Abstract:
Embodiments of the present invention provide indexing, organizing, storing and/or retrieving of environmental information regarding a proposed environment-modifying project, including information about an environment-modifying natural event or construction project (“project”); a natural, constructed or socioeconomic feature in the area of the project (“setting”); a change to the setting brought about by the project (“impact”); or a feature designed to ameliorate a potential environmental impact of the project (“mitigation”). The environmental information is indexed with metadata that may be hierarchically organized and made available to a reviewer in a controlled vocabulary or a user-defined vocabulary.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S) 
   This patent application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims the benefit to both, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/117,361, filed Apr. 5, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,856,907 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application 60/282,302, filed Apr. 5, 2001, both of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties. 

   FIELD OF INVENTION 
   The present invention relates to an enhanced form of indexing, organizing, storing and retrieving environmental information. 
   BACKGROUND 
   A barrier to the efficient retrieval of stored environmental information is the difficulty to index the information with terms that are both uniquely and intuitively related to specific, relevant aspects of the data. In general, the more unique an indexing term is, the less intuitive it is, and the less convenient it is to researchers conducting the search. Conversely, the more intuitive a search term is, the more likely it is to be confused with other common terms and the less likely it is to return a unique category of records. For instance, common keywords used to search environmental information may be ambiguous as when the term “salmon” returns records referring to the color “salmon” instead of the fish. 
   To address these and other problems and to help ensure that users searching environmental documents receive accurate results, it is therefore desirable to provide a system and method for indexing, organizing, storing and retrieving environmental information to facilitate improved searches. 
   SUMMARY 
   Embodiments of the present invention provide indexing, organizing, storing and/or retrieving of environmental information regarding a proposed environment-modifying project, including information about an environment-modifying natural event or construction project (“project”); a natural, constructed or socioeconomic feature in the area of the project (“setting”); a change to the setting brought about by the project (“impact”); or a feature designed to ameliorate a potential environmental impact of the project (“mitigation”). 
   Some embodiments of the present invention associate unique data records with one or more metadata terms from a controlled vocabulary (either preselected or user-specified) including environmental descriptors in a variety of useful categories (including but not limited to document properties, topic, location, date and species). 
   Some embodiments of the present invention, construct a database associating one or more descriptive pre-formatted or user-specified metadata terms to any unique data record. 
   Some embodiments of the present invention, assign metadata terms to environmental data records by selecting a source document, text, tabular, graphic or other data from any source and subsequently selecting appropriate metadata terms or values from a previously developed menu of metadata descriptors. 
   Some embodiments of the present invention provide a menu of metadata terms or values to characterize a given source or document in response to the type of environmental information it contains. 
   Some embodiments of the present invention automatically assign appropriate metadata identifiers to characterize environmental information in a given source or document based on the frequency of their occurrence. 
   In some embodiments of the present invention, some of the metadata terms describe locations for which the value of the metadata is provided in terms of geographic coordinates (i.e. geocodes). 
   In some embodiments of the present invention, some of the metadata terms describe a time period related to the information for which the value of the metadata is provided in terms of a date or set of dates. 
   Some embodiments of the present invention retrieve information by specifying search terms from a controlled vocabulary describing the desired data (metadata) and receiving a list of available data records prioritized according to the degree to which their metadata matches the entered search terms; 
   In some embodiments of the present invention, some of the environmental descriptors are hierarchically or thematically related to other descriptors in the controlled vocabulary of metadata to facilitate searches. 
   Some embodiments of the present invention locate indexed information by specifying search terms from a controlled metadata vocabulary and further specifying a type of relationship of associated metadata terms (e.g. “broad,” “narrow,” “used for” or “related”) and receiving a list of available data records prioritized according to the degree to which their metadata matches the metadata associated with the entered search terms. 
   In some embodiments of the present invention, additional vocabularies (thesauri) are related to the controlled metadata terms in a Metadata Database to increase the likelihood that a given search will produce useful results. 
   In some embodiments of the present invention, a thesaurus of common species names is related to a controlled vocabulary of scientific names. 
   In some embodiments of the present invention, a thesaurus of common and specific place names is related to a controlled vocabulary of geocodes. 
   Some embodiments of the present invention, locate indexed information by specifying search terms from a thesaurus associated with a controlled metadata vocabulary and receiving a list of available data records prioritized according to the degree to which their metadata matches the metadata associated with the entered search terms. For example, the list of available data records may be prioritized according to the frequency with which the search terms match the metadata terms or terms in the text itself. 
