System for creating and maintaining a database of information utilizing user options

• US 8,024,334 B2
• Filed: 02/14/2010
• Issued: 09/20/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Andrew F. Mason, Connie Riffel, Cory Osborn, Craig P. Thompson, Flori N. Parham, Gregory J. Petras, Jeffrey T. Zywicki, Rachael A. Thomas, Richard W. Hill
• Original Assignee: Andrew F. Mason, Connie Riffel, Cory Osborn, Craig P. Thompson, Flori N. Parham, Gregory J. Petras, Jeffrey T. Zywicki, Rachael A. Thomas, Richard W. Hill
• Inventors: Thompson, Craig P., Parham, Flori N., Petras, Gregory J., Zywicki, Jeffrey T., Thomas, Rachael A., Osborn, Cory, Mason, Andrew F., Riffel, Connie, Hill, Richard W.
• Primary Examiner(s): ALAM, SHAHID AL
• Application Number:
  US12/705,612
• Publication Number:
  US 20100198834A1
• Time in Patent Office: 583 Days
• Field of Search: 707/609, 707/612, 707/716, 707/728, 707/769, 707/802, 707/803, 705/14.46
• US Class Current: 707/728
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/335 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles filtering in web context G06F16/9535, G06F16/9536
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/34 Browsing; Visualisation therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/38 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99945 Object-oriented database structure processing

Abstract

A system for automatically creating and maintaining a database of information utilizing user opinions about subjects, particularly exceptional experiences. Described is an Internet system assisting/motivating a population of users interested in information about certain categories of subjects to automatically maintain the database content and to improve the usefulness and quality of the database information without any substantial management by the website owner-manager. The user opinions are primarily in the form of both comments and ratings about which natural-language terms best describe a particular subject, enabling user searches of the subject database to be by way of preferred such descriptive natural-language terms, which terms are further preferred to be evaluative and approving.

Claims

1. A method, relating to creating and maintaining, in at least one database available to a population of users, on a database server computer, information about a plurality of database of subjects, comprising the steps of:

a) associating with each database subject of such plurality of database subjects at least one plurality of natural-language tags potentially descriptive of such each database subject according to an involved subset of such population of database users;

said at least one plurality of natural language tags comprising other user chosen and/or other user provided natural language terms potentially descriptive of a subject or subjects of said database;

b) assessing at least one measure of descriptive relevance of each of such at least one plurality of natural-language tags to such each database subject according to each particular database user of such involved subset of such population of database users;

c) associatively indexing, in such at least one database, such respective particular database users, such respective natural-language tags, such respective measures of relevance, and such respective database subjects; and

d) accumulating and storing such respective measures of relevance.

2. The method, according to claim 1, further comprising the step of computing, over all such involved subset of such population of users, in such at least one database, overall respective measures of such relevance of each respective one of such plurality of natural-language tags to each such respective database subject.

3. The method, according to claim 1, wherein such assessing of such at least one measure of descriptive relevance comprises at least one correlation with number of times such natural-language tag is user-selected.

4. The method, according to claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

a) accumulating, storing, and analyzing all associations, including subject categorizations, of such overall measures of relevance of such plurality of natural-language tags associated with such database subjects; and

b) determining preferred such natural-language tags, according to such population of users, relating to selected categories of subjects.

5. The method according to claim 1 in which such natural-language tags are essentially evaluative.

6. The method according to claim 1 in which such natural-language tags essentially indicate explicit approval.

7. The method according to claim 1 in which such natural-language tags essentially indicate implicit approval.

8. The method according to claim 1 in which such subjects comprise exceptional experiences.

9. The method according to claim 1 in which such subjects comprise products.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein said other users comprise other member users.

11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising searching said other user chosen and or other user provided natural language terms.

12. A computer system, relating to creating and maintaining, in at least one database available to a population of users, on a database server computer, information about a plurality of database of subjects, comprising:

a) at least one computer processor structured and arranged to associate with each database subject of such plurality of database subjects at least one plurality of natural-language tags potentially descriptive of such each database subject according to an involved subset of such population of database users;

said at least one plurality of natural language tags comprising other user chosen and/or other user provided natural language terms potentially descriptive of a subject or subjects of said database;

b) at least one computer processor structured and arranged to assess, from input from at least one particular database user, at least one measure of descriptive relevance of each of such at least one plurality of natural-language tags to such each database subject according to each particular database user of such involved subset of such population of database users;

c) at least one computer processor structured and arranged to associatively index, in such at least one database, such respective particular database users, such respective natural-language tags, such respective measures of relevance, and such respective database subjects; and

d) accumulating and storing such respective measures of relevance.

13. The computer system, according to claim 12, further comprising:

a) at least one (overall) computer processor structured and arranged to compute, over all such involved subset of such population of users, in such at least one database, overall respective measures of such relevance of each respective one of such plurality of natural-language tags to each such respective database subject.

14. The computer system, according to claim 12, wherein such at least one (assessing) computer processor comprises at least one (number) computer processor structured and arranged to correlate such at least one measure of descriptive relevance with number of times of user-selection of such natural-language tag.

15. The computer system, according to claim 12, further comprising:

a) at least one (analyzing) computer processor structured and arranged to accumulate, store, and analyze all associations, including subject categorizations, of such overall measures of relevance of such plurality of natural-language tags associated with such database subjects; and

b) at least one (categories) computer processor structured and arranged to determine preferred such natural-language tags, according to such population of users, relating to selected categories of subjects.

16. The method according to claim 12, wherein said other users comprise other member users.

17. The method according to claim 12, further comprising searching said other user chosen and or other user provided natural language terms.

18. A method, relating to creating and maintaining, in at least one database available to a population of users, on a database server computer, information about a plurality of database of subjects, comprising the steps of:

a) associating with each database subject of such plurality of database subjects at least one plurality of natural-language tags potentially descriptive of such each database subject according to an involved subset of such population of database users;

said at least one plurality of natural language tags comprising other member user chosen and/or other member user provided natural language terms potentially descriptive of a subject or subjects of said database;

b) assessing at least one measure of descriptive relevance of each of such at least one plurality of natural-language tags to such each database subject according to each particular database user of such involved subset of such population of database users;

c) associatively indexing, in such at least one database, such respective particular database users, such respective natural-language tags, such respective measures of relevance, and such respective database subjects; and

searching said other member user chosen and or other member user provided natural language terms; and

d) accumulating and storing such respective measures of relevance.