Patent Abstract:
In recent years, computers have become everyday communication tools, fast approaching the commonness of telephones and televisions. Driving this approach is the ever-expanding Internet, which enables users not only to communicate with each other, but also to search for information of particular interest. Two problems for Internet users are the time and effort necessary to find information they want and to connect with other users who share interest in similar information. Accordingly, the present inventor devised systems, methods, and related software that spurs growth of databases and/or fosters connections between users of those databases. One exemplary method entails receiving user contributions to a theme-oriented database, such as a health-information website and granting users access rights to the database based on quantity, quality, and/or relevance of their contributions. The exemplary method also shares contact information with users making similar queries of the database, ultimately promoting development of intelligent on-line communities.

Full Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/103,536, filed Mar. 20, 2002, which application is a continuation of International Application No. PCT/US00/25886 filed Sep. 20, 2000 and published in English on Mar. 29, 2001 as Publication No. WO 01/22292, which is a continuation of U.S. Provisional Application 60/154,885 filed on Sep. 20, 1999. All applications are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     COPYRIGHT NOTICE AND PERMISSION  
       [0002]     A portion of this patent document contains material subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent files or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright whatsoever. The following notice applies to this document: Copyright© 1999, Bodyl, Inc. (formerly known as MedBeat, Inc.)  
       BACKGROUND  
       [0003]     Computers have enjoyed, in recent years, an enormous growth in utility. Early computers allowed users to perform tasks such as word processing and bookkeeping. Today, however, computers have become everyday communication tools, fast approaching the commonness of telephones and televisions.  
         [0004]     Much of this growth in the communications realm stems from the fantastic, compounded growth of computer networks, such as the much-heralded Internet—a worldwide network of computers interconnected through public and private wiring and telephone systems. The Internet functions as a planetary communications system, enabling users to communicate with each other, to transmit data to each other, and to search for data of particular interest.  
         [0005]     One problem stemming from the rapid growth of the Internet concerns the time and effort often necessary to find data of particular interest. There are numerous publicly accessible search engines that continually work to index the data on the Internet and thus facilitate locating it. However, with the vast amounts of available data, these search engines often answer user queries with large amounts of irrelevant data, leaving users to spend significant time and effort sifting through it for the data, the knowledge, they actually want. Although combination search engines have been developed to allow users to simultaneously use two or more search engines, in many instances these have only presented users with even more data to sift, thus compounding the data-finding problem.  
         [0006]     Another related problem is that the planetary scope of the Internet makes it difficult for users to find and communicate with other users who share interests in similar kinds of information. Websites, chat rooms, and forums devoted to particular topics, such as health, have emerged in recent years. However, the information shared through these websites, chat rooms, and forums is too often sparse and of poor quality, since many participants behave as spectators and do not actively contribute information. Moreover, direct competition between the websites, chat rooms, and discussion forums for users generally leads to smaller, fragmented communities of users, thwarting development of larger aggregate communities.  
         [0007]     Accordingly, there is a need not only to reduce the time necessary to find particular types of data on the Internet, but also to facilitate development of communities of active users around specific topics and conversion of information into real knowledge.  
       SUMMARY  
       [0008]     To address this and other problems, the present inventor devised systems, methods, and related software for encouraging and managing growth of databases, particularly theme-oriented databases, such as health-information databases. One exemplary method entails establishing a theme-oriented database and granting users access rights to the database based on their contributions or submissions to the database. One specific embodiment scores the contributions based on quantity, quality, and/or relevance, granting access rights based on the scores. Other embodiments record the queries of users of the database and facilitate communications between users having similar queries as well as users making similar contributions.  
         [0009]     Notably, various embodiments of the invention facilitate the incorporation of user experiential data into the context of thematic databases that make it relevant and useful, in essence converting it to knowledge. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS  
       [0010]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of an exemplary theme-oriented database-management-and-community-building system  100  incorporating teachings of the present invention.  
         [0011]      FIG. 2  is a flow chart illustrating exemplary operation of system  100  in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0012]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of an exemplary home page  300  for use in system  100 .  
         [0013]      FIG. 4  is a diagram of a list of categories linked to home page  300 .  
         [0014]      FIG. 5  is a facsimile of another exemplary home page  400  for use in system  100 .  
         [0015]      FIG. 6  is a block diagram of an exemplary intelligent medical information system which can be integrated into a medical- or health-oriented version of system  100 . 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0016]     The following detailed description, which references and incorporates the Figures, describes and illustrates one or more specific embodiments of the invention. These embodiments, offered not to limit but only to exemplify and teach, are shown and described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to implement or practice the invention. Thus, where appropriate to avoid obscuring the invention, the description may omit certain information known to those of skill in the art.  