   Some embodiments of the present invention, locate non-indexed information by entering search terms and receiving a list of available data records prioritized according to the frequency with which the search terms match the metadata associated with the data records through some other means, or the terms match the terms contained within the text of the data record itself. 
   Some embodiments of the present invention are performed by software stored in processor readable memory of a processing device communicatively coupled to the Internet. 
   These and other embodiments of the present invention, as well as other aspects and advantages are described in more detail in conjunction with the figures, the detailed description, and the claims that follow. 

   
     DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
       FIG. 1 . Block diagram Structure of Primary and Secondary Databases and User Interface 
       FIG. 2 . Flow Chart of Search Using Metadata or Thesaurus Search Terms 
       FIG. 3 . Flow Chart of Search Including Hierarchical Metadata Relationships 
       FIG. 4 . Diagram Example Search Schematic No.  1 ; 
       FIG. 5 . Diagram Example Broad and Narrow Term Search Schematic No.  2 ; 
       FIG. 6 . Diagram Example Search Schematic No.  3 ; 
       FIG. 7 . Diagram Example Search Term Entry Screen; 
       FIG. 8 . Diagram Example Search Results (Return) Screen; 
       FIG. 9 . Diagram Thesaurus Structure showing Hierarchical Relationship Between Terms; 
       FIG. 10 . Diagram Screen Shots Showing Substitution of Metadata Terms for Thesaurus Terms and Selection of Hierarchical Relationship Term 
       FIG. 11 . Flowchart of Metadata Assignment Tool; 
       FIG. 12 . Diagram Example Menu-Driven Metadata Assignment Screen Shot No.  1 ; 
       FIG. 13 . Diagram Example Menu-Driven Metadata Assignment Screen Shot No.  2 ; and 
       FIG. 14 . Metadata Assignment Schematic 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
   Embodiments of the present invention disclose a system and method for indexing, organizing, storing and retrieving information regarding a proposed environment-modifying project is provided in some embodiments of the present invention. A system and method for assigning metadata to environmental information, and a system and method for relating search terms to a controlled vocabulary of metadata are also provided in embodiments of the present information. 
   Accordingly, researchers can more accurately access environmental information that is indexed with preselected or user-defined metadata terms. Furthermore, information searches are more likely to result in the return of data records that meet researcher needs, as compared to current keyword searches, when search terms from a thesaurus of common terms are associated with metadata terms that can be searched according to hierarchical and thematic relationships. 
     FIG. 1  illustrates the structure of the main components of the system and method for indexing, organizing, storing and retrieving information regarding a proposed environment-modifying project  100 , which includes: 1) a data record database (or primary database)  105  that includes an address or location of one or more pieces of electronic and non-electronic information  110 , each associated with one or more terms from a controlled vocabulary of specific metadata terms  115  that uniquely characterize the form and content of the data records; 2) a metadata database (secondary database)  120  associating various metadata terms from a controlled vocabulary  125  with thesaurus terms from one or more thesauri (vocabularies)  130  to which they are equivalent; and 3) a user interface  135  whereby researchers may enter search terms (either metadata terms or thesaurus terms) to query the primary database  105  and receive search results in the form of a list of data records with their addresses  110 , and/or links to the data records. 
   As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , the database consists of the data record locations  110  for the various types of information, including but not limited to the following:
         Planning Documents   Environmental Impact Reports (EIRs)   Journal Articles   Technical Reports   Topical Research   Media   Academic studies   Databases   Case Law   Legislation   Regulations and Regulatory Findings   Books   Websites   Maps and Atlases       

   Data records may include electronic or non-electronic information. Electronic data records can be resident at a variety of locations, including storage on a single computer or on a server accessible through a private network, or on a website accessible through the internet. Non-electronic data records may be located at a public or private library or at a public or private office, access to which may be open or restricted. 
   The data record database  105  contains information sufficient to specify a unique location of each data record (“address”)  110  such that the return of a data record&#39;s address  110  is sufficient to allow the user to locate the data record. In the case of electronic data, in some embodiments the address  110  is formatted in such a way that the address  110  changes automatically when the location of the electronic data moves so as to maintain an accurate register of data locations for the sake of retrieving the information for use by the researcher. In some embodiments of the present invention, the address of the data record returned to the user in response to a query of the database provides a link to the location of the data record which allows the user to access the information immediately by selecting the address. 
