or more concepts in the document;

displaying the document, wherein the identified locations are visually emphasized; and

displaying a relevance indicator for each concept in the one or more concepts, the relevance indicator for a concept indicating relevance of the document to the concept.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein displaying the document comprises highlighting sections of the document surrounding the identified locations.

13. The method of claim 11 wherein displaying the document comprises displaying a balloon pointing to a user-selected one of the identified locations, the balloon identifying a concept from the one or more concepts to which text in the user-selected one of the locations is relevant.

14. The method of claim 11 wherein displaying the document comprises displaying marginal notations identifying the locations of the keywords.

15. A computer system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory configured to store a plurality of code modules for execution by the processor, the plurality of code modules comprising;

a code module for receiving user input identifying one or more concepts from a plurality of concepts;

a code module for displaying the document including visually emphasizing locations in the document that are relevant to the one or more concepts, the visually emphasized locations corresponding to locations of one or more keywords located in the document, the one or more keywords associated with the one or more concepts and identified from a plurality of keywords stored for the plurality of concepts, wherein presence of a keyword from the one or more keywords in the document implies discussion of a concept with which the keyword is associated; and

a code module for displaying a relevance indicator for each concept in the one or more concepts, the relevance indicator for each concept indicating a degree of relevance of the document to the concept.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the code module for displaying the document comprises a code module for highlighting sections of the document surrounding the locations that are relevant to the one or more concepts.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the code module for displaying the document comprises a code module for displaying a balloon pointing to a user-selected one of the locations that are relevant to the one or more concepts, the balloon identifying a concept from the one or more concepts to which text in the user-selected one of the locations is relevant.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the code module for displaying the document comprises a code module for displaying marginal notations identifying the locations that are relevant to the one or more concepts.

19. A computer system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory configured to store a plurality of code modules for execution by the processor, the memory configured to store first information identifying a plurality of concepts and one or more keywords associated with each concept in the plurality of concepts, the plurality of code modules comprising;

a code module for receiving information identifying one or more concepts from the plurality of concepts;

a code module for identifying, from the first information, one or more keywords associated with each concept in the one or more concepts, wherein presence of a keyword from the one or more keywords in the document implies discussion of a concept with which the keyword is associated;

a code module for searching the electronic document to identify locations in the electronic document of the one or more keywords;

a code module for emphasizing the locations of the one or more keywords in the electronic document; and

a code module for determining a relevance value for each concept in the one or more concepts, the relevance value for each concept indicating relevance of the electronic document to the concept.

20. The system of claim 19 wherein the code module for searching the electronic document comprises a code module for using a probabilistic inference method to identify the locations in the electronic document of the one or more keywords.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the probabilistic inference method comprises a Bayesian belief network.

22. The system of claim 21 wherein the plurality of code modules further comprises a code module for accepting user input defining a structure of the Bayesian belief network.

23. The system of claim 22 wherein the plurality of code modules further comprises a code module for modifying the Bayesian belief network in accordance with content of previously annotated electronic documents.

24. The system of claim 21 wherein the plurality of code modules further comprises:

a code module for accepting user input indicating a degree of relation between the locations and the concepts in the one or more concepts; and

a code module for modifying the Bayesian belief network responsive to the user input indicating the degree of relation.

25. A data processing system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory configured to store a plurality of code modules for execution by the processor, the plurality of code modules comprising;

a code module for receiving user input identifying one or more concepts from a plurality of concepts;

a code module for identifying one or more keywords associated with each concept in the one or more concepts, wherein presence of a keyword from the one or more keywords in the document implies discussion of a concept with which the keyword is associated;

a code module for searching the document to identify locations of the keywords associated with concepts in the one or more concepts in the document;

a code module for displaying the document, wherein the identified locations are visually emphasized; and

a code module for displaying a relevance indicator for each concept in the one or more concepts, the relevance indicator for a concept indicating relevance of the document to the concept.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the code module for displaying the document comprises a code module for highlighting sections of the document surrounding the identified locations.

27. The system of claim 25 wherein the code module for displaying the document comprises a code module for displaying a balloon pointing to a user-selected one of the identified locations, the balloon identifying a concept from the one or more concepts to which text in the user-selected one of the locations is relevant.

28. The system of claim 25 wherein the code module for displaying the document comprises a code module for displaying marginal notations identifying the locations.

29. A computer program product stored on a computer-readable storage medium for displaying an electronically stored document, the computer program product comprising:

code for receiving user input identifying one or more concepts from a plurality of concepts;

code for displaying the document including visually emphasizing locations in the document that are relevant to the one or more concepts, the visually emphasized locations corresponding to locations of one or more keywords located in the document, the one or more keywords associated with the one or more concepts and identified from a plurality of keywords stored for the plurality of concepts, wherein presence of a keyword from the one or more keywords in the document implies discussion of a concept with which the keyword is associated; and

code for displaying a relevance indicator for each concept in the one or more concepts, the relevance indicator for each concept indicating a degree of relevance of the document to the concept.

30. A computer program product stored on a computer-readable storage medium for annotating an electronically stored document, the computer program product comprising:

code for storing first information identifying a plurality of concepts and one or more keywords associated with each concept in the plurality of concepts;

code for receiving information identifying one or more concepts from the plurality of concepts;

code for identifying, from the first information, one or more keywords associated with each concept in the one or more concepts, wherein presence of a keyword from the one or more keywords in the document implies discussion of a concept with which the keyword is associated;

code for searching the electronic document to identify locations in the electronic document of the one or more keywords;

code for visually emphasizing the locations of the one or more keywords in the electronic document; and

code for determining a relevance value for each concept in the one or more concepts, the relevance value for each concept indicating relevance of the electronic document to the concept.

31. A computer program product stored on a computer-readable storage medium for displaying an electronically stored document, the computer program product comprising:

code for receiving user input identifying one or more concepts from a plurality of concepts;

code for identifying one or more keywords associated with each concept in the one or more concepts, wherein presence of a keyword from the one or more keywords in the document implies discussion of a concept with which the keyword is associated;

code for searching the document to identify locations of the keywords associated with concepts in the one or more concepts in the document;

code for displaying the document, wherein the identified locations are visually emphasized; and

code for displaying a relevance indicator for each concept in the one or more concepts, the relevance indicator for a concept indicating relevance of the document to the concept.