Method and system for annotation and connection of electronic documents

A tangible, non-transitory computer-readable medium storing executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computer system, cause the computer system to:

• receive a first electronic document;
• determine a coordinate space corresponding to the received first electronic document, wherein the coordinate space indicates the dimensions of the received first electronic document;
• present the first electronic document to a user of the computer system;
• receive an indication of an annotation of a portion of the first electronic document from the user;
• generate a first annotation layer including information describing the annotation, wherein the first annotation layer has a coordinate space that matches the coordinate space of the first electronic document or a discrete unit of the first electronic document and the first annotation layer includes (i) an image of the annotation, (ii) an indication of the coordinate space of the electronic document, (iii) a position of the image of the annotation within the coordinate space, and (iv) a reference linking the first annotation layer to a second annotation layer associated with a portion of a second electronic document by an identifier of the second annotation layer, and wherein the first annotation layer is independent of the file format of the first electronic document;
• apply the first annotation layer to the first electronic document by overlaying the first annotation layer over the portion of the first electronic document, such that the first annotation layer and the first electronic document remain separate;
• present the first electronic document and the overlaid first annotation layer to the user via a display of the computer system, wherein presenting the overlaid first annotation layer includes presenting a reference indicator visually representing the reference linking the first annotation layer to the second annotation layer;
• receive a user selection of the reference indicator from the user;
• access the second annotation layer based upon the identifier of the second annotation layer and in response to the user selection of the reference indicator;
• identify the second electronic document based upon an identifier of the second electronic document included in the second annotation layer;
• apply the second annotation layer to the second electronic document by overlaying the second annotation layer over the portion of the second electronic document, such that the second annotation layer and the second electronic document remain separate;
• and
• present the second electronic document and the overlaid second annotation layer to the user via the display of the computer system.