Dynamic taxonomy process for browsing and retrieving information in large heterogeneous data bases
First Claim
1. A method for retrieving information from databases, said databases being structured or unstructured, said databases being homogeneous or heterogeneous, wherein retrieval is performed through visual queries on dynamic taxonomies, said dynamic taxonomies being an organization of concepts that ranges from a most general concept to a most specific concept, said concepts and their organization being called an intension, items in said databases being classified under one or more concepts, said items and their classification being called an extension, said method comprising, given an initial current subset of interest:
- using a computer for providing a reduced taxonomy for the current subset of interest;
using the computer for refining the current subset of interest of said reduced taxonomy with the combination of one or more taxonomy concepts through Boolean operations;
andusing the computer for iteratively repeating said steps of providing a reduced taxonomy for the current subset of interest to further refine said retrieval and of refining the current subset of interest, wherein;
said initial subset of interest includes all the items in the extension of the dynamic taxonomy or a subset of them;
said reduced taxonomy is derived from said taxonomy by using the computer for pruning concepts under which no item in said current subset of interest is classified;
said step of pruning concepts includes eliminating from the taxonomy all the concepts under which no item in the current subset of interest is classified, or preventing said concepts from being displayed, or preventing said concepts from being selected in order to refine interest sets;
said step of providing a reduced taxonomy either reports only the concepts belonging to the reduced taxonomy or, for each such concept also reports how many items in the current interest set are classified under the concept;
in said extension, there exists at least one item such that said item is classified under at least two different concepts such that each of said two concepts is neither an ancestor nor a descendant of the other concept in the intension.
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Abstract
A process is disclosed for retrieving information in large heterogeneous data bases, wherein information retrieval through visual querying/browsing is supported by dynamic taxonomies; the process comprises the steps of: initially showing (F1) a complete taxonomy for the retrieval; refining (F2) the retrieval through a selection of subsets of interest, where the refining is performed by selecting concepts in the taxonomy and combining them through boolean operations; showing (F3) a reduced taxonomy for the selected set; and further refining (F4) the retrieval through an iterative execution of the refining and showing steps.
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Citations
34 Claims
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1. A method for retrieving information from databases, said databases being structured or unstructured, said databases being homogeneous or heterogeneous, wherein retrieval is performed through visual queries on dynamic taxonomies, said dynamic taxonomies being an organization of concepts that ranges from a most general concept to a most specific concept, said concepts and their organization being called an intension, items in said databases being classified under one or more concepts, said items and their classification being called an extension, said method comprising, given an initial current subset of interest:
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using a computer for providing a reduced taxonomy for the current subset of interest; using the computer for refining the current subset of interest of said reduced taxonomy with the combination of one or more taxonomy concepts through Boolean operations; and using the computer for iteratively repeating said steps of providing a reduced taxonomy for the current subset of interest to further refine said retrieval and of refining the current subset of interest, wherein; said initial subset of interest includes all the items in the extension of the dynamic taxonomy or a subset of them; said reduced taxonomy is derived from said taxonomy by using the computer for pruning concepts under which no item in said current subset of interest is classified; said step of pruning concepts includes eliminating from the taxonomy all the concepts under which no item in the current subset of interest is classified, or preventing said concepts from being displayed, or preventing said concepts from being selected in order to refine interest sets; said step of providing a reduced taxonomy either reports only the concepts belonging to the reduced taxonomy or, for each such concept also reports how many items in the current interest set are classified under the concept; in said extension, there exists at least one item such that said item is classified under at least two different concepts such that each of said two concepts is neither an ancestor nor a descendant of the other concept in the intension. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 34)
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19. A method for retrieving real estate items, wherein retrieval is performed through visual queries on dynamic taxonomies, said dynamic taxonomies being an organization of concepts that ranges from a most general concept to a most specific concept, said concepts and their organization being called an intension, items being classified under one or more concepts, said items and their classification being called an extension, said method comprising, given an initial current subset of interest:
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using a computer for providing a reduced taxonomy for the subset of interest; using the computer for refining the current subset of interest of said reduced taxonomy with the combination of one or more taxonomy concepts through Boolean operations; and using the computer for iteratively repeating said steps of providing a reduced taxonomy for the current subset of interest to further refine said retrieval and of refining the current subset of interest, wherein; said initial subset of interest includes all the items in the extension of the dynamic taxonomy, or a subset of them; said reduced taxonomy being derived from said taxonomy by using the computer for pruning concepts under which no item in said current subset of interest is classified; said step of pruning concepts includes eliminating from the taxonomy all the concepts under which no item in the current subset of interest is classified, or preventing said concepts from being displayed, or preventing said concepts from being selected in order to refine interest sets; said step of providing a reduced taxonomy either reports only the concepts belonging to the reduced taxonomy or, for each such concept, also reports how many items in the current interest set are classified under the concept; said organization of concepts may include a set of features, each of said features being a descendant concept of the root concept of said organization, each of said features having as descendants in the taxonomy a set of concepts, each concept in said set of concepts representing either a single value or a set of values for said feature; said items are classified, for each said feature, under zero or more concepts representing either a single value or a set of values for that feature; in said extension, there exists at least one item such that said item is classified under at least two different concepts such that each of said two concepts is neither an ancestor nor a descendant of the other concept in the intension.
