Abstract:
A system and method for communicating information relating to a network resource. Upon detecting a hypertext document displayed on the screen a request identifying the document to a supplemental information server and retrieving information related to the hypertext document. The supplemental information is also displayed and the user may be provided opportunity to select further information or links. Guiding individuals to places of interest on a network where information is stored, and/or displaying or otherwise presenting useful information to the user.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PROVISIONAL APPLICATION 
     This application claims the benefit of provisional application serial No. 60/066,058 (entitled “A System and Method for Communicating Information Relating to a Network Resource”), filed Nov. 17, 1997. That application is hereby incorporated by reference. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY 
     A continuing difficulty in today&#39;s information-rich society is the effective communication of pertinent information to individuals who are most interested in such information. Some of the systems and methods disclosed herein relate to the fields of information retrieval and information presentation. Specific embodiments and features, and the nature of the present invention may be understood by reference to the following detailed description and the drawings. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
     FIGS. 1,  2 ,  5 , and  18  are diagrams illustrating various aspects or features of one or more disclosed inventions. 
     FIGS. 3,  4 ,  7 ,  8 ,  9 - 14 ,  15 - 17 ,  19 - 21 , and  26 - 32  are representations of screen displays illustrating various aspects or features of one or more disclosed inventions. 
     FIGS. 6, and  22 - 25 , are flow charts illustrating various aspects or features of one or more disclosed inventions. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a general purpose computer  11 . The computer  11  has a central processing unit (CPU)  12 , memory  17 , and input/output (i/o) circuitry  16 . The CPU  12  is connected to the memory  17  and the i/o circuitry  16 . The i/o circuitry permits the CPU  12  to access various peripheral devices, such as the display  14 , local storage  13 , and input device(s)  15 . The input device(s)  15  may include a keyboard, mouse, pen, voice-recognition circuitry and/or software, or any other input device. Some type of secondary or mass storage  13  is generally used, and could be, for example, a hard disk or optical drive. The storage  13  can also be eliminated by providing a sufficient amount of memory  17 . Either the storage  13  or the memory  17  could act as a program storage medium that holds instructions or source code. The i/o circuitry  16  is also connected to a network  18 , thereby connecting the computer  11  to other computers or devices. 
     FIG. 2 is a representation of multiple computers ( 21 ,  22 ,  23 ,  26 ,  27 ,  28 , and  29 ) connected together to form a network  18  of computers and/or networks. One or more of the computers on the network  18  may be of the type illustrated in FIG.  1 . Computers  21 ,  22 , and  23  are shown connected to wide area network (WAN)  24 , whereas computers  26 ,  27 ,  28 , and  29  are shown interconnected by local area network (LAN)  25 . The LAN  25  is connected to the WAN  24  by connection  20 . 
     FIG. 3 shows a simplified representation of a video display screen  32  for a computer such as that of FIG.  1 . The area  32  represents the area on a screen within which images, text, video, and other type of data or multimedia objects can be displayed and manipulated. Shown on the display  32  are a cursor  31 , a taskbar  34 , application bars  35  on the taskbar, and an icon tray  37 . 
     Another type of object, window  34 , is also shown on the display screen  32 . The window  34  is a representation of a document retrieval, browsing, and/or viewing program that is used to view or interact with information or resources either stored locally on the computer or retrieved over a network. Such a program will hereinafter be referred to as a “browser,” but it should be understood that this term is meant to encompass other types of programs should be given a broad interpretation. The window  34  has a title area  36  that displays the title of the page, document, or network resource being presented or displayed, along with the server on which the document is located. Often this information is put in the form of a universal resource locator (URL) of the document being displayed, as is shown in FIG.  3 . Alternatively, an additional area within the window could be used for displaying the universal resource locator, as is found in most commercially available browsers. Other navigation buttons are usually also associated with a browser program and the window  36 , but for simplicity, these buttons and other navigational aids have been omitted from the Figures. 
     In operation, the user browses information on a network or even on a local storage device, and causes information to be displayed within the window  34 . In FIG. 3, the user has retrieved the document identified by the URL “http://MonticelloReporter.com/Kerner,” which is displayed in the browser window  34 . As this document is retrieved and rendered in the window  34 , another display element or window  41  is added to the display screen in the manner shown in FIG.  4 . Window  41  has a title bar  42 , and an area  43  having two buttons  44  and  45 . The configured “reference server” is also shown within the area  43 . The window  41  displays information relating in some way to the information in window  34 . In some implementations, the window  41  is automatically displayed on the screen whenever the user browses to a page or location on the network. Each time the user browses to such a page or location, the window  41  is updated to display information that relates to that page or location. The information shown in window  41  that relates to the page, location, or document shown the window  34  may be referred to as supplemental information. The supplemental information is retrieved using the “reference server” identified in the area  43 , as is described below. 