   The database also contains metadata terms that are associated with data records  115 . Each unique data record is associated with any number of metadata terms  115  that describe the information in the data record. Metadata terms  115  are selected from a controlled vocabulary  125  in which each metadata term  115  is defined in a manner useful in characterizing the information in the underlying data record in an unambiguous manner. 
   The metadata terms  115  are contained in the secondary metadata database  120  which includes the controlled vocabulary of metadata terms in hierarchical relationships to one another  125  along with other lists of terms (“thesauri”)  130  which are related to the metadata terms  115  as equivalent terms and for which one or more metadata terms  115  may be substituted during a search. 
   In some embodiments of the present invention, metadata terms  115  describe the bibliographic characteristics of the document as a whole, including standardized descriptions of documents and document properties (e.g. Dublin Core Metadata Initiative Metadata Terms) such as title, creator, subject, description, publisher, contributor, date, type, format, identifier, source, language, relation, coverage and rights. In some embodiments of the present invention, metadata terms  115  refer to the content of the information, including descriptions of its subject matter, location, range of dates covered and species discussed. 
   The use of the primary data record database  105  and the secondary metadata database  120  in enabling the user to search for information is illustrated in  FIG. 2 . In some embodiments of the present invention, a user enters a search term in step  205  along with various search parameters. The search term is then compared to a list of metadata terms  115  in the metadata database  120 . If a match is found in step  210 , the user is given the option in step  215  of broadening the search to include hierarchically related terms, as explained further in  FIG. 3 . If a broader search is not desired, the matched term is compared to the metadata terms  115  associated with data records in the data record database  105  in step  260 , and the corresponding matched record addresses  110  are returned to the user with information about the available documents matching the greatest number or most heavily weighted terms in step  265 . 
   If the search term entered by the user does not match any of the metadata terms  115  in the controlled vocabulary  125  in step  210 , the search term is compared to a list of terms in other thesauri  130  in step  220  whose equivalence to the metadata  115  is listed in the metadata database  120 . If a match is found in step  225 , the matched thesaurus term is compared to the associated metadata terms in step  250 , at which point the user is given the option in step  255  of broadening the search to include hierarchically related terms, as explained further in  FIG. 3 . If a broader search is not desired, the metadata terms are matched with the data records in the data record database  105  in step  260 . As before, the matched records are returned to the user with information about the available documents matching the greatest number or most heavily weighted terms in step  265 . 
   If the search term entered by the user does not match any of the other thesaurus terms in the metadata database  120 , the user is offered the option of selecting an appropriate term to which the unknown search term may be associated in step  230 . When the user selects an appropriate thesaurus term in step  235 , the term is matched with its related metadata term  250 , at which point the user is given the option in step  255  of broadening the search to include hierarchically related terms, as explained further in  FIG. 3 . If a broader search is not desired, the metadata terms are matched with the data records in the data record database  105  in step  260 . As before, the matched records are returned to the user with information about available documents matching the greatest number or most heavily weighted terms in step  265 . 
   If the user does not recognize any terms from the metadata database  120  as similar in significance to the unknown search term, the user may choose to perform a full text search with the search terms in step  240 , at which point the unknown search term or terms will be compared to the readable text in the title and content of all documents in the data record database in step  245 . Information about documents containing this search term will then be returned as search results to the user in step  265 . 
   As shown in  FIG. 3 , in some embodiments of the present invention, the user may choose to broaden the search to include metadata terms hierarchically related to the metadata  115  associated with the search term. In step  305 , a user enters a search term along with various search parameters. If the search term is not a metadata term in step  310 , please refer to  FIG. 2 , however if the search term is a metadata term, proceed to step  315 . In step  315  the user has the option to expand the search to include hierarchically related metadata terms. When a user selects this option in step  315 , the metadata terms in the metadata database that are hierarchically related to the search term are reviewed, and those additional metadata terms having the appropriate relationship specified by the user in steps  320  through  330 , narrow, broad, and related terms respectively, are added to the search terms in step  335 , which are in turn compared with the metadata terms  115  in the data record database  105  in step  340 . 