       DEFINITIONS  
       [0017]     This description includes many terms with meanings derived from their usage in the art or from their use within the context of the description. As a further aid, the following exemplary definitions are presented.  
         [0018]     The term “document” refers to any logical collection or arrangement of machine-readable data having a filename.  
         [0019]     The term “database” includes any logical collection or arrangement of machine-readable documents.  
         [0020]     The term “hyperlink” or “link” includes any token conforming literally or functionally to any past, present, or future Uniform Resource Locator (URL) standard. It also includes any token including information identifying a specific computer system or networked device.  
       Exemplary System Architecture  
       [0021]      FIG. 1  shows an exemplary theme-oriented database-management-and-community-building system  100 . The broken lines in the figure indicate that various components of the system are interconnected permanently or temporarily via a wired or wireless wide-area-network, such as the Internet, or a secure wired or wireless local-area networks, such as a corporate Intranet. The exemplary embodiment uses Secure Transaction Technology to ensure secure connections. System  100  includes user access stations  110 , a web server system  120 , a membership database  130 , and a theme-oriented database  140 .  
         [0022]     More particularly, user access stations  110  includes one or more access stations, of which stations  110   a ,  110   b , and  110   c  are representative. The term “access station,” as used herein, encompasses browser-equipped personal computers, network appliances, personal digital assistants, telephones, cell phones, web phones, televisions, web television, etc. Thus, the present invention is not limited to any particular class or form of access device.  
         [0023]     Selectively coupled to access stations  110  is web server system  120 . Web server system  120  includes one or more software modules  122  and one or more memory modules  124  which cooperate to serve data to and from databases  130  and  140  and the access stations  100 , and to define and generate related webpages and graphical-user interfaces. (See, for example, exemplary home pages  300  and  500  in  FIGS. 3 and 5 , respectively.)  
         [0024]     Membership database  130  includes information regarding members or potential members (users) of system  100 . Figure shows this information as representative records  132  and  134 , which are substantially identical in structure. In the exemplary embodiment, record  132  includes member-identification data  132   a , member-profile data  132   b , member-contact or -linking data  132   c , and member-participation data  132   d . Member-identification data  132   a  includes data for identifying or authenticating the identity of a user. Member-profile data  132   b  includes data describing the professional biographies and credentials of the member. Member-contact data  132   c  includes data, such as one or more postal addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, or URLs for facilitating contact or communications with the associated user. And, member-system-participation data  132   d  includes quantitative and qualitative information regarding actual and permitted use of the system by each user. For instance, the exemplary embodiment maintains one or more access scores for each member, indicating levels of access to respective portions of theme-oriented database  140 .  
         [0025]     Theme-oriented database  140  includes theme data  142 , site data  144 , query data  146 , and user data  146 . Theme data  142  includes one or more keywords, terms, concept, or website address which define one or more aspects of the thematic or topical content of database  140 . Exemplary themes or topics includes general healthcare and wellness information for humans or other animals, such as dogs, cats, or fish; specific healthcare information for various parts of the human body, such as joints (knees, hips, elbows, spine, etc.) or organs (heart, lungs, stomach, kidney, liver, eyes, ears, skin, etc.); specific medical conditions, such as allergies (food, plant, etc.), cancer, arthritis, obesity, mental illness; auto-immune deficiency (HIV). Other exemplary topics include technology breakthroughs, health-technology breakthroughs, children, cooking, sports, entertainment, celebrities, politics, law, restaurants, consumer products, motion pictures, videos, music recordings, corporations, government officials, criminal activity, schools, science, wines, beers, foods, professional service providers (lawyers, doctors, contractors, artisans, etc.) colleges, alumni of educational institutions, genealogy, gossip, or sex. One exemplary health-oriented database includes user-generated health content, medical-journal content, and an archive of health-oriented feature stories. Thus, the present invention is not limited to any particular theme or class of themes.  
         [0026]     Site data  144  includes feature articles, journal articles and other content added to database  144  manually by its creators, sponsors, or other parties governing or maintaining the database or automatically by the system itself. Query data  146  includes a listing of one or more queries (or query summaries) made by registered users or members of the community, against the database, with each query associated with one or more portions of the membership data for its submitting member. User data  146  includes user contributions to the database, with each contribution logically associated with or appended to one or more portions of the membership data for its submitting member.  
