Document quotation indexing system and method

• US 8,805,781 B2
• Filed: 06/15/2005
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 06/15/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Geronimo Development Corporation
• Original Assignee: Geronimo Development
• Inventors: Armstrong, Orin Russell
• Primary Examiner(s): KUDDUS, DANIEL A
• Application Number:
  US11/153,594
• Publication Number:
  US 20060287971A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,345 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 707/614
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/382 using citations hypermedia G06F16/94
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9558 Details of hyperlinks; Management of linked annotations

Abstract

A computerized system and method is presented for analyzing quotations made in a quoting document of text originally found in a source document. The present invention analyzes the quoting document for quoted text, searches the source document for that text, and stores the existence of the quotation in association with the source document. When displaying the source document, a list of text items that were quoted by another document is presented sorted by frequency of quotation. Quoted text is also highlighted when the original text of the source document is displayed. Hyperlinking is allowed between items of quoted text by the user and a list of documents that have quoted that text. From this list the full text of a quoting document may be displayed. The frequency of quotations taken from a source document can also be used to rank documents in search results.

Claims

1. A computerized method of presenting documents to an end user comprising:

a) identifying in a source document, in a computerized system, at least one quoted text portion quoted by a quoting document, leaving a non-quoted text portion that was not quoted by any quoting document, wherein the quoted text portion and the non-quoted text portion both have a context in which each portion is found in the source document, and wherein the quoting document indicates that the source document is the source of the quote;

b) storing in the computerized system, in association with the source document, the fact that the quoted text portion has been quoted by the quoting document along with the location of the quoted text portion in the source document;

c) recalling the stored location of the quoted text portion when displaying the source document without accessing the quoting document;

d) highlighting the quoted text portion, based on the stored location recalled in step c), during the display of the source document through a computerized interface to visually distinguish the quoted text portion as different than the non-quoted text portion, wherein a technique for the highlighting is selected from a set comprising changing a color of a font for displayed text, creating a different colored background for displayed text, and otherwise visually emphasizing the importance of displayed text;

e) receiving a user selection of the quoted text portion; and

f) displaying a list of quoting documents that quote the selected quoted text portion.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of visually indicating the quoted text portion is accomplished by:

i) creating a list of all quoted text portions identified in the source document, and

ii) displaying the list of all quoted text portions outside of the context of the source document while also displaying the entire source document including the quoted text portions in context.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of visually indicating the quoted text portion is accomplished by:

i) displaying in a first manner the non-quoted text portion within the context of the source document,

ii) displaying in a second manner the quoted text portion within the context of the source document, and

iii) the first and second manner of displaying being different to visually identify those portions of the source document that contain quoted text portions.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of visually indicating the quoted text portion is accomplished by:

i) creating a list of all quoted text portions identified in the source document,

ii) displaying the list of all quoted text portions outside of the context of the source document,

iii) displaying in a first manner the non-quoted text portion within the context of the source document,

iv) displaying in a second manner the quoted text portion within the context of the source document, and

v) the first and second manner of displaying being different to visually identify those portions of the source document that contain quoted text portions.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the source document is stored in a text file containing tags, wherein each quoted text portion is identified through quotation tags that contain a unique quotation identifier.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein a separate data file is associated with each text file.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the data file contains a plurality of records, each record having information about one quoting document that quotes at least one of the quoted text portions in the original source text.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the records contain the quotation identifiers used in the tags to identify the relevant quoted text portion.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the list of quoting documents is displayed in a contextual menu.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

g) allowing a user to select one of the quoting documents from the list of quoting documents;

h) displaying original source text for the selected one of the quoting documents.

11. The computerized method of claim 1, wherein the step of storing, in association with the source document, the fact that the quoted text portion has been quoted by the quoting document further comprises the step of storing, in association with the source document, an indication of the identity of the quoting document.

12. A computerized method of identifying an item of text in a source document quoted in a quoting document, the method comprising:

a) opening the quoting document that is stored on a tangible, non-transitory computer readable memory in a computer program operating on a computer;

b) searching, using the computer program operating on the computer, the quoting document for a quotation and identifying the item of text as the quotation;

c) determining the source document from text near the quotation in the quoting document;

d) opening the source document on the computer;

e) automatically locating the item of quoted text in the source document using the computer;

f) storing, on a tangible, non-transitory computer readable memory, information in a data construct associated with the source document indicating the fact that the item of quoted text within the source document has been quoted by the quoting document as well as the location of the item of quoted text within the source document;

g) when displaying the source document through a computer interface, recalling the stored location of the item of quoted text and highlighting the item of quoted text as different than other portions of the source document, wherein a technique for the highlighting is selected from a set comprising changing a color of a font for displayed text, creating a different colored background for displayed text, and otherwise visually emphasizing the importance of displayed text;

h) receiving, through the computer interface, a user selection of one of the items of quoted text in the source document; and

i) displaying, through the user interface, a list of quoting documents that quote the selected item of quoted text.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the data construct consists of tags placed around the item of quoted text in the source document.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the tags contain a unique identifier for the item of quoted text in the source document.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the data construct is external to the source document and indicates the location of the item of quoted text using an offset from a known location in the source document.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

assigning a unique identifier for the item of quoted text in the source document.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

storing the unique identifier for the item of quoted text in the data construct.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

placing tags around the quotation in the quoting documents, the tag including the unique identifier for the quotation.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the tags in the quoting document includes a document identifier for the source document.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising:

creating a data record associated with the source document, the data record containing the unique identifier for the quotation and a document identifier for the quoting document.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the data record is stored in a data file associated with the source document.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the data file and the source document are stored as separate files in a file system using unique filenames, and further wherein both the data file filename and the source document filename share a common text component indicative of the source document.

23. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

j) counting the number of items of quoted text tagged within the source document; and

k) using the count to sort documents returned in a search result set.

24. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

j) executing a user search based upon a search query;

k) returning the source document and at least one other found document in response to the search query;

l) comparing the item of quoted text in the source document with the search query;

m) using the results of the comparison in step i) to sort the source document and the found documents for presentation to a user.

25. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

j) repeating steps a-f on a plurality of quoting documents and source documents to create a plurality of items of quoted text;

k) indexing the plurality of items of quoted text for full-text searching;

l) executing a full-text search on the items of quoted text without searching the source documents and the quoting documents; and

m) returning in response to the full-text search the source documents related to the items of quoted text found in the full-text search.

26. A computerized system for storing information about quotations comprising:

a) a plurality of electronically stored text documents stored on a tangible, computer readable medium, including a source document that contains an item of text and a first quoting document that quotes the item of text as a quotation originating from the source document;

b) a computer-readable memory storing a data record, the data record being associated with the source document, the data record storing;

i) the fact that the item of quoted text has been quoted by the quoting document,

ii) the location of the quoted text within the source document,

iii) a first quotation identifier for uniquely identifying the item of quoted text in the source document, and

iv) a first document identifier uniquely identifying the first quoting document; and

c) a processor programmed to;

i) recall the data record associated with the source document when displaying the source document without accessing the quoting document,

ii) highlight the item of quoted text during the display of the source document through a computerized interface, wherein a technique for the highlight is selected from a set comprising changing a color of a font for displayed text, creating a different colored background for displayed text, and otherwise visually emphasizing the importance of displayed text;

iii) receive a user selection of the item of quoted text; and

iv) display a list of quoting documents that quote the selected item of quoted text.

27. The system of claim 26, further comprising a second quoting document that quotes the item of text as a quotation originating from the source document, and further comprising a second record having the first quotation identifier and a second document identifier uniquely identifying the second quoting document.

28. The system of claim 26, wherein the data record is stored in a data file associated with the source document.

29. The system of claim 26, wherein the data record is stored within the source document text file.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein the source document contains tags surrounding the item of text, the tags containing the first quotation identifier.

31. A computerized method of searching documents comprising:

a) identifying in a source document, using a computer system, at least one quoted text portion quoted by a quoting document, leaving a non-quoted text portion that was not quoted by any quoting document, wherein the quoting document indicates that the source document is the source of the quote;

b) storing, on a tangible, non-transitory computer readable memory, information in a data construct independent from the quoting document indicating the fact that the quoted text portion has been quoted by the quoting document as well as the location of the quoted text portion within the source document;

c) searching, using the computer system, a plurality of documents stored in a tangible, non-transitory computer readable memory, including the source document, in response to a search query; and

d) sorting, using the computer system, the results of the searching step based in part on the information stored in the data construct indicating the fact that the quoted text portion has been quoted by the quoting document, wherein the sorting step further comprises

i) counting the number of quoted text portions identified within the source document, and

ii) using the count to sort the results of the searching step;

e) displaying the source document through a computer interface while highlighting the quoted text portion, wherein a technique for the highlighting is selected from a set comprising changing a color of a font for displayed text, creating a different colored background for displayed text, and otherwise visually emphasizing the importance of displayed text;

f) receiving, through the computer interface, a user selection of the quoted text portion; and

g) displaying, through the computer interface, the quoting document in a list of quoting documents that quote the selected quoted text portion.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the sorting step further comprises:

i) comparing the quoted text portions in the source document with the search query;

ii) using the results of the comparison in step i) to sort the results of the searching step.

33. A computerized method comprising:

a) first, on a computerized system operating under the direction of computer software, opening a source document;

b) second, on the computerized system, retrieving from a non-transitory, computer-readable memory a data construct for that source document, the data construct selected from a plurality of data constructs based on the opened source document, the data construct further indicating

i) the fact that a first quoted text portion in the source document has been quoted by a first quoting document,

ii) the fact that a second quoted text portion has been quoted by the second quoting document, and

iii) the location of the first and second quoted text portions within the source document; and

c) third, using the data construct on the computerized system to;

i) identify in the source document the first quoted text portion and the second quoted text portion;

ii) identify the first quoting document for the first quoted text portion, and the second quoting document for the second quoted text portion, wherein the first and second quoting documents are different documents each stored on a tangible, non-transitory computer readable memory;

iii) display the source document while highlighting the quoted text portions, wherein a technique for the highlighting is selected from a set comprising changing a color of a font for displayed text, creating a different colored background for displayed text, and otherwise visually emphasizing the importance of displayed text; and

iv) receive a user selection of one of the quoted text portions and then display a list of quoting documents that quote the selected quoted text portion.