SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTELLIGENTLY MARKING ONLINE AND OFFLINE RESOURCES

The present invention discloses a technique for marking electronic resources in an online and offline mode on a wide range of digital content access platforms such as web-browsers, document editing applications, or stand alone/collaborative digital content management platforms. The technique includes configuring a digital content access platform on the user access device to enable a marking tool, accessing an electronic resource having a electronic resource locator (ERL) address or comprising one or more hyperlinked ERL addresses, providing a selectable marking icon for each ERL address via the marking tool, creating a marking for the ERL address upon selection of the corresponding selectable marking icon, and storing the created marking within the online platform or within a pre-determined file.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to India Patent Application No. 1771/DEL/2011, entitled “System and Method for Contextual and Collaborative Knowledge Generation and Management through. an Integrated Online-Offline Workspace” and filed on Jun. 22, 2011, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety as though fully and completely set forth herein.

BACKGROUND

The invention relates generally to a technique for marking electronic resources, and in particular to an intelligent tool for marking electronic resources in an online and offline mode.

While browsing for certain content on the network, frequently by means of search tools like Google and Yahoo, end-users retrieve numerous results, not all of which are of use to the user. The user may be interested in fewer results and would like to or prefer to save those key results for future reference such that that he/she has those chosen results handy. Fortunately, content browsing technologies often include a simple indexing technology for memorizing the network addresses of content distributing locations of interest to end-users. Referred to in the art as “bookmarking”, this simple indexing technology, on command, can store the network address (URL address) associated with content actively viewed through the content browser. Subsequently, the end-user can access a list of indexed and stored bookmarks to retrieve previously viewed content from a network address (URL address) associated with the stored bookmark.

However, the current bookmark applications at best bookmark a webpage and allow the user to type in some comment for his/her reference. The process of manually entering reference comment is cumbersome, particularly if the user is looking at multiple pages at a time and wants to bookmark pages of interest to come back to it later for detailed review. Similarly, if a user searches for a topic on a search engine and wants to bookmark few results for future review based on the displayed summary, he needs to open the page and then bookmark it. Bookmarking the search engine page will either open the search engine home page or at best open the search result page. Thus, a user cannot directly bookmark a webpage, by simply bookmarking the associated uniform resource locator (URL) address, without opening the page.

Further, a user may come across web-links while working in an offline mode on his access device. These web-links can be present as hyperlinks in any document saved locally on the user's access device and can probably be of user's interest. Thus the user might want to bookmark one or more of these links. Using the current state of the art bookmarking applications such web-links can only be bookmarked upon opening them through a network connection. Moreover, a user may need to bookmark a file or a document saved locally on the user's access device for future reference. Current bookmarking techniques are limited in their application with respect to offline bookmarking of such electronic resources.

It is therefore desirable to provide an intelligent tool for marking electronic resources that overcomes above discussed and other limitations of current bookmarking applications.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system and method for intelligently marking electronic resources in an online and offline mode.

It is another object of the present invention to allow a user to bookmark a desired URL address without necessarily opening the corresponding webpage and along with a summary of the webpage.

It is yet another object of the present invention to allow a user to bookmark a webpage along with a desired selected content from within the webpage as a summary for that bookmark.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an intelligent marking application compatible with various online and offline digital content access platforms so as to bookmark web-links directly from the platform itself. In one embodiment, it is an object of the invention to bookmark web-links present in files, documents, emails, and applications accessed locally form a user's access device.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an intelligent marking application to bookmark offline electronic resources such as a document or a file for future reference along with a summary of the electronic resources.

The present intelligent marking application achieves all the objectives, set forth above. The marking application or tool can be installed on various online and offline digital content access platforms and upon installation, can be used for marking electronic resources in a manner as described later in this patent application. The various online digital content access platforms may include, but are not limited to, web-browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, or Internet Explorer, or Google Chrome, or Safari, or Opera, or the like. The various offline digital content access platforms may include, but are not limited to, applications such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Desktop search, or the like. The various digital content access platforms may also include, but are not limited to, collaboration-data-management platforms such as Google Does, or Zoho, or MS SharePoint, or the integrated online offline platform described in the related India Patent Application No. 1771/DEL/2011, or the like. The present intelligent marking technique allows a user to mark the whole search result page or each individual search result from the search engine result page along with a summary of content. Additionally, the user may select a portion of the content from the web page which interests him and then hit the selectable marking icon. The intelligent marking technique of the present application not only marks the page but also provides the user selected content or text as the summary. Thus, a user may save the whole search along with the summary of what was searched for, may save each individual result within the search along with a summary that is provided by the search engine, and/or may save individual page along with a user selected content as the summary. Another important aspect of the present marking application is the ability of the application to be locally downloaded and installed on the user's access device, thereby enabling the user to mark any file or document that is accessed locally on the user access device or any hyperlinked URL address present within such files documents.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from reviewing the detailed description and drawings of the present invention set forth herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

