Method and apparatus for improved bookmark and histories entry creation and access

• US 7,167,901 B1
• Filed: 10/26/2000
• Issued: 01/23/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Sang, Miguel, Beadle, Bruce A., Florenza, Randolph Michael
• Primary Examiner(s): Kang; Paul H.
• Application Number:
  US09/697,428
• Time in Patent Office: 2,280 Days
• Field of Search: 707/3, 707/4, 707/5, 707/6, 707/10, 707/104, 707/101, 707/102, 709/245, 709/217, 709/219, 709/203, 715/513, 715/501.1, 715/500
• US Class Current: 709/207
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/955 using information identifiers, e.g. uniform resource locators [URL]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99933 Query processing, i.e. searching

Abstract

Each entry within a “hotlist” (bookmark, favorites, or history list) includes a set of keywords topically identifying the content of the linked page. The keywords included within META tags for HTML files of an accessed Web page may be automatically detected and extracted by the browser for the hotlist when the browser creates the entry for that page within the hotlist. Alternatively, the browser may tabulate terms from the page content itself to select keywords identifying the content. In either case, the user may selectively edit the keywords for a hotlist entry to add, modify, or delete keywords. The keywords are stored with the hotlist data and may be searched for a particular topic. Hotlist entries matching the search criteria are displayed to the user and, upon selection of a particular matching entry by the user, employed to automatically generate a request for the corresponding page.

Claims

1. A method of improving the search for and retrieval of pages from a hotlist of pages, said method comprising:

a browser client creating an entry representing a page in a hotlist of pages in response to a user designating a page as a page of interest by requesting said creation of said entry in said hotlist of pages;

the browser client searching the page for keywords, wherein the step of searching the page for keywords further comprises the browser client performing one of a set consisting of discovering at least one keyword within the page and, responsive to discovering an absence of keywords within metadata for the page, automatically generating a group of keywords based on the content of the page; and

the browser client, responsive to one of the set of discovering at least one keyword within the page and automatically generating said group of keywords, incorporating one of the set of the at least one keyword and said group of keywords into a keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

in response to a user input requesting a search, searching for at least one selected search term in keyword fields of one or more entries in the hotlist of pages;

displaying to the user one or more entries in the hotlist of pages containing the selected search term within a keyword field for the respective entry; and

responsive to an input from the user selecting a displayed entry, retrieving a page associated with the selected displayed entry in the hotlist of pages.

3. A method of improving the search for and retrieval of pages from a hotlist of pages, said method comprising:

a browser client creating an entry representing a page in a hotlist of pages in response to a user designating a page as a page of interest;

the browser client searching the page for keywords, wherein the step of searching the page for keywords further comprises the browser client performing one of a set consisting of discovering at least one keyword within the page and, responsive to discovering an absence of keywords within metadata for the page, automatically generating a group of keywords based on the content of the page; and

the browser client, responsive to discovering at least one keyword within the page, incorporating the at least one keyword into a keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages, wherein the step of incorporating the at least one keyword into a keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages further comprises

allowing the user to edit the keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages.

4. A method of improving the search for and retrieval of pages from a hotlist of pages, said method comprising

a browser client creating an entry representing a page in a hotlist of pages in response to a user designating a page as a page of interest;

the browser client searching the page for keywords, wherein the step of searching the page for keywords further comprises the browser client performing one of a set consisting of discovering at least one keyword within the page and, responsive to discovering an absence of keywords within metadata for the page, automatically generating a group of keywords based on the content of the page; and

the browser client, responsive to discovering at least one keyword within the page, incorporating the at least one keyword into a keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages, wherein the step of incorporating the at least one keyword into a keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages further comprises allowing the user to selectively enable automatic updates of the keyword field of an entry in the hotlist of pages whenever the page represented by the entry is accessed.

5. A system for improving the search for and retrieval of pages from a hotlist of pages, said system comprising:

means, within a browser client, for creating an entry representing a page in a hotlist of pages in response to a user designating a page as a page of interest;

means, within the browser client, for searching the page for keywords, wherein the means for searching the page for keywords further comprises means for the browser client performing one of a set consisting of discovering at least one keyword within the page and, responsive to discovering an absence of keywords within metadata for the page, automatically generating a group of keywords based on the content of the page; and

means for the browser client, responsive to one of the set of discovering at least one keyword within the page and automatically generating said group of keywords, incorporating one of the set of the at least one keyword and said group of keywords into a keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages.

