Patent Publication Number: US-RE45422-E

Title: Organizational viewing techniques

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a reissue of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/507,975, filed Aug. 21, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,859,539, issued Dec. 28, 2010 which claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/808,814, filed May 27, 2006 both of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entireties. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to organizational viewing techniques, and more particularly, to organizational techniques for viewing computer-based files, documents and web pages. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     A user of a computer program conducting computer-based research will often view numerous files, documents and web pages. Typically, the user will find some of the materials viewed to be of interest and will want to return to those materials at a later time. Using current technology, the user can create hyperlinks or “shortcuts” to identify and easily return to “favorite” materials. Often, however, the user has spent considerable time reviewing the materials and has found particular parts to be of interest. Any hyperlink or shortcut will only direct the user to the material, but not to any specific part of the material. 
     Techniques are known that allow a user to identify “key words” that appear in a material. Using these techniques, once linked to a material, the user can perform a “key word” or “boolean” search that compares a word, or words, selected by the user to the contents of the material, and presents words or phrases within the material that match, or potentially match, the words selected by the user. However, it is likely that such a search will result in numerous matches or potential matches, many of which are not of interest to the user. Thus, the user would have to spend time reviewing previously viewed material to identify and locate specific parts of the material. This practice is inefficient. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 6,992,687 issued to Baird et al., entitled “Bookmarking and Placemarking a Displayed Document in a Computer System” (hereinafter “Baird”) discloses a method and apparatus for bookmarking and/or placemarking a viewable part of a document, that is displayed on a computer video display at one time, allowing a user to return to that part at a later time. The bookmarking techniques of Baird, however, are limited to selecting the entire part of a document that is displayed at one time. Further, Baird requires that labor-intensive steps be undertaken to effectuate the bookmarking function and later use a bookmark created by the bookmarking function. 
     Therefore, improved techniques are needed for computer-based research that enable a user to easily and efficiently return to areas that are of interest. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Annotation techniques are provided. In one aspect of the present invention, a method for processing computer-based materials, such as files, documents, web pages, data spread sheets and computer displayable media, is provided. The method comprises the following steps. The computer-based material is presented. One or more portions, e.g., specific areas, lines of text, characters of text, lines of data and/or characters of data, of the computer-based material are determined to be of interest to a user. The one or more portions are annotated to permit, e.g., the user, to return to the portions at a later time. 
     In another aspect of the present invention, a user interface is provided. The user interface comprises a computer-based material; a viewing focal area encompassing a portion, i.e., specific areas, navigation positions, scroll positions, lines of text, characters, data or images, of the computer-based material; and one or more indicia associated with and annotating the portion of the computer-based material. Those indicia are “hyperlinked” to the particular portion of the computer-based material, allowing the user to rapidly to return to the particular portion by “clicking on” the indicia. 
     A more complete understanding of the present invention, as well as further features and advantages of the present invention, will be obtained by reference to the following detailed description and drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary methodology for annotating computer-based material according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary passive identification user interface according to an embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary reference key user interface according to an embodiment of the present invention; and 
         FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating an exemplary system for performing the present techniques according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 1  is a diagram illustrating exemplary methodology  100  for annotating computer-based material. The term “computer-based material” is intended to include, but is not limited to, data files, web pages (i.e., as viewed by internet navigation software), documents (e.g., of a word processing program), data spreadsheets, streaming media, as well as any other media that can be displayed on a video display, i.e., a computer screen, (collectively referred to hereinafter as “materials”). As also used herein, the term “annotate” refers to attaching indicia, i.e., link indicia, such as a label or a tag, to a specific location in a particular computer-based material to enable immediate return to such a location by clicking on the indicia at a later time. For example, according to one embodiment, the indicia may comprise one or more of indicators or link indicators. The term “clicking on” is used in its ordinary sense, as well known in the computer industry, meaning that the user employs a mouse or other similar tactile/graphical computer interface tool to place a cursor, arrow or other such viewable display item on a computer screen over another viewable display item, and then press a button of the tool, or otherwise indicates to a computer process or program that some activity by the computer is to be performed. 