According to one embodiment of the present invention, system and method are provided for facilitating marking of electronic resources, in a manner as described subsequently in this detailed description. The invention provides an intelligent marking application or tool that may be employed in various online and offline digital content access platforms. The various online platforms may include, but are not limited to, web-browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, or Internet Explorer, or Google Chrome, or Safari, or Opera, or the like. The various offline platforms may include, but are not limited to, applications such as Microsoft Word, Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, Microsoft PowerPoint, Google Desktop search, or the like. The various digital content access platforms may also include, but are not limited to, collaboration-data-management platforms such as Google Docs, or Zoho, or MS SharePoint, or the integrated online-offline platform described in the related India Patent Application No. 1771/DEL/2011, or the like. Further, the intelligent marking application may also be employed locally for offline marking of electronic resources such as documents or files saved locally on a user's access device or hyperlinks from within the locally stored documents or files.

The present invention is now described with reference to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to like elements throughout.

FIG. 1depicts a block diagram of the intelligent marking system100for marking electronic resources according to the present invention. The system100may include at least a portion of a processor based user's access device, such as a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a personal digital assistant, a Smartphone, a mobile phone, or the like. It should also be understood that although several modules inFIG. 1are depicted as residing within system100, such modules may alternatively reside in a different system. An installation module102installs the intelligent marking application or tool within a digital content access application or platform on the user's access device, as requested by the user. A presentation module104presents the installed intelligent marking application within the digital content access application or platform to the user through graphical user interfaces (GUIs). The GUIs enable the user to interact with the intelligent marking application as will be described in greater detail with reference toFIGS. 2-7. Additionally, a mark creation module106allows the user to create bookmarks for electronic resources in multiple ways via the GUIs. Once a bookmark is created, a mark saving module108saves it within a bookmark memory (not shown in the drawings). The bookmark memory may reside on one or more remote servers accessible over a network as in online platform, this memory will subsequently be referred to as the online bookmark memory; or locally within a pre-determined file on the user's access device as in offline application or platform, this memory will subsequently be referred to as the offline bookmark memory; or both. It should be noted that, in certain embodiments, the bookmark memory may be part of the one or more modules of the system100.

Referring now toFIG. 2, an interface200represents an online search engine's interface or webpage within a web-browsing application's window210. The search engine may be any of the search engines available on the World Wide Web (WWW) such as Google search engine, or Yahoo search engine, or Wikipedia search engine, or MSN search engine, or Dogpile search engine, or the like. Also, the web browsing application may include, but is not limited to, web-browsers such as Mozilla Firefox, or Internet Explorer, or Google Chrome, or Safari, or Opera, or the like. A text or query box202is provided by the search engine within the interface200where the user enters search query204and subsequently clicks on a search button206to retrieve the search results for the query204. Upon installation of intelligent marking application or tool by the application installation module102, a selectable marking icon208is presented by the presentation module104on the toolbar212associated with the web-browsing application's window210. It should be noted that the selectable marking icon208is displayed on the toolbar212irrespective of the interface currently active within the web-browsing application's window210. However, the user may anytime choose to hide or temporarily disable the selectable marking icon208by customizing his web-browser's toolbar settings.

Turning now toFIG. 3, a search result page300, corresponding to the user's query204, is displayed within the web-browsing application's window210. Shown by302,304, and306are the search results retrieved by the search engine. These search results302,304, and306are displayed along with their respective uniform resource locator (URL) addresses as indicated by310,312, and314. Upon detection of one or more hyperlinked URL addresses within the search result page300, or within any other webpage currently active in the web-browsing application's window210, the presentation module104inserts or embeds a selectable marking icons308with each of the one or more hyperlinked URL addresses. While only three search results and their corresponding embedded selectable marking icons have been illustrated in the figure, it is to be understood that several of such results may be retrieved by the search engine and with every such result a selectable marking icon308will be associated.