     The information in window  34  is taken from the “MonticelloReporter.com” server, and represents a news story published by the “Monticello Reporter” about a state representative&#39;s plans to seek the office of governor. The information in window  41  is taken from the “TwinCitiesTimes.com” server, and in this particular situation, is a version of the same story published by the Twin Cities Times, which may be a publisher that competes with the Monticello Reporter. 
     Where there is more than a single window  34  displayed, or where more than one network resource is being presented to the user, the user can select the window or network resource for which he or she seeks supplemental information. Alternatively, supplemental information may be retrieved for some or all of the network resources being displayed or otherwise presented to the user, so that supplemental information relating to more than one network resource is made available to the user. In another implementation, only that supplemental information that is common to more than one of the documents or other network resources being displayed can be made available to the user. 
     FIG. 5 illustrates a diagram one possible implementation of how supplemental information is retrieved over the network using a reference server. Shown in FIG. 5 is network having on it a number of computers or other devices, including devices  51  to  54 . The device  51  is a client computer that has the browser program of FIGS. 3 and 4 executing on it. In FIG. 5, the client computer  51  sends a request to device  52 , asking for the “Kerner” document. The device  52 , which represents the “MonticelloReporter.com” domain, responds by sending the requested document to the client computer  52 . The client computer  51  displays the “Kerner” document as shown in window  34  in FIGS. 3 and 4. The client computer also sends a request to the configured reference server, asking for supplemental information about the “Kerner” document. As shown in FIG. 5, the reference server for the client computer  51  is the device  54 , which acts as the “reference.newsday.com” computer identified in the area  43  in FIG.  4 . The device  54  (i.e., the “reference server”) responds by identifying the “TwinCitiesTimes.com/942342.htm” document. The client computer then requests this document from the “TwinCitiesTimes.com” server, which is the device  53 . When the device  53  sends the requested document to the client computer  51 , the “TwinCitiesTimes.com/942342.htm” document is displayed in window  41 , as shown in FIG.  4 . 
     FIG. 6 illustrates a flow chart of the process described in connection with FIGS. 3 to  5 . The client computer first requests a document from the device  52 , and then displays the document at  63  when it is received from the device  52 . The client computer  51  then sends a request to device  54 , which acts as a reference server for client  51 , for supplemental information about the document retrieved from device  52 . The reference server  52  responds by sending the identity of one or more instances of information (e.g., documents) located on device  54 . The client computer  51  then retrieves and displays at least one of those documents. In other embodiments, the device  52  may itself have supplemental information, and could respond to the client computer&#39;s request by sending that information, rather than the location of where the client could find supplemental information. 
     In the flow chart of FIG. 6, the display of the document retrieved from device  52  takes place before the computer  51  initiates a request to the reference server  54 . However, in other embodiments, the request to the reference server  54  can take place much earlier, perhaps as soon as the client computer knows of the identity of the document that it is retrieving from computer  52 . 
     Referring again to FIG. 4, the user selects with the cursor  31  the display element  45  within window  41 . Upon selection of this display element  45 , the display is updated to that shown in FIG.  7 . The information displayed in window  41  is different than that of FIG. 4, but it still relates to the information shown in window  34 . The information displayed in window  41  of FIG. 7 is a story published by the “Rochester Reporter” that updates the news report displayed in the window  34 , and is another instance of supplemental information relative to the information displayed in the browser window  34 . 
     Where more than one document or instance of supplemental information is available for the document displayed in the window  34 , the user can step through each instance of supplemental information by manipulating the buttons  44  and  45 . Selection of the “back” display element  44  in FIG. 7 will cause the previous instance of supplemental information to be displayed (i.e., the information in window  41  of FIG.  4 ). Where there is more than one instance of supplemental information for a particular document, supplemental information that the user has not yet seen could be placed ahead of other instances of supplemental information, so that the user sees them first when the user steps through the instances of supplemental information. In general, the order of the instances of supplemental information can be chosen so as to make stepping through the instances of supplemental information convenient. A visual or audio indicator or signal could also be provided in connection with window  41  to communicate the status of the supplemental information being displayed. Such status may be that the supplemental information is new, old, recently added as supplemental information, updated, and/or modified. Maintaining a profile for each user will allow the client computer to determine the status of supplemental information, relative to each user. 
