Automatic adaptive document help for paper documents

• US 6,369,811 B1
• Filed: 09/09/1998
• Issued: 04/09/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Graham, Jamey, Hart, Peter E.
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): BAUTISTA, XIOMARA L
• Application Number:
  US09/149,921
• Time in Patent Office: 1,308 Days
• Field of Search: 345/339, 345/348, 345/349, 345/357, 358/1.18, 707/3, 707/104, 707/512, 707/517, 707/520
• US Class Current: 715/764
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0481 based on specific properties of the displayed interaction object or a metaphor-based environment, e.g. interaction with desktop elements like windows or icons, or assisted by a cursor's changing behaviour or appearance

Abstract

A reader'"'"'s annotation assistant application for documents in paper form is provided by virtue of the present invention. In certain embodiments, an elongated thumbnail image of all or part of an electronically stored document is imprinted on each page of the printed form of the document. Sections of the document of interest to the reader are emphasized in the elongated thumbnail image. The emphasized area in the elongated thumbnail image assists the user with the selection of sections or pages of the document having particular interest to the user. The operation of the assistant is personalized for a particular user by setting of a sensitivity level and selection of relevant topics of interest. Some embodiments of the assistant are also capable of improved performance over time by both automatic and manual feedback. The assistant is usable with many popular electronic document formats.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for creating a paper format annotation for an electronically stored document comprising:

accepting user input indicating user-specified concepts of interest;

analyzing said electronically stored document to identify locations of discussion of said user-specified concept of interest; and

printing said electronic document to form a plurality of printed pages, wherein each page of said plurality of printed pages is imprinted with an elongated thumbnail image of said document, said elongated thumbnail image providing an indication to a reader of an approximate position of said page within said document, and an indication of said locations of discussion.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising displaying on a display screen visual indications of said locations of discussion.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising printing a cover page having indications of said user-specified concepts of interest.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein said cover sheet further comprises:

an indication of at least one page in said document containing said location of discussion of said concepts of interest to said user, said indication based upon a determination of relevance of said locations of discussion to said concepts of interest to said user.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein said cover sheet further comprises:

an indicator of a level of relevance of said document to said concept of interest.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said analyzing comprises exploiting a probabilistic inference technique to identify said locations.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein said probabilistic interference technique comprises a Bayesian belief network.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

accepting user input indicating a degree of relation between said locations and said concept of interest; and

modifying said Bayesian belief network responsive to said degree of relation.

9. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

accepting user input defining a structure of said Bayesian belief network.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

modifying said Bayesian belief network in accordance with content of previously visited electronic documents.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said printing further comprises:

printing sections of said document surrounding said locations of interest with highlighting.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising printing an indicator of a level of relevance of said document to said concept of interest.

13. A computer program product for creating a paper format annotation for an electronically stored document comprising:

code for accepting user input indicating user-specified concepts of interest;

code for analyzing said electronically stored document to identify locations of discussion of said user-specified concept of interest;

code for printing said electronic document to form a plurality of printed pages, wherein each page of said plurality of printed pages is imprinted with an elongated thumbnail image of said document, said elongated thumbnail image providing an indication to a reader of an approximate position of said page within said document, and an indication of said locations of discussion; and

a computer readable storage medium for holding said codes.

14. The computer program product of claim 13 further comprising code for displaying visual indications of said locations of discussion.

15. The computer program product of claim 13 further comprising code for printing a cover page having indications of said user-specified concepts of interest.

16. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein said cover sheet further comprises:

an indication of at least one page in said document containing said location of discussion of said concepts of interest to said user, said indication based upon a determination of relevance of said locations of discussion to said concepts of interest to said user.

17. The computer program product of claim 15 wherein said cover sheet further comprises:

an indicator of a level of relevance of said document to said concept of interest.

18. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein said code for analyzing comprises code for exploiting a probabilistic inference technique to identify said locations.

19. The computer program product of claim 18 wherein said probabilistic inference technique comprises a Bayesian belief network.

20. The computer program product of claim 19 further comprising:

code for accepting user input indicating a degree of relation between said locations and said concept of interest; and

code for modifying said Bayesian belief network responsive to said degree of relation.

21. The computer program product of claim 16 further comprising:

code for accepting user input defining a structure of said Bayesian belief network.

22. The computer program product of claim 21 further comprising:

code for modifying said Bayesian belief network in accordance with content of previously visited electronic documents.

23. The computer program product of claim 13 wherein said code for printing further comprises:

code for printing sections of said document surrounding said locations of interest with highlighting.

24. The computer program product of claim 13 further comprising code for printing an indicator of a level of relevance of said document to said concept of interest.

25. A system for creating a paper format annotation for an electronically stored document comprising:

an electronic storage unit that stores a document;

a printer that prints documents;

a processor unit coupled to said electronic storage device and said printer, said processor unit operative to;

accepting user input indicating user-specified concepts of interest;

analyzing said electronically stored document to identify locations of discussion of said user-specified concept of interest; and

printing said electronic document to form a plurality of printed pages, wherein each page of said plurality of printed pages is imprinted with an elongated thumbnail image of said document, said elongated thumbnail image providing an indication to a reader of an approximate position of said page within said document, and an indication of said locations of discussion.