The intelligent marking application allows a user to mark either an entire webpage or interface200currently active within the web-browsing application's window210, or a hyperlinked URL address310,312, and314present within the webpage or interface200upon selection of the selectable marking icon208or308respectively via the mark creation module106. As illustrated inFIG. 4, the user can create a bookmark for the entire search result page300by clicking on the selectable marking icon208. It should be noted that the text description “Save this page” associated with marking icon208is for illustration purpose only. This or other such descriptive text may be displayed to aid the user on moving the cursor or mouse to the marking icon208. Once the bookmark is created, the mark saving module108allows the user to save the created bookmark in the bookmark memory. The user may choose to save the bookmark in the online and/or offline bookmark memories. It should be noted that saving the bookmark in the offline bookmark memory makes the bookmarked webpage available to the user even in the absence of a network connection. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, this feature is enabled by downloading of the entire webpage so as to make it available offline. Further, the bookmark is saved along with a default, user-defined, or user-selected summary of the webpage or the interface300. In certain embodiments, a created bookmark is saved along with a title, a summary, and the corresponding URL address. For example, as shown inFIG. 4, saving the bookmark created for the search result page300saves the bookmark with: a title204, which is the search query input by the user; a summary, which is a default summary, as provided by the search engine for the search conducted; and a URL address316which corresponds to the worldwide web address of the search result page300. It should be noted that, in certain embodiments, the intelligent marking application may be configured to accept a user-defined summary of the bookmark upon clicking of the selectable marking icon208. Additionally, as will be described with reference toFIG. 6, the summary for the bookmark can be user-selected, instead of the default summary, if so desired by the user.

Referring now toFIG. 5, another aspect of the intelligent marking application is described in reference to the search result page300. The user often gets a fair idea of the relevancy of a particular result by its title and the summary provided. As the number of search results retrieved for a query is generally exhaustive, it is time-consuming to open every result and thereafter bookmark it. Thus, the present intelligent marking application enables the user to directly bookmark one or more search results without having to necessarily open the webpage associated with the desired result. This is accomplished by clicking selectable marking icons308. If the user finds the result302relevant to his search, he can create a bookmark for this result by simply clicking on the selectable marking icons308without essentially opening the webpage corresponding to the result302. Again, it should be noted that the text description “Save this page” associated with marking icon308is for illustration purpose only. This or other such descriptive text may be displayed to aid the user on moving the cursor or mouse to the marking icon308. The saving of bookmark created through the marking icons308is similar to the saving of bookmark created through the marking icon208as described above with reference toFIG. 4. Also, the user may choose to save the bookmark in any of the online and/or offline bookmark memories. Saving the bookmark created for the search result302saves the bookmark with: a title502, which is the title for the search result as displayed on the search result page300; a summary504, which is a default summary corresponding to the search result302; and a URL address310which corresponds to the worldwide web address of the search result302. Here again, it should be noted that, in certain embodiments, the intelligent marking application may be configured to accept a user-defined summary of the bookmark upon clicking of the selectable marking icon208. Additionally, as will be described with reference toFIG. 6, the summary for the bookmark can be user-selected, instead of the default summary, if so desired by the user.

FIG. 6shows an aspect of the intelligent marking application wherein the user may select the summary to be saved along with the bookmark. Shown in theFIG. 6is the webpage600which is opened upon clicking on the search result302of search result page300. Bookmarking either the currently active page600or the search result302saves the bookmark with the default summary504. However, the user, if he so desires, can save the bookmark with desired web content as the summary. In case the user wants to bookmark the webpage600with the web-content602as the summary, the user needs to select the web-content602prior to hitting the selectable marking icon208. Once the web-content602is selected, the user may hit the selectable marking icon208to create a bookmark. The bookmark thus created will be saved along with: a title502; a summary comprising the web-content602; and a URL address310. This summary comprising web-content602, instead of the default summary504, is the user-selected summary. While the webpage600is shown to explain this feature, it should be noted that this feature of the intelligent marking application remains the same for any other webpage currently active within web-browsing application's window210.

FIG. 7illustrates an aspect of the intelligent marking application for marking electronic resources in offline mode. Once installed by the application installation module102on any offline platform, the intelligent marking application may be used to create bookmarks for hyperlinked URL addresses present within any file or document saved locally on the user's access device and accessed via the offline platform. Shown by700is desktop window of user's access device. In an exemplary embodiment, a MS word document702is saved on the desktop which upon being accessed by MS Word application (offline digital content access platform) opens as the complete document within the MS Word application window704. As illustrated, the document702contains a hyperlinked URL address706. The intelligent marking application parses the document702and upon detection of the hyperlinked URL address706, the presentation module104embeds and displays a selectable marking icon708, associated with the hyperlinked URL address706. Clicking the selectable marking icon708creates a bookmark for the hyperlinked URL address706. The created bookmark may be saved in the online and/or offline bookmark memory. It should be noted that saving the bookmark in the offline bookmark memory makes the bookmarked webpage available to the user even in the absence of a network connection. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, this feature is enabled by downloading of the entire webpage on detection of the network connection so as to make it available offline. Further, the bookmark may be saved along with a default, a user-defined, or a user-selected summary. For example, in certain embodiments, the bookmark may be saved along with: a title that may be title of the associated webpage; a summary comprising default summary of webpage or default summary and/or name and location of the document702within the user's access device; and the hyperlinked URL address706. Alternatively, in certain embodiments, the intelligent marking application may be configured to accept a user-defined summary of the bookmark. Alternatively, in certain embodiments, the summary for the bookmark may be user-selected portion of the document702.