     A detailed description of the annotation of computer-based materials, as well as embodiments of the indicia, will be provided below. As will be described in detail below, specific types of indicia are provided herein that work with existing “scroll bar” technology of various computer programs by appearing by or on specific locations of a scroll bar corresponding with (and therefore indicating location of and allowing an immediate link to) the identified portion(s) of interest in a material. 
     In step  102 , one or more portions of a computer-based material that are of interest to a user, i.e., portions of interest, are identified. Generally, the term “portion,” as used herein, refers to a part of a material that is less than the entire material, i.e., without regard to whether that part comprises a part that is displayed on the computer screen at one point in time. The portions may include, but are not limited to, specific areas, navigation positions, scroll positions, lines and characters of text, data, or images of a computer-based material, such as a file, a web page, a document, a data spreadsheet or a computer displayable media. For example, with regard to a document, a user might review the text of the document and find certain paragraphs that the user would like to return to once they no longer are displayed on the screen, or once the document has been closed. The general procedures surrounding viewing computer-based material, including opening and closing a document or a web page, are commonly known to those of skill in the art and are not described further herein. 
     According to the present teachings, the portions of interest to the user can be identified in the computer-based material either by automatic monitoring of the viewing behaviors of the user (“passive identification”) by a computer program, or by the user actively identifying portions that the user determines to be of interest (“active identification”). These passive and active identification modes will be described in detail below. 
     With the passive identification mode, a passive identification interface is provided that identifies the portions of interest in a computer-based material by the user viewing those portions for a duration greater than a threshold viewing time limit (which may be variably set by the user) or by the user returning to those portions of interest after navigating away from them, more than a preset number of times, i.e., instances. An exemplary passive identification interface is shown in  FIG. 2 , the use of which is described in detail below. For example, the passive identification interface provided to a user viewing a document can comprise a viewing focal area that encompasses a certain number of lines of text, characters or images, e.g., one line of text, presented in the center of the area of the computer screen that is displaying the document. According to the present techniques, the user may variably set the extent of the viewing focal area to match his or her preferences. When the user reviews a material, the user will have a natural tendency to focus his or her attention on the text, graphics, characters or other aspects of the material in the viewing focal area. The user can change the portion of the computer-based material that is present in the viewing focal area simply by using a conventional scrolling function, for example, on the well-known Microsoft Word or Internet Explorer programs. The use of such a scrolling function would be apparent to one of skill in the art and is not described in further detail herein. 
     When the user finds a portion of the computer-based material in the viewing focal area to be of interest, it is natural that the user will spend more time viewing that portion with little or no scrolling. Thus, that portion of the computer-based material is kept in the viewing focal area for a relatively greater length of time, as compared to areas of little or no interest. Once a portion of the computer-based material remains in the viewing focal area for greater than a predetermined amount of time (a threshold viewing time limit) an annotation, or link indicia (link indicator), is automatically attached to that portion. 
     The threshold viewing time limit can be predetermined by the user. For example, the user can adjust the threshold viewing time limit based on the speed at which the user reads. Thus, a user that reads at a slow pace can increase the threshold viewing time limit so that annotations are not incorrectly attached to portions of text simply because the user took longer to read the portion, but has no interest in later returning to it. Alternatively, the threshold viewing time limit can be a standard amount of time programmed in the methodology. As an alternative embodiment, the threshold viewing time limit may be variably set by the methodology as a percentage of overall time spent viewing the material, and as such, the indicia would be assigned upon exiting the material. As yet another alternative embodiment, the software could set the threshold time limit according to a percentage beyond the average viewing time for, i.e., lines of text, images or characters, for a particular user, as monitored by the methodology on an ongoing basis. 