   Detailed examples of how the system and method described in  FIGS. 2 and 3  might be implemented are illustrated in  FIGS. 4 through 6 .  FIG. 4  shows how a user query for certain information can be translated into controlled metadata terms and yield documents from the primary database  105 . In this example, the user searches for particular documents about the impact of water pollution on a type of salmon at stage  405  by entering the general search terms “Chinook salmon,” “near-extinct,” “fishing grounds,” “urban runoff,” in the user interface  140 , none of which are metadata terms used to index documents directly. The search further specifies information concerning a period between 1980 and 1990 for a location within “30 miles of San Francisco Bay.” These search terms are checked at stage  410  for equivalence with thesaurus terms and metadata terms in the metadata database  120  to yield the respective metadata terms  O. tshawytscha  for “Chinook salmon”; endangered species for “near extinct’; river for “fishing grounds”; storm water pollution for “urban runoff”; a chronological scalar 1980-0101/1990-1231 to signify the time period 1980 to 1990; and the geocode 38.157774/-121.597772 with an appropriate mathematical parameter to define “within 30 miles of San Francisco Bay.” These metadata are then matched with the data records in the data record database  105  in stage  415  to locate a source of information (Document A) that has been characterized by metadata terms including. 
     FIG. 5  shows how a user query can be expanded by including a search for documents indexed with metadata terms that are hierarchically related to the initial search term by being broader or narrower than the initial term. In this example, in stage  505  the user&#39;s initial search for documents about air quality is expanded by including a search for documents indexed according to narrower metadata terms—in this instance the terms particulate emissions, ozone and smog in stage  510 . These additional metadata terms are then matched with the data records in the data record database  105  at stage  515  such that the addresses of documents indexed according to either air quality, particulate emissions, ozone or smog will all be returned to the user. In some cases, the actual documents (electronic) or links to those documents will also be returned to the user. 
   In some embodiments of the present invention, the user can combine expanded searches of metadata terms with full text searches to find documents indexed according to the controlled metadata terms which also include specific words including variant usages. In  FIG. 6 , at stage  605 , a user interested in researching information about the environmental impact of constructing a retail development (including a pharmacy) on rush hour traffic searches for documents indexed according to the non-controlled terms “traffic jam,” “rush hour” and “pharmacy” with geographic parameters to narrow the search to a specific region  605 . The user further specifies that narrower metadata terms should be included in the search, and that terms with no metadata equivalents may be used to search the full text of available documents. As in the earlier example in stage  610 , the term “traffic jam” is translated to the controlled metadata term transportation and traffic along with narrower terms which include level of service  610 , an indication of congestion. In addition, the terms “rush hour” and “pharmacy” are used to search the text of available documents. A document matching these requirements, indexed according to the metadata term level of service and containing the terms “rush hour” and “pharmacy” in the text is returned to the user in stage  615 . 
     FIG. 7  shows an example screen of the type in which the user can enter various search terms and other parameters concerning the desired information (e.g. location and date of data). In some embodiments of the present invention, the user interface  140  includes a series of displayed text boxes in which the user enters various types of search information, organized by category. When the user enters one or more terms describing the type of document sought or the type or subject of the environmental information in box  725 , a menu of candidate search metadata search terms is provided in box  730 . When the user selects one or more of the candidate metadata terms by highlighting and clicking on the candidate term, that metadata term is automatically added to the search terms in box  735 . A user can also specify a location and range in box  710  and a date range in box  715 . Searching with metadata and/or thesaurus terms can be selected in box  705  and the results can be prioritized or organized according to user input in box  720 . 
     FIG. 8  shows an example screen, of the type in which the user would receive the desired information about returned documents. The search history section  805  shows the search parameters used, including location information  810  and date parameters  815 . The order in which results are specified to be returned are shown in box  820 , while the data records associated in database  105  are listed in box  830 . Selecting an individual returned document will reveal the specific metadata terms  115  that match the returned document in box  825 . The first page of the first or selected record image is shown in section  835 . Finally, a description of the first or selected identified document according to Dublin core or other appropriate document metadata is in section  840 . In some embodiments of the present invention, the list of data records is prioritized according to the number of search terms associated with the records. In some alternative embodiments of the present invention, the list of data records is prioritized according to the modifiers associated with the metadata indicating the degree of importance of an associated metadata term to the content of the data record. In a further embodiment of the present invention, the list of data records includes an abstract summarizing each data record. In some alternative embodiments of the present invention, each data record in the list is linked to the location on the network indicated by its address such that selecting an electronic data record automatically brings the data record to the user&#39;s computer. 