     In FIG. 7, the user selects a link in browser window  34  using the cursor  31 . Upon selection of the link, the display is updated as shown in FIG.  8 . The window  34  in FIG. 8 has been updated to display the document represented by the selected link in window  34  in FIG.  7 . In addition, the information in window  41  is updated to display supplemental information relating to the information displayed in the browser window  34  of FIG. 8, rather than the browser window  34  of FIG.  7 . The information in window  41  of FIG. 7 may not be supplemental information relative to the “MonticelloReporter.com/prcnf.htm” now displayed in window  34  in FIG. 8, so the window  41  is updated. The information shown in window  41  of FIG. 8 is considered supplemental information relating to the “MonticelloReporter.com/prcnf.htm” document. 
     In FIG. 9, a window  91  from a browser program is shown on a display screen  98 . The window has a title bar  92  identifying the document displayed in the window  92  as “http://widget.com/org/chart.html.” The display screen  98  has a task bar  96 , and an icon tray  95  on the taskbar  96 . Display elements  94  and  93  are shown in the icon tray  95 . Using the cursor  97 , the user selects display element  93 , which causes the display to be updated to that of FIG. 10 a . In FIG. 10 a , the window  101  appears in response to the selection of display element  93 , and this window  101  contains supplemental information relating to the information displayed in browser window  91 . The area  102  in window  101  has display elements  103  and  104 , which can be used to step through additional supplemental information for the document shown in browser window  91 , if such additional supplemental information is available. Also shown in the area  102  is the particular reference server being used (i.e., “reference.widget.com”). 
     In an alternate embodiment, selection of the display element  93  in FIG. 9 causes the display to be updated to that shown in FIG. 10 b . The window  101  in Figure 10 b  displays references or links to supplemental information, rather than the article shown in the window  101  of FIG. 10 a . The user can select one of the references or links shown in window  101  in FIG. 10 b  to see the article or information associated with that link. For example, in FIG. 10 b , the user selects a reference in the window  101  using the cursor  97 . Upon selection of the reference in FIG. 10 b , the display is updated to that shown in FIG.  11 . The information in the browser window  91  is updated to show the information referred to by the selected link in window  101 , which happens to be the same article displayed in the window  101  of FIG. 10 a.    
     In the embodiment shown in FIG. 11, the window  101  remains on the screen and continues to display the same links as those shown in FIG. 10 b . A different document has been displayed in the browser window  91  in FIG. 11, and the links shown in window  101  may not represent supplemental information relative to the new document displayed in the browser window  91 . However, in this particular implementation, the links in window  101  stay the same as those in FIG. 10 b  so that the user can select the other instances of supplemental information shown in window  101  in FIG. 10 b.    
     Referring again to FIG. 11, the user selects the “announced his resignation” link in window  91 , which causes the display to be updated to that shown in FIG. 12 a , where window  91  displays the document selected in FIG.  11 . The window  101  has been removed from the display. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 12 a , where the user has browsed to a new location, such as by selecting a link in the browser window  91 , or by specifying a new URL to the browser program, the window  101  is removed from the display. Selection of display element  93  will again display window  101 , as shown in FIG. 12 b . The links or references in window  101  in FIG. 12 b  are to supplemental information relating to the newly displayed document (“http://widget.com/promo/hartbd.html”) in the window  91 . 
     FIG. 13 shows another implementation of a window  131  showing references to supplemental information for a displayed browser window  91 . As shown in FIG. 13, references to supplemental information can be displayed in a scrolling window  131 . 