     A record of the viewing time, after the threshold viewing time limit has been exceeded, can be kept, such that the identified portions of interest can later be ranked based on the amount of time the user spent viewing each portion. Annotations can then be displayed to the user based upon that ranking, allowing the user to easily and quickly return to the portions found to be of greatest interest. For example, the user might later choose to return to only those portions of each document which he or she spent the most amount of time reviewing. Alternatively, a chronological record can be kept such that the identified portions of interest can later be ranked and annotated based on when the user viewed each portion. For example, the user might wish to return first to those portions that were more recently viewed. 
     Additionally, a maximum viewing time limit may be imposed, beyond which any annotations or link indicia attached to a portion in the viewing focal area, i.e., once the threshold viewing time limit is exceeded, are either removed or modified. The setting of a maximum viewing time limit prevents mislabeling of portions as being of interest only because the user has diverted his or her attention away from the document, e.g., has stepped away from the computer, for a duration greater than the threshold viewing time limit. In this instance, if the annotations are removed, then the user would not be prompted to later return to that portion. If in fact the portion in the viewing window is of interest to the user, but the annotation has been removed because the maximum viewing time limit has been exceeded, the user can actively annotate that portion as described below. Alternatively, the annotation can be automatically modified by the methodology once the maximum viewing time limit has been exceeded. For example, the annotations can be modified to indicate to the user that the maximum viewing time limit has been exceeded and to allow the user to evaluate whether the portion annotated is truly of interest or not. 
     With the active identification mode, the user identifies portions of interest in the computer-based material using active annotations. Active annotations can be implemented in conjunction with the passive identification interface described above. For example, if the user finds a portion of a document in the viewing focal area to be of interest, but does not want to review that portion for a length of time exceeding the threshold viewing time limit, the user can actively select that portion for annotation simply by using a pointing device, such as a mouse, or a designated command from a keyboard, to select the viewing focal area and annotate the text therein. 
     The present techniques, however, do not require that active annotations be implemented using a viewing focal area. For example, the user can actively identify any portion of a document, viewable on the screen, for annotation by using a pointing device (e.g., a mouse) to simply “point” and “click” anywhere on the window that is displaying the portion, or by similarly using the pointing device to “click and drag” and thereby “highlight” the portion. The use of a pointing device, such as a mouse, to select text in a document by highlighting and/or by pointing and clicking on the text is well known to those of skill in the art, and is not further described herein. 
     According to an illustrative embodiment, if the user highlights a portion of text, the user can then be required to perform an additional step to complete annotation of that portion. By way of example only, the user can be required to initiate an annotate command function to complete annotation. The annotate command function option can be one of a number of commands presented to the user, e.g., in a drop-down menu, when the user “right-clicks” on the highlighted text. The term “right-click” means the use of a button on a computer mouse that is not the primary button of the mouse, which primary button is used for the majority of clicking tasks when using a mouse. The term “drop-down” menu refers to a user interface commonly used in Windows-style computer programs, whereby a list or group of potential commands appears on the computer screen upon the user issuing a command to the computer, as by selecting a menu item from a “tool bar.” The annotate command function option can also be presented to the user as an icon placed on the screen. The user can then select the annotate command function by “clicking” on the icon. 
     In step  104 , link indicia are attached to the identified portions of interest in the computer-based material. The term “attached to,” as used herein, is intended to refer to, e.g., indicia being displayed on the screen at, near, approximate to or in a shape pointing to computer-based material, or otherwise displaying identifying information so as to label that computer-based material as being of interest. As will be described in detail below, the indicia may be “hyperlinked” to the identified portions of interest in the computer-based material, allowing the user to rapidly to return to the particular portion by “clicking on” the indicia. Further, the indicia can have several different forms. For example, according to one exemplary embodiment, the indicia comprise tags, visible to the user, that are displayed by the computer screen at or near the computer-based material, e.g., in the margins, in proximity to the respective portions to which each tag is attached. 