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20. A method for retrieving items from electronic catalogs, for applications such as electronic commerce or electronic auctions, wherein retrieval is performed through visual queries on dynamic taxonomies, said dynamic taxonomies being an organization of concepts that ranges from a most general concept to a most specific concept, said concepts and their organization being called an intension, items in said electronic catalogs being classified under one or more concepts, said items and their classification being called an extension, said method comprising, given an initial current subset of interest:
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using a computer for providing a reduced taxonomy for the subset of interest; using the computer for refining the current subset of interest of said reduced taxonomy with the combination of one or more taxonomy concepts through Boolean operations; and using the computer for iteratively repeating said steps of providing a reduced taxonomy for the current subset of interest to further refine said retrieval and of refining the current subset of interest, wherein; said initial subset of interest includes all the items in the extension of the dynamic taxonomy, or a subset of them; said reduced taxonomy being derived from said taxonomy by using the computer for pruning concepts under which no item in said current subset of interest is classified; said step of pruning concepts includes eliminating from the taxonomy all the concepts under which no item in the current subset of interest is classified, or preventing said concepts from being displayed, or preventing said concepts from being selected in order to refine interest sets; said step of providing a reduced taxonomy either reports only the concepts belonging to the reduced taxonomy or, for each such concept, also reports how many items in the current interest set are classified under the concept; said organization of concepts for said electronic catalogs comprises a set of features, each of said features being a descendant concept of the root concept of said organization, each of said features having as descendants in the taxonomy a set of concepts, each concept in said set of concepts representing either a single value or a set of values for said feature; said items in said electronic catalogs are classified, for each said feature, under zero or more concepts representing either a single value or a set of values for that feature; in said extension, there exists at least one item such that said item is classified under at least two different concepts such that each of said two concepts is neither an ancestor nor a descendant of the other concept in the intension. - View Dependent Claims (33)
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21. A method for the retrieval of person or entity records for applications including matchmaking, social networks or human resource management, wherein retrieval is performed through visual queries on dynamic taxonomies, said dynamic taxonomies being an organization of concepts that ranges from a most general concept to a most specific concept, said concepts and their organization being called an intension, items being classified under one or more concepts, said items and their classification being called an extension, said method comprising, given an initial current subset of interest:
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using a computer for providing a reduced taxonomy for the subset of interest; using the computer for refining the current subset of interest of said reduced taxonomy with the combination of one or more taxonomy concepts through Boolean operations; and using the computer for iteratively repeating said steps of providing a reduced taxonomy for the current subset of interest to further refine said retrieval and of refining the current subset of interest, wherein; said initial subset of interest includes all the items in the extension of the dynamic taxonomy, or a subset of them; said reduced taxonomy being derived from said taxonomy by using the computer for pruning concepts under which no item in said current subset of interest is classified; said step of pruning concepts includes eliminating from the taxonomy all the concepts under which no item in the current subset of interest is classified, or preventing said concepts from being displayed, or preventing said concepts from being selected in order to refine interest sets; said step of providing a reduced taxonomy either reports only the concepts belonging to the reduced taxonomy or, for each such concept, also reports how many items in the current interest set are classified under the concept; said organization of concepts comprises a set of features, each of said features being a descendant concept of the root concept of said organization, each of said features having as descendants in the taxonomy a set of concepts, each concept in said set of concepts representing either a single value or a set of values for said feature; said items are classified, for each said feature, under zero or more concepts representing either a single value or a set of values for that feature; in said extension, there exists at least one item such that said item is classified under at least two different concepts such that each of said two concepts is neither an ancestor nor a descendant of the other concept in the intension.
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Specification