As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, in certain embodiments, the intelligent marking application may bookmark the file or document saved locally on the user's access device by clicking on the selectable marking icon present on the toolbar of the digital content access platform. For example, with respect toFIG. 7, upon installation of the intelligent marking tool, a selectable marking icon (not shown) may be presented on the toolbar710of the MS Word application window704. The user may create a bookmark for the entire document702by clicking on the selectable marking icon. Once the bookmark is created, the created bookmark may be saved in the bookmark memory. In certain embodiments, a created bookmark is saved along with a name of the document, a summary, and a corresponding file location. The user may choose to save the bookmark in the online and/or offline bookmark memories. It should be noted that saving the bookmark in the online bookmark memory makes the bookmarked document702available to the user over online platform. As will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, this feature is enabled by uploading of the document702on the online bookmark memory so as to enable its access over online platform. Further, the bookmark is saved along with a default, a user-defined, or a user-selected summary of the document702. The default summary may be a title or abstract of the document702. Alternatively, user may choose to enter some notes as a user-defined summary while bookmarking the document702. Finally, as discussed above with reference toFIG. 6, the summary may be a user-selected portion of the document702.

It should be noted that the intelligent marking application may be installed in a variety of other online and/or offline digital content access platform and applications such as Microsoft Outlook, Lotus Notes, Microsoft PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat, Google Desktop search, Copernic Desktop search, any mobile or desktop applications, and so forth. In certain embodiments, the interface200,300, and600such as one described with reference toFIGS. 2-6may be an offline or a desktop search engine's interface such as that of Google Desktop search, Copernic Desktop search, and so forth within the respective application window. A local search performed via the desktop search engine may display a number of documents, emails, or files as search result. Similar to the techniques described with reference toFIGS. 2-6, the intelligent marking application installed on the desktop search application may enable the user to bookmark the entire search result or one or more of the individual search results directly from the desktop search engine's interface via a selectable marking icon. The user may choose to save the bookmark in any of the online and/or offline bookmark memories. The created bookmark is saved along with a title, a summary, and the corresponding file location. Here again, it should be noted that, the summary may be a default, a user-defined, or a user-selected summary.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, a variety of techniques may be employed to mark electronic resources. For example, the exemplary intelligent marking system100may mark electronic resources by the techniques discussed herein. In particular, as will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art, control logic and/or automated routines for performing the techniques and steps described herein may be implemented by the intelligent marking system100ofFIG. 1, either by hardware, software, or combinations of hardware and software. For example, suitable code may be accessed and executed by the intelligent marking system100to perform some or all of the techniques described herein. Similarly application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) configured to perform some or all of the techniques described herein may be included in the intelligent marking system100.

For example, referring now toFIG. 8, exemplary control logic800for marking electronic resources via a marking application, such as the intelligent marking tool described above, is depicted via a flowchart in accordance with aspects of the present technique. As illustrated in the flowchart, the control logic800includes the steps of configuring a digital content access platform on the user access device to enable a marking tool at step802, accessing an electronic resource having a electronic resource locator (ERL) address or comprising one or more hyperlinked ERL addresses at step804, providing a selectable marking icon for each ERL address via the marking tool at step806, creating a marking for the ERL address upon selection of the corresponding selectable marking icon at step808, and storing the created marking within the online platform or within a pre-determined file at step810.

As discussed above, the digital content access platform is an online collaborative digital content management platform, a stand-alone digital content management platform, a web-browser, a document editing application, or any other similar online or offline platform. Further, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the ERL address is a local or network address of an electronic resource. For example, the ERL address may be a uniform resource locator (URL) address of a webpage, or a location or path of an electronic resource within the user access device such as document location, file path, and so forth. Moreover, it should be noted that the selectable marking icon may be any visual indicator such as an image, a text, a marker, or a combination thereof. The selectable marking icon may be integrated within the digital content access platform for marking the electronic resource having the ERL address. Further, in certain embodiments, the selectable marking icon may be embedded within the accessed electronic resource comprising the one or more hyperlinked ERL addresses and placed next to each of the each of ERL addresses.

In certain embodiments, storing the marking at step810comprises storing the marking with a title, a summary, and the ERL address corresponding to the marked electronic resource having the ERL address or the marked hyperlinked ERL address from within the electronic resource. It should be noted that the summary may be a default summary based upon parsing of the electronic resource or a user-defined summary based on notes entered by the user. Alternatively, in certain embodiments, the summary may be a user-selected summary based upon selection made by the user within the electronic resource. The stored marking may reside within a pre-determined file on the user access device. Further, in certain embodiments, the stored marking may reside within the digital content access platform.

Other embodiments, uses and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. The specification and examples should be considered exemplary only. The intended scope of the invention is only limited by the claims appended hereto.