     The link indicia can include information useful to the user and relevant to the interests or other computer-based activities of the user. For example, as described above, each link indicia may include an amount of time the user spent reviewing the portion to which the tag is attached. As also described above, each link indicia may include chronological information indicating to the user when the portion was viewed. In addition, the user can manually insert, e.g., type, information into a tag to rank or otherwise prioritize that tag with respect to other tags, or to provide summaries or any other useful information that the user wishes to associate with portions of the computer-based material. 
     In step  106 , the user can then return to any of the annotated portions of any of the computer-based materials using the attached indicia. This may occur in one or more ways. 
     According to one exemplary embodiment, the user returns to an annotated portion of a computer-based material using a reference key user interface. The reference key user interface provides an index of computer-based material and attached indicia. As described above, the indicia can comprise link indicators. An exemplary reference key user interface is shown in  FIG. 3 , and is described in detail below. The reference key user interface allows the user to return to an annotated portion of the computer-based material by selecting/clicking on the link indicator, e.g., with a pointing device, in the reference key user interface that corresponds to that portion. The reference key user interface may be implemented by a program that memorizes the location of the portion of interest, and automatically completes those steps necessary within another program that displays the material, such that the portion of interest is presented. 
     According to another exemplary embodiment, the user returns to an annotated portion of a computer-based material by directly viewing the link indicia present in the material and/or the link indicia over the “scroll bar” associated with the material. If the user is currently viewing a computer-based material in which the user has previously placed link indicia, the user can employ the scroll function to view the previously placed indicia, e.g., by clicking on the link indicator placed along the scroll bar, existing programs will automatically navigate to the annotated portion of interest associated with the link indicia. If the program associated with the material does not utilize a conventional scroll bar, the user may manually scroll through the material until link indicia appear, to identify and return to portions of interest. For example, if a user is viewing a two-page document and annotates several portions of interest on the first page, indicia will appear in the margins of the first page. If the user then moves on to view the second page, but decides to return to those portions of interest on the first page, the user can simply scroll the document back to the first page and search for the desired indicia. 
       FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating exemplary passive identification interface  200 . Passive identification interface  200  comprises computer-based material  214 , viewing focal area  216 , scroll bar  218 , indicia  220  and  222  and control keys  212 a,  212 b and  212 c. As described above, the indicia may comprise link indicators. 
     Computer-based material  214  includes, but is not limited to, files, documents or web pages containing text, images, data, graphical representations, figures, icons and media files. For example, computer-based material  214  can comprise a document including text or a web page including images. 
     Viewing focal area  216  typically comprises a subsection of passive identification interface  200  encompassing a portion of computer-based material  214 . For example, as described above, when computer-based material  214  comprises a document, viewing focal area  216  may encompass five lines of text in the middle of the viewable portion of the document. Alternatively, and also if computer-based material  214  comprises a document, viewing focal area  216  can be positioned in the middle of the viewable area of the document based on a median character, word, sentence or paragraph in the document. Specifically, an averaging function can be employed to determine the median character, word, sentence or paragraph in the document, and then set viewing focal area  216  to encompass a predetermined number of characters, words, sentences or paragraphs before and/or after the median character, word, sentence or paragraph. 
     As another alternative, viewing focal area  216  can be positioned on passive identification interface  200  based on an analysis of content of the computer-based material. For example, if computer-based material  214  comprises a document, viewing focal area  216  can be positioned to encompass sentences or paragraphs of the document that have been displayed on passive identification interface  200  for greater than a certain threshold viewing time limit. Conventional techniques exist to analyze text and identify phrases and sentences in text in a number of different formats. For example, techniques exist to define sentences as sequential groups of words that begin with a capital letter and end with certain types of punctuation. 
     As another example, when computer-based material  214  comprises a web page or a document (a part of which is text and another part of which is an image(s)) or another viewable item, viewing focal area  216  may encompass five percent of the viewable screen both above and below the invisible horizontal line at the middle of the viewable portion of the web page or document. 
