Method and apparatus for enhancing electronic reading by identifying relationships between sections of electronic text
DCFirst Claim
1. A method for using a computer system, in response to a reader'"'"'s request for display of electronic text, to automatically identify and provide additional reading material related to concepts referred to within said electronic text comprising, in sequence, the steps of:
- a) on a client system,a.1. accepting a request for display of electronic text;
a.2. sending said request for display of electronic text over a network;
a.3. receiving said electronic text, said electronic text containing at least one text section; and
a.4. without further user input, sending a search request over said network, from said client system, for additional information related to a concept referred to in said at least one text section; and
b) on a server system, responsive to step (a.4)b.1. searching an index, whereini) said index contains a plurality of terms by which it may be searched;
ii) substantially all terms in said index are associated with at least one pointer to a text section; and
iii) at least one term in said index is associated with a plurality of pointers, at least two of said plurality of pointers pointing to different text sections;
b.2. as a result of step (b.1), identifying additional reading material related to said concept; and
b.3. providing, via the network, to said client system, for display on the same page as a portion of the electronic text section referred to in step (a.3), an indicator of said additional reading material identified in step (b.2).
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Abstract
An apparatus, method and article of manufacture of the present invention detects the presence of references to the same concept in separate sections of text, and, with no input required from the reader, presents the reader with information concerning the detected references to the concept. The information provided may comprise information related to the location of the reference to the concept in other sections of text, and the reader also is provided the ability to move from one reference to a concept directly to another reference to the same concept.
18 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for using a computer system, in response to a reader'"'"'s request for display of electronic text, to automatically identify and provide additional reading material related to concepts referred to within said electronic text comprising, in sequence, the steps of:
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a) on a client system, a.1. accepting a request for display of electronic text; a.2. sending said request for display of electronic text over a network; a.3. receiving said electronic text, said electronic text containing at least one text section; and a.4. without further user input, sending a search request over said network, from said client system, for additional information related to a concept referred to in said at least one text section; and b) on a server system, responsive to step (a.4) b.1. searching an index, wherein i) said index contains a plurality of terms by which it may be searched; ii) substantially all terms in said index are associated with at least one pointer to a text section; and iii) at least one term in said index is associated with a plurality of pointers, at least two of said plurality of pointers pointing to different text sections; b.2. as a result of step (b.1), identifying additional reading material related to said concept; and b.3. providing, via the network, to said client system, for display on the same page as a portion of the electronic text section referred to in step (a.3), an indicator of said additional reading material identified in step (b.2). - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer system that, in response to a reader'"'"'s request for display of electronic text, automatically identifies and provides additional reading material related to concepts referred to within said electronic text comprising:
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a) means for responding to a client system, wherein said client system; a.1. accepts a request for display of electronic text; a.2. sends said request for display of electronic text over a network; a.3. receives said electronic text, said electronic text containing at least one text section; and a.4. without further user input, sends a search request over said network, for additional information related to a concept referred to in said at least one text section; and b) means for, on a server system, responsive to said search request of (a.4) b.1. searching an index, wherein; i) said index contains a plurality of terms by which it may be searched; ii) substantially all terms in said index are associated with at least one pointer to a text section; and iii) at least one term in said index is associated with a plurality of pointers, at least two of said plurality of pointers pointing to different text sections; b.2. as a result of said search of (b.1), identifying additional reading material related to said concept; and b.3. providing, via the network, to said client system, for display on the same page as a portion of the electronic text section referred to in (a.3), an indicator of said additional reading material identified in (b.2).
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20. A computer memory storage device encoded with a computer program that, in response to a reader'"'"'s request for display of electronic text, automatically identifies and provides additional reading material related to concepts referred to within said electronic text comprising:
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a) means for responding to a client system, wherein said client system; a.1. accepts a request for display of electronic text; a.2. sends said request for display of electronic text over a network; a.3. receives said electronic text, said electronic text containing at least one text section; and a.4. without further user input, sends a search request over said network, for additional information related to a concept referred to in said at least one text section; and b) means for, on a server system, responsive to said search request of (a.4) b.1. searching an index, wherein; i) said index contains a plurality of terms by which it may be searched; ii) substantially all terms in said index are associated with at least one pointer to a text section; and iii) at least one term in said index is associated with a plurality of pointers, at least two of said plurality of pointers pointing to different text sections; b.2. as a result of said search of (b.1), identifying additional reading material related to said concept; and b.3. providing, via the network, to said client system, for display on the same page as a portion of the electronic text section referred to in (a.3), an indicator of said additional reading material identified in (b.2).
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Specification