Skill-set identification

• US 8,021,163 B2
• Filed: 10/31/2006
• Issued: 09/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Forman, George Henry
• Primary Examiner(s): Thai; Xuan
• Assistant Examiner(s): Hu; Kang
• Application Number:
  US11/555,001
• Publication Number:
  US 20080124686A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,785 Days
• Field of Search: 434/219, 434/350, 434/322, 434/362, 705/8, 705/11, 705/1.1, 705/7.38, 707/100, 707/102, 707/600, 707/602
• US Class Current: 434/322
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 7/02 of the type wherein the student is expected to construct an answer to the question which is presented or wherein the machine gives an answer to the question presented by a student

Abstract

Provided are, inter alia, systems, methods and techniques for facilitating identification of a skilled resource'"'"'s skill set. Initially, a master set of previously identified skills is filtered in order to identify a subset of skills that appear to be potentially applicable to a skilled resource. Then, based on the identified subset, a query regarding skills actually possessed by the skilled resource is created and presented. A response that designates skills possessed by the skilled resource is received and incorporated into a user skills database. The above-referenced filtering is performed by utilizing an automated tool to analyze content from a set of computer files.

Claims

1. A method of facilitating identification of a skilled resource'"'"'s skill set, comprising:

(a) filtering, via a processor, a master set of previously defined skills stored in a known skills database in memory, the filtering including comparing computer files that are correlative to skilled resources and are stored in a documents database in memory, to the master set in order to identify a subset of skills that are potentially applicable to a skilled resource;

(b) creating and presenting, via the processor, a query regarding skills actually possessed by the skilled resource, based on the identified subset;

(c) receiving, via the processor, a response that designates skills actually possessed by the skilled resource; and

(d) incorporating, via the processor, the response into a user skills database stored in memory,

wherein the filtering in step (a) is performed by utilizing an automated tool to analyze the computer files, and wherein the automated tool makes a determination regarding authorship of a particular computer file and assesses competency of the skilled resource with respect to a particular skill based on said determination.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the previously defined skills in the master set are arranged in a hierarchical manner.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein for a particular skill in the master set, the automated tool applies different predefined criteria to different types of the computer files in the documents database, and wherein said different predefined criteria are specific to the particular skill.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the query includes a hierarchical arrangement of a plurality of the skills in the identified subset.

5. A method according to claim 1, wherein the automated tool at least one of:

(i) takes into consideration, for purposes of determining a skill level, how recently the computer files were modified by the skilled resource; and

(ii) logs information regarding how recently the computer files were modified by the skilled resource and uses said information for ranking different skilled resources.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein said determination regarding authorship is based on whether identification information for the skilled resource is associated with the particular computer file.

7. A method according to claim 1, wherein the automated tool identifies skills by at least one of:

(i) detecting the computer file types;

(ii) searching for product names within the computer files;

(iii) identifying textual tags that have been specifically defined for a particular skill; and

searching for customer names within the computer files;

(iv) using a natural-language recognizer; and

(v) using a machine-learning text classifier that is trained to recognize a particular skill.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein the automated tool makes a determination regarding metadata of the particular computer file, and assesses competency of the skilled resource with respect to the particular skill based on the determination, and wherein the metadata comprises the authorship and how recently the particular computer file was modified by the skilled resource.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein the step (b) of creating and presenting a query comprises presenting at least a portion of the identified subset, so that skills in the portion of the presented identified subset can be selected as actual skills possessed by the skilled resource.

10. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable process steps for facilitating identification of a skilled resource'"'"'s skill set, said process steps comprising steps of:

(a) filtering a master set of previously identified skills in order to identify a subset of skills that appear to be potentially applicable to a skilled resource;

(b) creating and presenting a query regarding skills actually possessed by the skilled resource, based on the identified subset;

(c) receiving a response that designates skills possessed by the skilled resource; and

(d) incorporating the response into a user skills database,

wherein the filtering in step (a) is performed by utilizing an automated tool to analyze content from a set of computer files correlative with skilled resources and stored in a documents database, wherein the master set is stored in a known skills database and includes associated definitions for the previously identified skills, and wherein the automated tool makes a determination regarding authorship of a particular computer file and assesses competency of the skilled resource with respect to a particular skill based on said determination.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 10, wherein the previously identified skills in the master set are arranged in a hierarchical manner.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 10, wherein the automated tool at least one of:

(i) takes into consideration, for purposes of determining a skill level, how recently the computer files were modified by the skilled resource; and

(ii) logs information regarding how recently the computer files were modified by the skilled resource and uses said information for ranking different skilled resources.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 10, wherein the query includes a hierarchical arrangement of a plurality of the skills in the identified subset.

14. A non-transitory computer-readable medium according to claim 10, wherein the query presents at least a portion of the identified subset so that skills in the portion of the identified subset may be selected as skills possessed by the skilled resource.