         [0027]     In its exemplary operation, system  100  generally enables users not only to access, that is, query theme-oriented data in database  110 , but also to contribute data to the database. Users earn access rights to various portions of the database. Access rights are granted based on quality and/or relevance of database contributions and referrals of new members to the system.  
       Exemplary System Operation  
       [0028]     More specifically,  FIG. 2 , which shows an exemplary flowchart  200 , illustrates an exemplary method of operating system  100 . Flow chart  200  includes blocks  202 - 230 , which are executed serially in the exemplary embodiment. However, other embodiments of the invention may change the order of execution and/or execute two or more blocks in parallel using multiple processors or a single processor organized as two or more virtual machines or subprocessors. Moreover, still other embodiments implement the blocks as two or more specific interconnected hardware modules with related control and data signals communicated between and through the modules. Thus, the exemplary process flow is applicable to software, firmware, and hardware implementations.  
         [0029]     The exemplary method begins at block  202 , with automatically or manually establishing an initial version of theme-oriented database  140 . To this end, the exemplary method entails determining a theme or topic and conducting one or more Internet searches to identify a set of one or more candidate members. Exemplary candidate members include existing websites or portions of websites related to the theme and persons or firms with expertise or indicated interest in the theme. The publishers of identified publications and websites are then invited to register as members of the system. An exemplary electronic invitation includes an explanation of the system and a URL to the system. Execution of the exemplary method then proceeds to block  204 .  
         [0030]     In block  204 , one or more of the candidate members establish a communications link with the system through webserver  120 . This entails each of the candidate members using an access station, such as access station  110 , to invoke the URL to the system. For example, the user at access station  110  would invoke “www.domain-name.com” to connect her computer system (or other network appliance) to webserver system  120 . After establishing the link to webserver  120  execution proceeds to block  204 .  
         [0031]     Block  206  entails receiving registration information from the candidate member. The registration information includes member-identification data, member-profile data, member-contact or -linking data, and member-system-participation data. Member-identification data includes data for identifying or authenticating the identity of a user, such as a username and password. Member-profile information includes professional biographical information, such as present employment, professional achievements, educational or other promotional type material indicating or suggesting the authority or credibility of the registering member in the topic. Member-contact data includes data, such as one or more postal addresses, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, or URLs for facilitating contact or communications with the associated user. Member-system-participation data includes an access score that governs the level of access that the associated member has over theme-oriented database  140 . The exemplary system determines an initial access score based on whether the user was referred by an existing member, or whether the user was given a special invitation based on his or her expertise in the theme. If an existing member referred the user, the access score for the existing member is increased upon registration of the new user. After all registration information has been received for a particular member, execution proceeds to block  208   
         [0032]     In block  208 , the system records the received registration information in membership database  130 . Although the exemplary embodiment maintains membership database  130  separate from theme-oriented database  140  for heightened security, some embodiments combine the databases. With recording of the registration information, the exemplary method advances to block  210 .  
         [0033]     Block  210  entails the new member logging into the system to access theme-oriented database  140 . Specifically, this entails the new (or an existing) member manually or automatically entering a username and password. (Existing members bypass blocks  202 - 208  to reach block  210 ) The username and password are then verified against those in membership database  130 . Affirmative verification advances the exemplary method to block  212 .  
         [0034]     In block  212 , the system presents the member a home page for theme-oriented database  140 . (See  FIG. 3  and related description of exemplary home page.) From the home page, the member decides to query database  140  or to contribute data to database  140  as indicated by decision block  214 .  
         [0035]     A member decision to make a contribution to the database branches execution to block  216 , which entails receiving a contribution from the member. Execution then continues to block  218 .  
         [0036]     In block  218 , the system evaluates or scores the contribution based on its quality and/or relevance to the theme-oriented content of database  140 . To evaluate the contribution, the exemplary embodiment converts the contribution to a natural-language query and executes this query against all or part of database  140 . The natural-language searching algorithm produces quantitative measures of the relevance of the contribution. Other embodiments produce the measures using inverse-document-frequencies factors that favor rare terms and/or frequency factors which favor terms that in the document to be scored. In some embodiments, the contribution is summarized using specialized software, such as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,825, entitled Automatic Summary Page Creation and Hyperlink Generation, which is incorporated herein by reference. Other embodiments score the contribution based on additional factors, including for example, length (number of words), number of citations to leading journals, inclusion of hyperlinks to predetermined cites (such as sponsors of the system) and/or grammar. Still other embodiments score the contributions manually using an editorial board of experts in the theme.  