   Embodiments of the invention allow the user to define a thesaurus terms from an external vocabulary as equivalent to a metadata term from the controlled vocabulary by selecting it from a list of terms displayed on the computer and subsequently selecting the corresponding thesaurus term. As shown in  FIG. 9 , the non-standard term “near-extinct,”  910  may be considered as equivalent to the metadata term endangered species  920  which is a “narrow term” with respect to the metadata term special status species  925 . As such, an expanded search on endangered species specified for “broad terms” will include all documents indexed under either endangered species or special status species  915 . As further shown in the relationships included in  905 , the term special status species is also a broad term with respect to the metadata terms rare species  935  and  O. tshawytscha    940 , and is itself a narrow term with respect to the broader term biological resources  930 . 
   The reviewer is able to relate at thesaurus term to a metadata term through an appropriate screen as shown in  FIG. 10 . For example, by selecting the non-standard term “near-extinct” in box  1005  and dragging a cursor to extend an arrow to the metadata term endangered species in box  1010  he reviewer can establish an equivalence relationship between the two terms which is illustrated with other hierarchical relationships in Box  1015 . 
   Embodiments of the invention allow reviewers to assign metadata to a data record to facilitate future access. As illustrated in  FIG. 11 , a reviewer analyzes the target document in step  1105  and selects a list of appropriate metadata terms to characterize its content in step  1110  including but not limited to thematic terms as wells as location, date and species referenced in the document. The reviewer then determines the appropriate document attributes to characterize the document, including its unique, unambiguous address in step  1115 , and selects appropriate metadata terms to characterize the content of the document from controlled a vocabulary in step  1110 . The reviewer then links the metadata with the data record address in the data record database in step  1120 . The linked information is thereupon entered at step  1125  into the data record database  105 , or else the reviewer returns to the metadata list at step  1110  to determine more appropriate metadata links. In the event that no appropriate metadata are found, a new metadata term may be associated with the data record and entered into the controlled vocabulary at step  1130 . 
   In some embodiments of the present invention, all or part of an electronic record is displayed on a computer screen with one or more text boxes for entry of metadata.  FIG. 12  illustrates an example screen  1205  in which a document title page is displayed  1210  adjacent to a selection of boxes for entering metadata pertinent to the entire document (e.g. Dublin Core metadata)  1215 . The user enters the metadata in the appropriate text box, or selects from a dropdown menu of metadata terms, which are automatically entered in the textboxes. When the metadata entry for a given record is complete, the data record address is automatically entered in the database (with additional user-guided instructions) associated with the selected metadata. 
   In some alternative embodiments of the present invention, a similar procedure is provided for entering various types of metadata specific to different locations within the document. As illustrated in  FIG. 13 , the example screen  1305  includes an information tree, table of contents, bookmarks or similar method for navigating an electronic document  1310 . Selection of location within this navigation screen brings up corresponding text from within the document  1315 . The example screen simultaneously displays various categories of example metadata terms  1320  which can be selected through a series of dropdown menus; in addition, the user may enter other metadata terms directly in the “Current List of Assigned Metadata Terms”  1330 . Another portion of the example screen displays the common document metadata entered earlier as shown in  FIG. 12  as document properties  1325 . When the user hits the return key, both the data record address and the metadata terms listed in box  1330  are associated together and entered in the metadata database  105 . 
   In a further embodiment of the present invention, the user enters a description of the subject document, or a description of the type of environmental information contained in it, and a menu of candidate metadata terms or values to characterize the document is provided. The user can then select one or more candidate terms to associate with the document address (refer to  FIG. 7 ). 
     FIG. 14  illustrates some alternative embodiments of the present invention in which the assignment of metadata is accomplished automatically by means of an automatic parsing agent  1400 . By initiating the parsing agent  1405  the reviewer allows the agent to retrieve the target document  1410  and analyze it for metadata terms and other significant words  1415  according to their frequency and use in headings and elsewhere. These words are then compared against a list of available metadata terms  1420 , and based on the results of the target document evaluation, a list of candidate terms is offered for assignment to the document  1425 . The candidate terms are weighted according to the frequency of their occurrence  1435  and usage or according to some other predetermined standard  1430 , and selected terms are then approved for use with the documents and associated with the data record address of the target document in the data record database  1435 . Appropriate addresses may consist of its location in an electronic file, or a specific element within the file, or the physical location of a non-electronic data record. In a further embodiment of the present invention, metadata terms are assigned automatically to the data records based on the frequency with which the metadata terms or the thesaurus equivalents occur within the metadata record. 
   In a further embodiment of the present invention, document analysis consists of evaluating the text of the document for available terms, or by identifying the presence of available terms in the title and headings or by other means to determine its significance for the purpose of assigning appropriate metadata terms to characterize the document.