     According to an exemplary embodiment, the user can change the configuration of viewing focal area  216 . For example, the user can increase or decrease the amount of computer-based material  214  present in viewing focal area  216  by respectively increasing or decreasing the size of viewing focal area  216 . Further, the user can change the placement of viewing focal area  216  on passive identification interface  200 , e.g., so as to adjust to an eye level of the user. 
     Indicia  220  and  222  are exemplary link indicia configurations that can be employed. As  FIG. 2  illustrates, both indicia  220  and  222  can be present in the same document. However, in many applications, displaying both indicia  220  and  222  can be redundant. According to an exemplary embodiment, the user selects whether indicia  220  and/or indicia  222  are displayed. Further, the placement of indicia  220  and  222  shown in  FIG. 2  is merely exemplary. For example, indicia  222  can be placed outside of the document, e.g., on another portion of passive identification user interface  200 . The placement of the indicia can be dictated by the user, based on his or her preferences. 
     As described above, indicia  220  and  222  can include information that is useful to the user. As shown in  FIG. 2 , each of indicia  220  and  222  include an amount of time, “12 min.,” indicating that the particular corresponding portion of computer-based material  214  was viewed for 12 minutes. Additionally, the indicia may be color-coded, or in some other way variably coded to indicate the amount of time the user spent viewing the corresponding portion of the document or a level of importance assigned by the user to the corresponding portion of the document. 
     Control keys  212 a-c may be associated with passive identification interface  200 . These control keys are optional. Similar control keys are found in various operating systems and their use would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. For example, control key  212 a can be selected by the user to “minimize”/“restore” computer-based material  214 . Control key  212 b can be selected by the user to change the viewable dimensions of, e.g., the scale of, computer-based material  214 . Control key  212 c can be selected by the user to close computer-based material  214 . 
       FIG. 3  is a diagram illustrating exemplary reference key user interface  308 . Reference key user interface  308  comprises items  310 ,  312  and  314  and control keys  317 a,  317 b and  317 c. As described above, reference key user interface  308  provides the user with an index of computer-based material and attached indicia, and allows the user to return to annotated portions of the computer-based material by selecting specific link indicia. As described above, the indicia can comprise link indicators. 
     Each item in reference key user interface  308 , e.g., items  310 ,  312  and  314 , represents a previously viewed computer-based material, at least a portion of which has been annotated by the user. For example, items  310  and  312 , labeled “Web A P. 1 ” and “Web A P. 2 ,” respectively, represent the first and second pages of a previously viewed Web page A, and item  314 , labeled “Web B P. 1 ,” represents the first page of previously viewed Web page B. Further, each item includes at least one indicator associated with portions of interest annotated by the user. For example, item  310  includes indicia  316  and  318 , item  312  includes indicia  320  and item  314  includes indicia  322  and  324 . 
     The indicia include information that helps the user identify each annotated portion of the previously viewed material. According to one embodiment, as shown in  FIG. 3 , each of indicia  316 ,  318 ,  320 ,  322  and  324  includes an indicator of how long the user viewed each annotated portion of the material. For example, indicator  316  indicates that the user previously spent 15 seconds viewing a portion of Web page A. Similarly, indicator  318  indicates that the user also spent 20 seconds viewing another portion of Web page A. 
     Each item and indicator in reference key user interface  308  provides an active link to the corresponding previously viewed material which the user can activate by selecting any of the indicia in reference key user interface  308 , e.g., using a pointing device. Thus, for example, if the user wishes to return to the annotated portion of Web page A that the user spent the most time viewing, the use can simply select indicator  318  in item  310  to link to that previously viewed and annotated portion of Website A. The user would then be returned to the passive identification interface, e.g., passive identification interface  200  described, for example, in conjunction with the description of  FIG. 2 , above, as it appeared when the user first viewed the annotated portion of the material. For example, the user would be returned to user interface  200  having the contents of Web page A displayed, such that the previously viewed and annotated portion of Web page A is present within viewing focal area  216 . 