6. The system of claim 5, further comprising:

means for, in response to a user input requesting a search, searching for at least one selected search term in keyword fields of one or more entries in the hotlist of pages;

means for displaying to the user one or more entries in the hotlist of pages containing the selected search term within a keyword field for the respective entry; and

means, responsive to an input from the user selecting a displayed entry, for retrieving a page associated with the selected displayed entry in the hotlist of pages.

7. A system for improving the search for and retrieval of pages from a hotlist of pages, said system comprising:

means, within a browser client, for creating an entry representing a page in a hotlist of pages in response to a user designating a page as a page of interest;

means, within the browser client, for searching the page for keywords, wherein the means for searching the page for keywords further comprises means within the browser client for performing one of a set consisting of discovering at least one keyword within the page and, responsive to discovering an absence of keywords within metadata for the page, automatically generating a group of keywords based on the content of the page; and

means, within the browser client, for, responsive to discovering at least one keyword within the page, incorporating the at least one keyword into a keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages, wherein the means for incorporating the at least one keyword into a keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages further comprises means for allowing the user to edit the keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages.

8. A system for improving the search for and retrieval of pages from a hotlist of pages, said system comprising:

means, within a browser client, for creating an entry representing a page in a hotlist of pages in response to a user designating a page as a page of interest;

means, within the browser client, for searching the page for keywords, wherein the means for searching the page for keywords further comprises means for performing one of a set consisting of discovering at least one keyword within the page and, responsive to discovering an absence of keywords within metadata for the page, automatically generating a group of keywords based on the content of the page; and

means, within the browser client, responsive to discovering at least one keyword within the page, for incorporating the at least one keyword into a keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages, wherein the means for incorporating the at least one keyword into a keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages further comprises means for allowing the user to selectively enable automatic updates of the keyword field of an entry in the hotlist of pages whenever the page represented by the entry is accessed.

9. A tangible computer usable medium storing thereon a computer program product for improving the search for and retrieval of pages from a hotlist of pages, said computer program product, when executed by the computer, causing the computer to perform a method comprising the steps of:

within a browser client, creating an entry representing a page in a hotlist of pages in response to a user designating a page as a page of interest;

within a browser client, searching the page for keywords, wherein the instructions for searching the page for keywords further comprise instructions for the browser client performing one of a set consisting of discovering at least one keyword within the page and, responsive to discovering an absence of keywords within metadata for the page, automatically generating a set of keywords based on the content of the page; and

within a browser client, responsive to discovering at least one keyword within the page, incorporating the at least one keyword into a keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages.

10. The tangible computer usable medium storing thereon a computer program product of claim 9, said method further comprising the steps of:

in response to a user input requesting a search, searching for at least one selected search term in keyword fields of one or more entries in the hotlist of pages;

displaying to the user one or more entries in the hotlist of pages containing the selected search term within a keyword field for the respective entry; and

responsive to an input from the user selecting a displayed entry, retrieving a page associated with the selected displayed entry in the hotlist of pages.

11. A tangible computer usable medium storing thereon a computer program product for improving the search for and retrieval of pages from a hotlist of pages, said computer program product, when executed by the computer, causing the computer to perform a method comprising the steps of:

within a browser client, creating an entry representing a page in a hotlist of pages in response to a user designating a page as a page of interest;

within a browser client, searching the page for keywords, wherein the step of searching the page for keywords further comprises the browser client performing one of a set consisting of discovering at least one keyword within the page and, responsive to discovering an absence of keywords within metadata for the page, automatically generating a group of keywords based on the content of the page;

within a browser client, responsive to discovering at least one keyword within the page, incorporating the at lest one keyword into a keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages, wherein the instructions for incorporating the at least one keyword into a keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages further comprise instructions for allowing the user to edit the keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages.

12. A tangible computer usable medium storing thereon a computer program product for improving the search for and retrieval of pages from a hotlist of pages, said computer program product, when executed by the computer, causing the computer to perform a method comprising the steps of:

within a browser client, creating an entry representing a page in a hotlist of pages in response to a user designating a page as a page of interest;

within a browser client, searching the page for keywords, wherein the step of searching the page for keywords further comprises the browser client performing one of a set consisting of discovering at least one keyword within the page and, responsive to discovering an absence of keywords within metadata for the page, automatically generating a group of keywords based on the content of the page;

within a browser client, responsive to discovering at least one keyword within the page, incorporating the at least one keyword into a keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages, wherein the instructions for incorporating the at least one keyword into a keyword field of the entry in the hotlist of pages further comprise instructions for allowing the user to selectively enable automatic updates of the keyword field of an entry in the hotlist of pages whenever the page represented by the entry is accessed.