System and method for creating compilations of content

• US 7,401,097 B1
• Filed: 01/21/2000
• Issued: 07/15/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation, Pearson Education Incorporated (Pearson plc)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation, Pearson Education Incorporated (Pearson plc)
• Inventors: Hartman, Robert C. Jr., Murray, Janet L., Walkus, Richard W., Kao, I-Ming, Johnson, Eugene Jr., Hennessy, Richard D., Baer, William J., Robertson, Jerry D. III, Hanapole, Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Pham; Hung Q
• Application Number:
  US09/489,134
• Time in Patent Office: 3,098 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707/2, 707/3, 707/10, 707/100, 707/101, 707/104.1, 846/00, 846/01
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/10 Text processing natural language analysis G06F40/20; semantic analysis G06F40/30; processing or translation of natural language G06F40/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/143 Markup, e.g. Standard Generalized Markup Language [SGML] or Document Type Definition [DTD]

Abstract

A web-based system, method and program product are provided for creating a compilation of content stored in a data repository as a group of hierarchically related content entities, managing, displaying, and searching the content, then creating and exporting compilations of content for publication. The hierarchical data and associated metadata are preferably stored in a digital library that includes search support. A web-based user interface is provided for presenting a user with a plurality of selectable objects, each object representing a subset of the hierarchical data (e.g., chapter subsections, musical excerpts, video excerpts, etc.). The user then selects one or more of the objects for inclusion in a compilation (e.g., a custom textbook). Alternatively, the user may search the content by specifying search criteria through the interface. Additionally, the user may create new content, e.g., a new chapter or section, for inclusion in the final compilation by inputting user-provided material through the web interface. As the user selects desired objects for inclusion in a compilation, the system arranges the objects hierarchically, e.g., into volumes, chapters and sections according to the order specified by the user. The system then creates a file object (e.g., a CBO) defining the compilation that contains a list or outline of the content entities selected, their identifiers, order and structure. This file object is stored separately in the data repository. The list or outline is presented to the user at the web interface as a table of contents, and may be edited through the interface. For example, the user may add content, delete content, or move content within and across containers. Editing the list or outline redefines the structure of the compilation. Once the user is satisfied with the organization of the compilation, it is submitted it for publication. The submitted compilation is then forwarded to an approval process and is accepted, rejected, or returned to the user with editorial comments appended by the editor.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for creating a content object, being one of a book, a document, a collection of images, a collection of musical selections, a video and a multimedia object, from a collection of content stored in a digital library having a library server and one or more object servers, wherein the content object includes a user defined hierarchical structure including at least one hierarchical tier and at least one subordinate tier, the method comprising:

presenting a plurality of selectable objects from the digital library to a user for inclusion in the content object, each selectable object representing a subset of the collection of content and including a title;

receiving from a user a selection of one or more of said selectable objects and a specification of a location for each of one or more of said selected objects within said user defined hierarchical structure including at least one hierarchical tier and at least one subordinate tier;

creating the content object according to said user defined hierarchical structure, wherein the created content object includes content represented by one or more of said selected objects and is arranged in accordance with said specified location of each of one or more of said selected objects;

receiving a title selectively entered by said user for each specified location of each of one or more of said selected objects and assigning said entered title to that specified location, wherein said entered and assigned title is different than said included title of the corresponding selected object;

storing said created content object in said one or more object servers; and

storing information specifying the created content object and attribute information concerning the created content object in the library server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein subsets of content comprise one of a chapter and a section of a text document.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein each selectable object is associated with a cost, and further comprising the step of calculating a cost for the created content object based upon the costs of the selected objects.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of determining a content count for the content object and determining a cost for the content object based upon the content count.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the collection of content comprises hierarchically related data.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the collection of content comprises text documents and the subset of content associated with each selectable object comprises at least one of a chapter and a section.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising displaying to the user the selected objects such that the user may rearrange the order of the selected objects as desired through a user interface.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of creating the content object further comprises the steps of:

defining a maximum amount of allowable content per volume of content;

creating a plurality of volumes of content from the selected content based upon the defined maximum.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising displaying to the user the selected objects contained in each volume such that the user may selectably move an object from a first to a second of the volumes.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

receiving content input by a user, and

creating a selectable object from the content.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the user may concurrently create a plurality of content objects.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step, after creation of the content object, of presenting the content object to a user for modification.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising the step of creating a copy of the content object, applying changes input by a user to the copy, and creating a new content object therefrom.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the user may select an object for removal from the content object.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the user may select to clear the content object.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the user may select to undo an operation affecting the content object.

17. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step, after creation of the content object, of submitting the content object to an approval process.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the approval process comprises one of approving the content object for publication, rejecting the content object, and receiving editorial comments as input from a second user, and providing the content object and editorial comments to the creating user.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the presenting step further comprises the step of presenting all of the content comprising the collection of content to the user as a plurality of selectable objects.

20. The method of claim 1, wherein the presenting step further comprises the step of presenting less than all of the content comprising the collection of content to the user as a plurality of selectable objects.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of partitioning the collection of content into a plurality of categories, and presenting all selectable objects belonging to a category to a user.

22. The method of claim 1, wherein the presenting step further comprises the steps of:

receiving search criteria input by the user,

determining which of the subsets of the collection of content satisfy the search criteria, and

presenting to the user a plurality of selectable objects corresponding to the subsets of content satisfying the search criteria.

23. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the subsets of content is associated with one or more prerequisite subsets of content, further comprising the step, upon selection by the user of a selectable object associated with the at least one subset, also including the associated prerequisite subsets of content in the created content object.

24. The method of claim 1, wherein a selectable object further comprises one of a container and a content entity.

25. The method of claim 24, further comprising the step of, in response to selection of the container to add to the content object, adding the selected container and any containers or content entities it contains to the content object.

26. The method of claim 24, wherein containers are at least one of a book, a volume, and a chapter.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the collection of content further comprises at least one of books, images, albums and videos.

28. The method of claim 1, wherein the content object is created automatically in response to the user selecting and specifying said location for said one or more of said objects.

29. The method of claim 1, wherein the content object is created by recording in a computer-readable structure defining the content object, for each selected object, a reference to the content entity associated with the selected object.

30. The method of claim 29, wherein the computer-readable structure defining the content object is a custom content outline (CCO) containing the references that correspond to the selected objects, and wherein said references are identifiers of the content entities associated with the selected objects.

31. A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine to perform method steps for creating a content object, being one of a book, a document, a collection of images, a collection of musical selections, a video and a multimedia object, from a collection of content stored in a digital library having a library server and one or more object servers, wherein the content object includes a user defined hierarchical structure including at least one hierarchical tier and at least one subordinate tier, the method comprising:

presenting a plurality of selectable objects from the digital library to a user for inclusion in the content object, each selectable object representing a subset of the collection of content and including a title;

receiving from a user a selection of one or more of said selectable objects and a specification of a location for each of one or more of said selected objects within said user defined hierarchical structure including at least one hierarchical tier and at least one subordinate tier;

creating the content object according to said user defined hierarchical structure, wherein the created content object includes content represented by one or more of said selected objects and is arranged in accordance with said specified locations of each of one or more of said selected objects;

receiving a title selectively entered by said user for each specified location of each of one or more of said selected objects and assigning said entered title to that specified location, wherein said entered and assigned title is different than said included title of the corresponding selected object;

storing said created content object in said one or more object servers; and

storing information specifying the created content object and attribute information concerning the created content object in the library server.

32. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein subsets of content comprise one of a chapter and a section of a book or document.

33. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein each selectable object is associated with a cost, and said method further comprises the step of calculating a cost for the created content object based upon the costs of the selected objects.

34. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein said method further comprises the steps of determining a content count for the content object and determining a cost for the content object based upon the content count.

35. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein the collection of content comprises hierarchically related data.

36. The program storage device of claim 35, wherein the collection of content comprises text documents and the subset of content associated with each selectable object comprises at least one of a chapter and a section.

37. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein said method further comprises displaying to the user the selected objects such that the user may rearrange the order of the selected objects as desired through a user interface.

38. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein the step of creating the content object further comprises the steps of:

defining a maximum amount of allowable content per volume of content;

creating a plurality of volumes of content from the selected content based upon the defined maximum.

39. The program storage device of claim 38, wherein said method further comprises displaying to the user the selected objects contained in each volume such that the user may selectably move an object from a first to a second of the volumes.

40. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein said method further comprises the steps of:

receiving content input by a user, and

creating a selectable object from the content.

41. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein the user may concurrently create a plurality of content objects.

42. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein said method further comprises the step, after creation of the content object, of presenting the content object to a user for modification.

43. The program storage device of claim 42, wherein said method further comprises the step of creating a copy of the content object, applying changes input by a user to the copy, and creating a new content object therefrom.

44. The program storage device of claim 42, wherein the user may select an object for removal from the content object.

45. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein the user may select to clear the content object.

46. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein the user may select to undo an operation affecting the content object.

47. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein the method further comprises the step, after creation of the content object, of submitting the content object to an approval process.

48. The program storage device of claim 47, wherein the approval process comprises one of approving the content object for publication, rejecting the content object, and receiving editorial comments as input from a second user, and providing the content object and editorial comments to the creating user.

49. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein the presenting step further comprises the step of presenting all of the content comprising the collection of content to the user as a plurality of selectable objects.

50. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein the presenting step further comprises the step of presenting less than all of the content comprising the collection of content to the user as a plurality of selectable objects.

51. The program storage device of claim 50, wherein the method further comprises the step of partitioning the collection of content into a plurality of categories, and presenting all selectable objects belonging to a category to a user.

52. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein the presenting step further comprises the steps of:

receiving search criteria input by the user,

determining which of the subsets of the collection of content satisfy the search criteria, and

presenting to the user a plurality of selectable objects corresponding to the subsets of content satisfying the search criteria.

53. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein at least one of the subsets of content is associated with one or more prerequisite subsets of content, wherein the method further comprises the step, upon selection by the user of a selectable object associated with the at least one subset, also including the associated prerequisite subsets of content in the created content object.

54. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein a selectable object further comprises one of a container and a content entity.

55. The program storage device of claim 54, wherein the method further comprises the step of, in response to selection of the container to add to the content object, adding the selected container and any containers or content entities it contains to the content object.

56. The program storage device of claim 54, wherein containers are at least one of a book, a volume, and a chapter.

57. The program storage device of claim 54, wherein the collection of content further comprises at least one of books, images, albums and videos.

58. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein the content object is created automatically in response to the user selecting and specifying said location for said one or more of said objects.

59. The program storage device of claim 31, wherein the content object is created by recording in a computer-readable structure defining the content object, for each selected object, a reference to the content entity associated with the selected object.

60. The program storage device of claim 59, wherein the computer-readable structure defining the content object is a custom content outline (CCO) containing the references that correspond to the selected objects, and wherein said references are identifiers of the content entities associated with the selected objects.

61. A system for creating a content object, being one of a book, a document, a collection of images, a collection of musical selections, a video and a multimedia object, from a collection of content stored in a digital library having a library server and one or more object servers, wherein the content object includes a user defined hierarchical structure including at least one hierarchical tier and at least one subordinate tier, the system comprising:

a user interface for presenting a plurality of selectable objects from the digital library to a user for inclusion in the content object, each selectable object representing a subset of the collection of content and including a title;

means for receiving from a user a selection of one or more of said selectable objects and a specification of a location for each of one or more of said selected objects within said user defined hierarchical structure including at least one hierarchical tier and at least one subordinate tier;

means for creating the content object according to said user defined hierarchical structure, wherein the created content object includes content represented by one or more of said selected objects and is arranged in accordance with said specified locations of each of one or more of said selected objects;

means for receiving a title selectively entered by said user for each specified location of each of one or more of said selected objects and assigning said entered title to that specified location, wherein said entered and assigned title is different than said included title of the corresponding selected object;

means for storing said created content object in said one or more object servers; and

means for storing information specifying the created content object and attribute information concerning the created content object in the library server.

62. The system of claim 61, wherein subsets of content comprise one of a chapter and a section of a book or text document.

63. The system of claim 61, wherein each selectable object is associated with a cost, and further comprising means for determining a cost for the created content object based upon the costs of the selected objects.

64. The system of claim 61, further comprising means for determining a content count for the content object and means for determining a cost for the content object based upon the content count.

65. The system of claim 61, wherein the collection of content comprises hierarchically related data.

66. The system of claim 65, wherein the collection of content comprises text documents and the subset of content associated with each selectable object comprises at least one of a chapter and a section.

67. The system of claim 61, further comprising means for displaying to the user the selected objects such that the user may rearrange the order of the selected objects as desired through a user interface.

68. The system of claim 61, wherein the means for creating the content object further comprises:

means for defining a maximum amount of allowable content per volume of content;

means for creating a plurality of volumes of content from the selected content based upon the defined maximum.

69. The system of claim 68, further comprising means for displaying to the user the selected objects contained in each volume such that the user may selectably move an object from a first to a second of the volumes.

70. The system of claim 61, further comprising:

means for receiving content input by a user, and

means for creating a selectable object from the content.

71. The system of claim 61, wherein the user may concurrently create a plurality of content objects.

72. The system of claim 61, wherein the user interface comprises means for presenting the created content object to a user for modification.

73. The system of claim 72, further comprising means for creating a copy of the content object, means for applying changes input by a user to the copy, and means for creating a new content object therefrom.

74. The system of claim 72, further comprising means for selecting an object for removal from the content object.

75. The system of claim 61, further comprising means for clearing the content object.

76. The system of claim 61, further comprising means for undoing an operation affecting the content object.

77. The system of claim 61, further comprising means for submitting the content object to an approval process.

78. The system of claim 77, further comprising means for approving the content object for publication, means for rejecting the content object, means for receiving editorial comments as input from a second user, and means for providing the content object and editorial comments to the creating user.

79. The system of claim 61, further comprising means for presenting all of the content comprising the collection of content to the user as a plurality of selectable objects.

80. The system of claim 61, further comprising means for presenting less than all of the content comprising the collection of content to the user as a plurality of selectable objects.

81. The system of claim 80, further comprising means for partitioning the collection of content into a plurality of categories, and means for presenting all selectable objects belonging to a category to a user.

82. The system of claim 61, further comprising:

means for receiving search criteria input by the user,

means for determining which of the subsets of the collection of content satisfy the search criteria, and

means for presenting to the user a plurality of selectable objects corresponding to the subsets of content satisfying the search criteria.

83. The system of claim 61, wherein at least one of the subsets of content is associated with one or more prerequisite subsets of content, further comprising means for determining if a selected object has associated prerequisite material, and means for adding the subset of content associated with the selected object and its prerequisite subsets to the created content object.

84. The system of claim 61, wherein a selectable object further comprises one of a container and a content entity.

85. The system of claim 84, further comprising means for enabling a user to select a container to add to the content object, and means for adding the selected container and any containers or content entities it contains to the content object.

86. The system of claim 84, wherein containers are at least one of a book, a volume, and a chapter.

87. The system of claim 84, wherein the collection of content further comprises at least one of books, images, albums and videos.

88. The system of claim 61, wherein the content object is created automatically in response to the user selecting and specifying said location for said one or more of said objects.

89. The system of claim 61, wherein the content object is created by recording in a computer-readable structure defining the content object, for each selected object, a reference to the content entity associated with the selected object.

90. The system of claim 89, wherein the computer-readable structure defining the content object is a custom content outline (CCO) containing the references that correspond to the selected objects, and wherein said references are identifiers of the content entities associated with the selected objects.