Shared bookmarks based on user interest profiles

• US 7,526,472 B2
• Filed: 03/11/2005
• Issued: 04/28/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 03/11/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Heidloff, Niklas, Kieselbach, Oliver, O'Brien, Michael R., Klouda, Gregory R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rones; Charles
• Assistant Examiner(s): Quader; Fazlul
• Application Number:
  US11/078,789
• Publication Number:
  US 20060206480A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,509 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9562 Bookmark management
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

A method for providing personalized, shared bookmarks that determines which bookmarks are to be shared with a given user based at least in part on an interest profile associated with that user. The interest file can be used to define important other users, based on attributes, titles, or names associated with those other users. Shareable bookmarks defined by important other users are provided to the local user through the local navigation program. The list of important persons used to define which bookmarks should be shared may be determined in various specific ways. An interest profile may be automatically maintained containing a list of persons that are important for a specific user. The list may be automatically calculated based on information such as recent email traffic, and/or can be defined manually. Privacy issues may be addressed by enabling a user to prevent certain bookmarks they define locally from being shared.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of providing shared bookmarks, comprising:

determining an interest profile of a local user, said interest profile stored in a memory, wherein said interest profile is determined responsive to communications with said local user through a plurality of communication applications including an electronic mail application and an instant messaging application, and wherein said interest profile is also determined responsive to configuration information provided from a system manager, wherein important persons in said interest profile include users determined to have frequently communicated with said local user through said plurality of communication applications, wherein said important persons in said interest profile further include users determined to have recently communicated with said local user through said plurality of communication applications, and wherein said important persons in said interest profile further include users indicated as important persons in said configuration information provided from said system manager;

collecting a plurality of shared bookmarks initially defined by a plurality of other users, wherein each of said shared bookmarks is a link to an associated Web page, and wherein each of said shared bookmarks is initially defined by a defining one of said plurality of other users adding said shared bookmark into a list of bookmarks associated with, automatically maintained for, and displayed to said defining one of said plurality of other users by a Web navigation application program;

determining a subset of said collected plurality of shared bookmarks by comparing said important persons in said interest profile of said local user with the identities of said other users that initially defined each of said collected plurality of shared bookmarks, wherein all bookmarks in said subset are initially defined by important persons indicated by said interest profile; and

making said subset of said collected plurality of shared bookmarks available to said local user through said Web navigation application program as shared bookmarks displayed within a local list of bookmarks associated with, automatically maintained for, and displayed to said local user by said Web navigation application program, wherein said local list of bookmarks includes only bookmarks from said subset of said collected plurality of shared bookmarks and bookmarks defined by said local user.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

enabling each user that initially defines a corresponding one of said collected plurality of shared bookmarks to indicate that said corresponding one of said collected plurality of shared bookmarks is to be shared.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

enabling users to indicate that bookmarks they initially define are private, wherein private bookmarks are not included in said collected plurality of shared bookmarks.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein each of said collected plurality of shared bookmarks includes a Uniform Resource Locator (URL).

5. The method of claim 1, wherein said user determined to have recently communicated with said local user include users indicated in fields of electronic mail messages sent by the electronic mail application.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein said important persons in said interest profile are indicated by corresponding user names of said important persons stored in said interest profile.