         [0037]     Execution then continues at decision block  220 , where the system determines if the evaluation was good or not. That is, is the contribution of sufficient relevance and quality to be added to database  140 . If the contribution has a good evaluation, based for example on its score exceeding some threshold value, the system proceeds to block  222 .  
         [0038]     In block  222 , the system adds the contribution to database  140 . In the exemplary embodiment, this entails appending the username along with one or more portions of the member&#39;s member-profile information and/or member-contact information to the beginning and/or end of the contribution. (Some embodiments use a side by side presentation approach for the contribution and its attribution.) Thus, other members accessing this information can identify its contributing member and assess credibility and authority of the contribution. Moreover, if a contributing member has elected to allow publication of its contact information, such as its e-mail address, future users of the information may establish communications with the contributor. Publication of a hyperlink or URL associated with the contributor will offer opportunities for reciprocal web traffic from webserver  120  to a webserver associated with the contributing member, creating an incentive for further contributions to the theme-oriented database.  
         [0039]     In block  224 , after adding the contribution to database  140 , the system updates the access score portion of the participation data for the member based on the score of the contribution. In the exemplary embodiment, this entails adding the score of the contribution to the initial or previous access score in membership database  130 . However, other embodiments adopt other forms of update.  
         [0040]     In block  226 , the system offers the contributing member an opportunity to connect with one or more other members who have made similar contributions to database  140 . In the exemplary embodiment, this entails defining a query based on the contribution and executing this query against the user data portion of database  140 , more precisely user data  149 . Based on the results of this query, the exemplary embodiment presents one or more usernames and related contact or biographical information for other members who have made similar contributions to the database, thereby facilitating communications between the contributing member and other contributing members.  
         [0041]     On the other hand, if the contribution had a poor evaluation based on the threshold, execution proceeds to block  228  which outputs a message to the member indicating that the contribution was rejected. Some embodiments may offer an explanation for the rejection, and others refer the member to an alternate system with an appropriate theme for receiving the information. Still others reroute the contribution to the alternate system, automatically enrolling the member in the alternate system by transferring a copy of the associated membership information. After rejecting the data, execution returns to decision block  214 , where the member can choose to add new data or to submit a query for database  140 .  
         [0042]     From block  214 , a decision to query database  140  branches execution to block  230 , which entails receiving a query from the member. Although the scope of the invention encompasses queries of any number of forms, the exemplary embodiment accepts queries as a textual string with boolean connectors or as a natural-language query. (Moreover, the exemplary embodiment permits the member to restrict the query to specific portions of theme-oriented database  140 , such as to site data or user data.) Execution of the exemplary method then proceeds to block  232 .  
         [0043]     In block  232 , the system executes the query against database  140 . In the exemplary embodiment, this entails running the query against the entirety of database  140 . However, some embodiments restrict the query to one or more portions of database  140 .  
         [0044]     In block  234 , the system presents query results to webserver  120  for viewing by the member through an access station. The exemplary embodiment presents the query results based not only on the query and the contents of database  140 , but also on the access score for the member. Thus, for example, a low access score may result in all or a portion of the results being withheld from the member. Some embodiments advise the member quantitatively regarding the withheld portion of the results. For example, the system presents a message that a certain percentage of the results is withheld. Other embodiments present citations for the portions being withheld to assist the member in determining the desirability of this withheld information. Variations of this approach may present the profile of the contributors of the withheld results.  
         [0045]     In presenting the results to the requesting member, the exemplary system arranges or organizes the results based not only on relevance to the query presented but also on factors, such as the access rights of the respective contributors of data to the system. Thus, for example, data contributions from contributors that have accrued relatively high access rights are generally presented before data contributions from contributors with relatively lower access rights, assuming the contribution are of approximately equal relevance to the query. This presentation mechanism further encourages members, particularly those with related websites, to contribute content to the database.  
         [0046]     Some embodiments present the results in a predetermined order based on the portions of the database that contain them. For example, one embodiment presents found data in the order of feature articles, user contributions, and journal articles, with the items in each category arranged based on relevance and/or access rights of respective contributors.  
         [0047]     In block  236 , the system stores the query and associated member-profile and/or member-contact information to the query portion of database  140 . Once stored in database  140 , the query is searched like any other content within the database. When query results include one or more queries the queries are presented along with the usernames associated with the queries.  
         [0048]     In block  238 , after storing the query, the system offers the contributing member an opportunity to connect with one or more other members who have made similar queries of database  140 . In the exemplary embodiment, this entails defining a query based on the query and executing this query against the query data portion of database  140 , more precisely user data  146 . Based on the results of this query, the exemplary embodiment presents one or more usernames and related contact or biographical information for other members who have made similar contributions to the database, thereby facilitating communications between the member and other members with similar queries. Of course, the member then has the option to contact one or more of the other members. Other embodiments also presents the member options to connect with members who have published information relating to the query or to allow other members with similar questions to contact her in the future.  
       Exemplary Home Pages  
       [0049]      FIG. 3  shows an exemplary home (or start) page  300  generated by webserver system  120  for display in response to authorized access to health-oriented version of database  140 . Home page  300  includes banner advertising regions  310  and  312 , a site logo region  314 , information region  316 , a search region  318 , a feature-content region  320 , a sponsorship or partnership region  322 , and link region  324 .  
         [0050]     Information region  316  includes a link  316   a  to a list  120  of links to categories of medical conditions and health areas. This list of links is shown in  FIG. 4  as table  400 . Each category link takes the user to archived content, user-contributed content, relevant site-generated top-ten lists, and links or phone number for groups, hospitals and doctors that specialize in the condition. (Some embodiments allow users to restrict the information based on geography.) Information region  316  also includes a donor or contribution subregion  316   b  where users have the opportunity to publish useful health and medical information, and a site top-ten region  316   c  where users cast votes on their favorite products, services, and advice.  
         [0051]     Search region  318  accepts entry of keyword or natural-language style queries. Submitted queries are executed against user-generated content, medical journal content, and site-created editorial content in database  140 . In embodiments that associate, health-oriented database  140  with other theme-oriented databases, such as a knee database, a veins database, and a medical-technology database, search region  318  enables users to search across all or a subset of the related databases.  
         [0052]     Feature-content region  320 , in the exemplary embodiment, changes daily and includes health-related stories, of for example  600  words. This region presents users an opportunity to add comments and/or contribute information at the end of the story in a user subregion  320   a , below the story. User subregion  320   a  includes prompts (not shown) urging users to submit story-relevant information about local support groups and hospitals in their areas.  
         [0053]     Sponsorship or partnership region  322  includes links to one or more nationally-recognized e-commerce or pharmaceutical companies. Exemplary commerce partners include an on-line drugstore, a baby-and-children products store, an online book retailer, and a vitamins-nutraceutical store.  
         [0054]     Link region  324  includes one or more links to other general health or medical sites. Exemplary sites include a site for first-aid information and government health sites.  
         [0055]      FIG. 5  shows another exemplary home page  500 . Home page  500  includes many features analogous to those in home page  300 .  
       Exemplary Medical-Information System  
       [0056]      FIG. 6  shows an exemplary medical-information system  600  which can be integrated into system  100  of  FIG. 1 , as software, hardware, or firmware modules. System  600  includes a user-registration-and-tracking module  602 , an initial-symptom-and-medical-history-dialog module  604 , a condition-inference engine  606 , a condition-hyperlink generator  608 , a followup-dialog module  610 , a knowledge-base-feedback module  612 , and a user-comments module  614 .  
         [0057]     User-registration-and-tracking module  602  receives user or member registration or membership information and assigns the username and password. Alternatively, the user can define her own username and password. Exemplary registration or membership information includes the gender and date of birth of the user. The registration information is stored in a database such as database  130  in system  100 . The registration data is available for retrieval during subsequent user visits and for other operations of system  600 , such as knowledge base enhancement.  
         [0058]     Initial-symptom-and-medical-history-dialog module  604  assigns a case number, specific to the username as it begins receiving an initial description of symptoms through a natural-language interface. A parser (not shown) attempts to extract one or more symptoms from the initial description. The user is then asked to confirm the one or more parsed symptoms. If a symptom cannot be parsed, a form-based interface is presented to the user, with a prompt to select a symptom from a pick list. Pick lists are subdivided, based on symptom categories. Based on the one or more extracted symptoms, the user is lead through a series of yes-no dialogs to aid in determining one or more conditions that may be causing the symptom.  
         [0059]     Condition-inference engine  606  receives the yes-no answers from initial-symptom module  604  and develops a list of one or more potential conditions, ranked by probability or frequency. In the exemplary embodiment, the condition-inference engine uses rules stored in a database, rather than hard-coded rules, to facilitate maintenance and automatic modification based on experience with users.  
         [0060]     Condition-hyperlink generator  608  accepts output from the condition-inference engine, in the form of a list of medical conditions. For each condition, generator  608  produces a short description of the condition and an HTML page of hyperlinks appropriate to the condition, including articles about the condition, potential treatments, effectiveness of treatments, side effects of treatments, prognosis, survival rates, specialists, support groups.  
         [0061]     Followup dialog module  610  asks the user questions based on the username and case number. Questions are also based on data from the initial symptoms dialog and results from the condition-inference engine. Exemplary questions include whether the user visited a doctor, and if so, what diagnosis was given. In the exemplary embodiment, the followup dialog module includes a natural-language interface. However, in other embodiments, the followup dialog module includes a dynamically generated HTML form, with appropriate use of pick lists, radio buttons, check boxes, and text-entry fields.  
         [0062]     Knowledge-base feedback module  612  uses information gained in the followup dialog to enhance the knowledge base used in the condition-inference engine. In particular, diagnosis by doctors shall be used to enhance the probability ranking of conditions.  
         [0063]     User-comment module  614  accepts comments from users about conditions, treatments, and side effects noted from followup dialog. These comments are extracted from the followup dialog, stored in a database, and made accessible to other users.  
         [0064]     An exemplary operational scenario for system  600  proceeds as follows. A user logs into the system and registers as a first time user, filling out a form identifying her gender and date of birth. The system asks the users, “How can I help you today?” The user types, in natural language, “My wife and I are having trouble getting pregnant.” The system replies, “I understand that you and your wife are having trouble conceiving. Is that correct?” The user replies, “Yes.” The system asks, “Have you seen a doctor about your condition?” The user replies, “No.” The system asks, “Have you been trying to get pregnant for more than one year?” Users says, “Yes,” and the system “Did you suffer from mumps after the age of 12?” User says, “No,” and system asks “Are you physically unfit or on a weight reducing diet?” User says, “No.” IMIS asks, “Do you have sex less than 3 times a week, on average?” User says, “Yes.” System says, “Infrequent sex may be the cause of your condition,” and adding “Here are other leading causes of infertility for people your age: 1) Low-sperm count in the male; 2) Blocked fallopian tubes in the female; and 3) Chronic pelvic infection in female. Further, the system communicates that “it cannot perform a physical exam and cannot diagnose your condition. Only a doctor can diagnose your condition. Would you like more information about these conditions?” User replies, “Yes.” 
         [0065]     In response, the system outputs or presents a hyperlinked page of condition descriptions, treatments for each condition, success rates for each treatment, specialists in infertility, and infertility support groups. At the top of the page, the system communicates: “If you visit a doctor and are diagnosed, please come back for another visit.” 
         [0066]     Six months later, the user logs on to the system. The system recognizing the username and its associated case number, communicates: “Welcome back. Can I ask the status of your situation with infertility?” User replies, “Yes, my wife and I are now pregnant.” System says, “Congratulations! Did you visit a doctor to be diagnosed? User says, “Yes, the doctor performed tests on both me and my wife. No obvious problem was found; he recommended that we buy a basal thermometer and use it. After two months, we got pregnant.” System says “Where did you buy your basal thermometer?” User says, “On the web, from drugstore.com.” 
         [0067]     The system says, “Thank you for your input. I&#39;ll add your comments about basal thermometers to my database. Your input may help other couples that are having problems with fertility. Is there anything else I can help you with today?” User says, “No, that&#39;s all for now.” The system says, “Thanks again for your help. I&#39;m going to e-mail you free coupons for baby formula and diapers. Visit me again if you need info about child care.” 
       CONCLUSION  
       [0068]     In furtherance of the art, the inventor has presented systems, methods, and related software for encouraging and managing growth of databases, particularly theme-oriented databases. One exemplary method entails establishing a health-oriented database and granting users access rights to the database based on their contributions or submissions to the database. The exemplary method scores the contributions for quality and/or relevance, granting access rights based on the scores to contributors. Other embodiments record the queries of users of the database and facilitate communications between users having similar queries. Thus, the exemplary method and related systems and software facilitate not only organized growth of a theme-oriented database, but also developing relationships between users of the database.  
         [0069]     The embodiments described above are intended only to illustrate and teach one or more ways of practicing or implementing the present invention, not to restrict its breadth or scope. The actual scope of the invention, which embraces all ways of practicing or implementing the concepts of the invention, is defined only by the following claims and their equivalents.

Technology Classification (CPC): 8