     FIG. 14 a  illustrates another possible implementation of a window  141  for displaying supplemental information. As shown in FIG. 14 a , supplemental information can be divided into a number of categories. In window  141 , supplemental information is divided into “new,” “updated,” “modified,” and “seen” categories. The “new” category is for supplemental information or documents that the user has not yet seen. The “updated” category is for supplemental information or documents that the user has seen, but that have been updated since the user has last seen them. Documents that fall into this category might be published by news reporters or reporting agencies, where these documents are regularly updated. A similar category is “modified” which is used for supplemental information that have already been presented to the user, but where the document(s) have been in some way modified since the user has last seen them. The fourth category is for documents that have already been seen by the user, and that have not been updated or modified. In FIG. 14 a , the user is looking at a supplemental information document from the “new” category, as indicated by the tab  144 . The remaining tabs  145 ,  146 , and  147 , which represent the other three categories, are shaded to indicate that they are not in use. The user may see supplemental information in these other categories by selecting (e.g., with the cursor  97 ) one of the other tabs  145 ,  146 , and  147 . The user can also step through other instances of supplemental information in the “new” category by selecting the display elements  142  and  143 , as previously described. 
     In an alternate embodiment, shown in FIG. 14 b , each category tab has a list of references or links to supplemental information that can be selected by the user. Like FIG. 14 a , the tabs  144 ,  145 ,  146 , and  147  can be selected by the user to display the list of links to supplemental information. The embodiments of FIGS. 14 a  and  14   b  would generally require a profile for each user, which would contain information about the documents that the user has previously seen. Such a profile would enable a determination of whether a particular document is in the “new,” ‘updated,” “modified,” or “seen” category. This profile information could be stored on the client computer, on the reference server, on a combination of both, or on some other server. 
     The categories described in connection with FIGS. 14 a  and  14   b  are illustrative, and it should be understood that fewer categories may be appropriate for some situations, and that additional categories may be used. 
     In FIG. 15, the user selects the display element  152  with the cursor  151 , which causes a menu  154  to be displayed. In some embodiments, the display element  152  is selected using a special selection action, such as a “right” mouse click, thereby permitting normal selection of the display element  152  to perform other actions. The first menu selection, “Supplemental Information,” causes supplemental information about a network resource to be retrieved from a reference server, and presented to the user. In FIG. 15, however, no network resource or document is displayed on the screen or otherwise being presented to the user. Therefore, the “Supplemental Information” menu selection is not available in the situation shown in FIG.  15 . When the user displays or otherwise selects a network resource about which supplemental information could be presented, the “Supplemental Information” menu selection becomes available. 
     In FIG. 16 a , the user has selected the “Select Reference Server” menu item, which causes the window  161  to be displayed. In the window  161  is an edit box  162  with the currently selected reference server identified within the box  162 . The window  161  is used for configuring or choosing a reference server for the client computer. Selecting or changing the reference server for the client computer is accomplished by editing the name of the reference server in the edit box  162 . The cursor  163  indicates the ability to edit the contents of the box  162 , and type the URL or other identifier of the desired reference server. 
     FIG. 16 b  is an alternate embodiment, where the user has selected the “Select Reference Server” menu item, which causes the window  164  to be displayed. Shown in window  164  are five reference servers in list box  166  that have been configured for the client computer. Reference server “reference.widget.com” is currently selected, as is indicated by the box  165  around the name of this reference server. The cursor  151  can be used to select other reference servers in the list box  166 . The selected reference server can be removed from the list by selecting the “remove” button  168 . Additional reference servers can be added by identifying them in the box  168 , and then selecting the “add” button  167 . 
     In FIG. 17 a , a browser window  178  is shown on the screen. The taskbar  177  in FIG. 17 a  has an icon tray  176  with a display element corresponding to each of the five reference servers shown in the window  164  of FIG. 16 b . In the embodiment shown, some of the display elements  171 ,  172 ,  173 ,  174 , and  175  are shaded to indicate which reference servers have supplemental information relating to the document displayed in the browser window  178 . As is indicated by the shaded display elements on the icon tray  176  in FIG. 17 a , the reference servers corresponding to display elements  171 ,  172 , and  174  have supplemental information (or links to such information) relating to the “http://personnel.widget.com/org/chart.html/” document. The user has selected display element  172  in FIG. 17 a , which corresponds to the “reference.widget.com” reference server. In response to this selection, a window  179  is displayed having a list of links from the “reference.widget.com” reference server. 
     FIG. 18 a  is a network diagram illustrating the actions described in connection with FIG. 17 a . The network  184   c  in FIG. 18 a  represents the intranet for widget.com, and each of the computers  185 ,  186 ,  187 , and  188  are on that intranet. The intranet is connected by connection  184   b  to a wide area network  184   a , which has on it computers  181 ,  182 , and  183 , and perhaps many others. The dotted line  184   d  represents the request by the client computer  186 , and the retrieval by that computer from the server  185  of the “http://personnel.widget.com/org/chart.html” document. When the client computer  186  retrieves that document, it is displayed in the browser window  178  as shown in FIG. 17 a . The client computer then seeks supplemental information about the requested document. In FIG. 17 a , display element  172  is selected, causing the client computer  186  to initiate a request to computer  188  (reference server “reference.widget.com”) for supplemental information. The computer  188  responds with the information displayed in window  179  in FIG. 17 a . If the user then selects one of the links in window  179  in FIG. 17 a , the client computer  186  will initiate a request for the document corresponding to the selected link to another server, which may or may not be on the widget.com network. 
     In FIG. 17 b , when the user selects the display element  173  that corresponds to the “www.beta.net” reference server, a window  179  is displayed indicating that no supplemental information for the document displayed in the browser window  178  is available on that reference server. FIG. 18 b  is a network diagram corresponding to FIG. 17 b . The dotted line  184   d  represents the request by the client computer  186 , and the retrieval by that computer from the server  185  of the “http://personnel.widget.com/org/chart.html” document. When the client computer  186  retrieves that document, it is displayed in the browser window  178  as shown in FIG. 17 b . The client computer then seeks supplemental information about the requested document. In FIG. 17 b , display element  173  is selected, causing the client computer  186  to initiate a request to computer  181  (reference server “www.beta.net”) for supplemental information. The computer  181  responds by indicating that no supplemental information is available for the “http://personnel.widget.com/org/chart.html” document. Information reflecting this fact is shown in the window  179  of FIG. 17 b.    
     In some embodiments, where supplemental information is not available for a particular document or network resource, supplemental information relating to the particular domain or server on which that document or network resource is located could be provided. For example, if the selected reference server has no information about the document “http://personnel.widget.com/org/chart.html,” then supplemental information relating to the widget.com domain could be provided, or alternatively, supplemental information about the personnel.widget.com server could be provided. In other embodiments, supplemental information relating to any network resource from the widget.com domain or from the personnel.widget.com server could be provided as supplemental information for the “http://personnel.widget.com/org/chart.html” document. Thus, while there may be no supplemental information for a particular network resource, it may be possible to provide supplemental information for a network resource from the same domain or server. 
     In FIG. 17 c , the user has selected the display element  171 , which corresponds to the “reference.newsday.com” reference server. In response to this selection, a window  179  is displayed having a list of links from the “reference.newsday.com” reference server. FIG. 18 c  is a network diagram corresponding to FIG. 17 c . The dotted line  184   d  in FIG. 18 c  represents the request by the client computer  186 , and the retrieval by that computer from the server  185  of the “http://personnel.widget.com/org/chart.html” document. When the client computer  186  retrieves that document, it is displayed in the browser window  178  as shown in FIG. 17 c . The client computer then seeks supplemental information about the requested document. In FIG. 17 c , display element  173  is selected, causing the client computer  186  to initiate a request to computer  183  (reference server “reference.newsday.com”) for supplemental information. The computer  183  responds with the information displayed in window  179  in FIG. 17 c . If the user then selects one of the links in window  179  in FIG. 17 a , the client computer  186  will initiate a request for the document corresponding to the selected link to the server on which that document is stored. This server will likely be on the WAN network, and may be, but need not be, the reference.newsday.com server. 
     Although the reference server shown and described in connection with FIGS. 17 and 18 is shown as a single server, it should be understood that a reference server may encompass more than one computer, device, or system. In some implementations, it is possible for a reference server to be a distributed device, so that it spans more than one network. 
     FIG. 19 illustrates an alternate embodiment where more than one reference server may be selected by the user. In FIG. 19, the user has selected the display element  192  with the cursor  191 , which causes the menu  194  to be displayed. This menu allows the user to select the desired reference server. The reference servers on the menu  194  could be ordered in a number of different ways. For example, the reference servers could be listed alphabetically, or by order of most recently used, or by order of most recently added to the list of reference servers. This list could also be ordered by taking into account which of the reference servers has supplemental information relating to the document displayed in the browser window  195 . Those that have supplemental information might be displayed at the top of the menu, while those that do not have supplemental information could be displayed at the bottom of the menu, or perhaps omitted. Where more than one reference server has supplemental information, those that have the most supplemental information might be placed higher on the menu than those that have less. Alternatively, the menu selection items may be highlighted to indicate which has the most supplemental information, or additional information could be provided on the menu to communicate this or other information to the user. 
     In FIG. 20, the user has selected the “reference.widget.com” reference server. The window  201  is displayed in response to this selection, providing the user with links to supplemental information. FIG. 21 illustrates an alternate embodiment where the user has selected the same reference server, and supplemental information is provided to the user without first providing links to supplemental information. 
     FIG. 22 illustrates a process whereby the client computer&#39;s operation depends in some way on the location of the reference server. At  221 , the user browses to a particular document or other resource on the network. At  222 , the client computer determines if the selected reference server is on the same network as the client computer. For example, if the client computer and the reference server are both on the same local area network, then the reference server will be on the same network as the client computer. If the condition at  222  evaluates to a “yes,” then the client computer retrieves from the reference server at  223  supplemental information about the network resource to which the user has browsed. This supplemental information is then displayed or otherwise presented at the client computer at  224 . The client then waits at  225  until the user browses to a new location. 
     If the condition at  222  evaluates to a “no,” then the client computer waits at  226  until the user requests supplemental information, or until the user browses to a new location at  227 . When the user requests supplemental information, it is retrieved from the reference server at  223  and displayed at  224 . 
     Thus, in the process of FIG. 22, the client computer automatically retrieves supplemental information from the reference server when the reference server and the client computer are on the same network. However, when the client and the reference server are on different networks, the client only retrieves supplemental information when the user requests it. Such a process may be useful where a local area network has sufficient capacity and/or bandwidth to accommodate continual requests to a reference server, but where the wide area network does not. When a new request to the reference server is made each time the user browses to a new location, this may potentially overburden the network or the reference server. 
     FIG. 23 illustrates another embodiment of a process whereby the client computer&#39;s operation depends in some way on the location of the reference server. In this embodiment, some information is retrieved from the reference server each time the user browses to a new location, but additional information is automatically retrieved when the client computer and the reference server are on the same network. At  231 , the user browses to a particular location on the network. At  232 , the client computer retrieves from the reference server information about the location to which the user has browsed. This information can take a variety of forms, including a list of the links to supplemental information that the selected reference server provides, or simply an indication of whether supplemental information is available from this particular reference server. At  233 , the client determines whether the selected reference server is on the same network as the client computer. If so, supplemental information is retrieved and presented to the user at  234 . The process begins again when the user browses to a new location at  235 . If the condition at  233  evaluates to a “no,” then the client computer waits until the user requests supplemental information before any remaining supplemental information is retrieved and presented to the user. 
     In FIGS. 22 and 23, the client computer automatically retrieves at least some supplemental information from the reference server when the reference server and the client computer are on the same network. In an alternate embodiment, however, it may be useful to automatically retrieve supplemental information from the reference server when the reference server is on a different network, and retrieve supplemental information when the reference server is on the same network only when the user requests it. 
     FIG. 24 illustrates a process where the client computer automatically selects at least one of a number of available reference servers. At  241 , the user browses to a particular location on the network, e.g., “page ABC.” At  242 , a reference server is selected by the client computer, and the client computer then retrieves supplemental information from the selected reference server at  243 , and this information is then displayed or otherwise presented to the user at  244 . FIGS. 25 a ,  25   b , and  25   c  illustrate three ways in which the selection act at  242  in FIG. 24 could be carried out. The methods illustrated are meant to be examples and it should be understood that the methods illustrated in FIGS. 25 a ,  25   b , and  25   c  are not exhaustive. 
     In FIG. 25 a , the client computer determines at  251  whether page ABC is on the same network as the client computer. If it is, then the client computer selects at  252  a reference server that is on the same network as both the client computer and page ABC. For example, where the client computer browses to a page on a corporate intranet, a reference server on that corporate intranet is chosen. This choice may be preferred because reference servers outside a corporate intranet may not, for security reasons, have any information about a page on the corporate intranet. 
     If it is determined at  251  that the client computer and the server from which page ABC is taken are on different networks, then the client selects at  253  a reference server that is not on the same network as the client computer. This choice may also be advantageous because if the user browses to a page that is taken from a server outside of, for example, a corporate intranet, the user may wish to see supplemental information gathered by an external reference server. 
     In FIG. 25 b , the client computer uses the URL or address of page ABC to select a reference server by entering the URL or address into a selection function  254 , which uses the characteristics of the URL to determine a proper reference server. For example, some reference servers may be particularly useful for network resources or documents taken from particular servers, and in such a situation, the client computer can select a reference server based on the server from which page ABC was taken. The client computer may select one reference server for pages taken from some domains, and another reference server for pages taken from another set of domains. Alternatively, it may be possible to have a reference server for each letter of the alphabet, and for pages taken from a domain starting (or ending, or resulting from a hash function, etc.) with a particular letter, the client computer seeks supplemental information from the reference server for that particular letter. Where the number of reference servers is large, the number of requests to each reference server will normally decrease, thereby reducing the load on each reference server. 
     In FIG. 25 c , the client determines its location at  256 , and selects a reference server based on its location. For example, a client computer in the Midwestern part of the country may use a reference server in that same part of the country, whereas a client computer that accesses a network in the southern part of the country may access a reference server in that location. If reference servers are distributed throughout a wide area or even local area network, it may be possible using such a technique to reduce network traffic, or at least reduce network traffic that ultimately spans long distances. Similarly, the client computer could select a reference server based on the network to which it is attached. As an example, a corporate intranet may be made up of a number of networks, each network having its own reference server. It may be preferred to have each client access the reference server on its own network, rather than on another network in the intranet. This would reduce traffic between the networks in such an intranet. 
     In FIG. 26, the user has browsed to the page on the network displayed in window  264 , and is selecting the display element  263  with the cursor  261 . The user selects the display element  263  when the user wishes to “register” a page, document, or other network resource at another page, document, or network resource. Registering a page effectively makes the registered page supplemental information for another page on the network, for a given reference server. The process of registration involves informing a particular reference server of which network resources are to be considered supplemental information for other network resources. 
     Upon selection of the display element  263  in FIG. 26, the display is updated to that shown in FIG.  27 . The window  271  helps the user through the registration process, and provides information about the progress of the registration. The URL of the document or page displayed in the browser window  264  is automatically placed in the edit box  272  in FIG.  27 . The edit box  272  holds the registering URL, which identifies network resource (or document) that is to become supplemental information for some other network resource (or document). The edit box  273  is for holding the base URL, which identifies the document that will have the newly registered supplemental information. The edit box  273  is shaded to indicate that no base URL has yet been entered. 
     When the user browses to a new page, as shown in FIG. 28, the URL of the new page in the browser window  264  is automatically entered into the edit box  273  in window  271 . The edit box  272  has been shaded, but the registering URL from the window  264  in FIG. 27 still remains in the edit box  272 . 
     In FIG. 29, the user has browsed to yet another page, and the edit box  273  is updated to hold the URL of the document displayed in window  264  in FIG.  29 . When the user selects the “register” button  275  as shown in FIG. 29, the actual registration takes place. This means that the URL “http://widget.com/bios/whitecastle.htm” (box  272 ) is registered at the URL “http://widget.com/org/chart” (box  273 ) on the reference server “reference.widget.com,” as identified by the box  274 . In other words, after the user selects the “register” button  275 , any client computer that requests supplemental information relating to the URL “http://widget.com/org/chart.html” from the reference.widget.com reference server will be notified that the document “http://widget.com/bios/whitecastle.htm” is supplemental information. This normally will occur when the user has the URL “http://widget.com/org/chart.html” loaded in his or her browser, and the user requests supplemental information form the reference.widget.com. There may be other instances of supplemental information for that same document, but the “http://widget.com/bios/whitecastle.htm” document will be one instance of supplemental information identified by the reference.widget.com reference server. 
     Thus, as illustrated in FIGS. 26 to  29 , the user browses to a particular page that he or she wishes to register at some other page, and then selects the registration display element  263 . The user then browses to the page at which he or she wishes to register the prior page, and then selects the registration button  275 . In other embodiments, the order can be reversed such that the base URL is selected first, followed by the URL that is to be registered as supplemental information. In other embodiments, more than one browser window could be displayed so that the documents corresponding to the base URL and the registering URL are displayed at the same time. 
     Referring again to FIG. 29, the user may decide that he or she has chosen the URLs in boxes  272  and  273  in the wrong order, and may wish to register the URL shown in edit box  273  at the URL shown in edit box  272 . In this situation, the user may select the flip button  291  as shown in FIG. 30, thereby switching the contents of boxes  272  and  273  to that shown in FIG.  30 . The user may continue to browse to different locations with the browser  264 , and the new URLs to which the user browses will be placed in edit box  272 , rather than the now shaded  273 . 
     As shown in FIG. 31, the user may also select the reference server on which the URLs are to be registered by selecting the drop-down display element  311  in FIG.  31 . Shown are the reference servers the user may access for registration. In some embodiments, the user may also enter the identity of another reference server that is not on the list. 
     FIGS. 32 a  to  32   d  illustrate an alternate procedure for registering supplemental information. In FIG. 32 a , the user has browsed to the page or document that the user wishes to register, and has selected with cursor  321  the display element  322  on the icon tray  324 . Upon selection of the display element  322 , the display element  322  is highlighted or changed in some way, as shown in FIG. 32 b , to indicate that it has been selected. In FIG. 32 c , the user has browsed to the page at which he or she wishes to register the prior page, and is selecting the display element  322 . Upon selecting the display element  322  in FIG. 32 c , the display element changes its appearance again, as shown in FIG. 32 d , and then a window  3208  is shown on the display to confirm the details of the registration. Although not shown in FIG. 32 d , the user may also be given the option to select or change the reference server on which the registration is taking place. If necessary, the user can undo the registration by selecting the button  327 . 
     For purposes of illustration and example, the present invention has been described principally in terms of computer network-available documents, pages, or web pages containing text. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to only those particular types of network resources. Rather, the present invention can be implemented using other types of documents that include graphics, animated graphics or other objects. The present invention is also applicable to other types of network resources generally, such as audio, video, or other types of multimedia. For example, network resources, including supplemental information, could be in the form of an audio clip, or an applet or application program. Supplemental information that are applications may carry out a function that relates to the resource displayed or otherwise presented to the user. It should also be understood that procedures that have been described in connection with a textual document or page being “displayed” in a window or on a display screen are also applicable to the presentation of other types of network resources, such as, without limitation, network resources involving audio, video, applets, and/or applications. 
     Further, the network documents described and illustrated in many of the Figures herein are shown displayed within a window controlled by an application program, such as may be represented by window  34  in FIG.  3 . It should be understood, however, that such documents (or resources) could be displayed in other ways. For example, the contents could be displayed on the entire desktop, or a portion of the desktop. In another embodiment, the contents might be scrolled on the screen, perhaps under other windows. Further, windows could be controlled by the operating system, rather than by an application program. In other embodiments, the browser and the window in which supplemental information could be integrated, or the windows described herein could be full-screen windows, perhaps having no overlap. The manner in which information has been shown being presented to the user herein should not interpreted as limiting the present invention. 
     The present invention has also been described in terms of internet protocols and procedures, including TCP/IP, HTTP, and HTML protocols. It should be understood that the present invention is not limited to such protocols, and that the present invention is applicable to other protocols, systems, or networks now known or hereinafter developed. Also, embodiments of the present invention may be integrated with one or more payment or transaction processing systems or the like so that a person viewing certain types of content and/or certain types of supplemental information or supplemental content will incur a fee or a transaction cost. Authentication and automatic payments techniques may also be used. 
     Generally, although the present invention has been shown and described with respect to specific embodiments and/or implementations, various changes and modifications, even if not shown or specifically described herein, may be applicable to the present invention, and are deemed to lie within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. Any specific features or aspects of the embodiments or implementations described or illustrated herein are not intended to limit the present invention in a manner not required by the appended claims. 
     INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE 
     The following pending U.S. patent applications are hereby fully incorporated by reference into this application: application Ser. No. 08/474,921 (entitled “Document Retrieval System Employing a Preloading Procedure”), filed Jun. 7, 1995, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,715,445, Ser. No. 08/487,925 (entitled “Document Research System and Method for Displaying Citing Documents”), filed Jun. 7, 1995; Ser. No. 60/028,251 (entitled “A Method and System for Communicating Information About the Contents of a Document”), filed Oct. 8, 1996; Ser. No. 60/047,554 (“A Document Retrieval System Including the Use of Profile Information”), filed May 22, 1997; Ser. No. 60/052,830 (“A System and Method for Communicating Information Relating to a Network Resource”), filed Jul. 17, 1997; and Ser. No. 08/936,910 (entitled “A System and Method of Communicating Information Relating to a Network Resource”), filed Sept. 25, 1997. 
     In addition, the following publications listed below are also hereby fully incorporated by reference to the extent that they enable, provide support for, provide a background for, or teach methodology, techniques, and/or procedures employed herein. 
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