     According to one exemplary embodiment, once the user activates/returns to a material via one of the link indicia and is returned to a previously viewed material, reference key user interface  308  remains present on the screen. The user can then use reference key user interface  308  to further select other computer-based material to which to return. 
     Control keys  317 a,  317 b and  317 c are also associated with reference key user interface  308 . Similar to control keys  212 a-c described, for example, in conjunction with the description of  FIG. 2 , above, these control keys are optional and their use would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art. Control key  317 a can be selected by the user to “minimize”/“restore” reference key user interface  308 . Control key  317 b can be selected by the user to change the dimensions of, e.g., scale of, reference key user interface  308 . Control key  317 c can be selected by the user to close reference key user interface  308 . 
     As an alternative to link indicators, other types of indicia are also provided herein that may serve as a “tool bar button,” which by way of example only can comprise buttons that are commonly used in several popular computer programs. For example, in one exemplary embodiment, an indicator in the form of a tool bar button returns the user to the most recently viewed portion of interest with the first “click” of the button. A subsequent click of the button would then return the user to the second most recently viewed portion of interest, and so on. Another button could appear allowing the user to navigate “back” to the material that the user was viewing before clicking on the link indicator as just described. In another exemplary embodiment, clicking on the link indicator toolbar button would return the user to a portion of the currently viewed material of greatest interest, as identified through the techniques described above, and subsequent clicks of the link indicator would summon the portion of next greatest interest, and so on. After viewing each identified area of interest in the currently viewed material, a subsequent click of the same button would summon the portion of greatest interest in the next. Additionally, link indicators can be organized according to chronology of their creation, length of time that the corresponding portions of interest were viewed by the user, or by manual reorganization and labeling carried out by the user. 
     Turning now to  FIG. 4 , a block diagram is shown of an apparatus  400  for processing a computer-based material in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. It should be understood that apparatus  400  represents one embodiment for implementing methodology  100  of  FIG. 1 . 
     Apparatus  400  comprises a computer system  410  and removable media  450 . Computer system  410  comprises a processor  420 , a network interface  425 , a memory  430 , a media interface  435  and an optional display  440 . Network interface  425  allows computer system  410  to connect to a network, while media interface  435  allows computer system  410  to interact with media such as a hard drive or removable media  450 . 
     As is known in the art, the methods and apparatus discussed herein may be distributed as an article of manufacture that itself comprises a machine-readable medium containing one or more programs which when executed implement embodiments of the present invention. For instance, the machine-readable medium may contain a program configured to present the computer-based material, determine one or more portions of the computer-based material that are of interest to a user; and annotate the one or more portions to permit return to the one or more portions. The machine-readable medium may be a recordable medium (e.g., floppy disks, hard drive, optical disks such as removable media  450 , or memory cards) or may be a transmission medium (e.g., a network comprising fiber-optics, the world-wide web, cables, or a wireless channel using time-division multiple access, code-division multiple access, or other radio-frequency channel). Any medium known or developed that can store information suitable for use with a computer system may be used. 
     Processor  420  can be configured to implement the methods, steps, and functions disclosed herein. The memory  430  could be distributed or local and the processor  420  could be distributed or singular. The memory  430  could be implemented as an electrical, magnetic or optical memory, or any combination of these or other types of storage devices. Moreover, the term “memory” should be construed broadly enough to encompass any information able to be read from or written to an address in the addressable space accessed by processor  420 . With this definition, information on a network, accessible through network interface  425 , is still within memory  430  because the processor  420  can retrieve the information from the network. It should be noted that each distributed processor that makes up processor  420  generally contains its own addressable memory space. It should also be noted that some or all of computer system  410  can be incorporated into an application-specific or general-use integrated circuit. 
     Optional video display  440  is any type of video display suitable for interacting with a human user of apparatus  400 . Generally, video display  440  is a computer monitor or other similar video display. 
     Although illustrative embodiments of the present invention have been described herein, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to those precise embodiments, and that various other changes and modifications may be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention.