Method and system for locating documents based on previously accessed documents

A method for identifying computer documents of interest to a user of a computer without specification by the user of topics of interest, the computer living access to computer documents, each computer document having contents related to one or more topics, the computer having a computer document search engine for receiving one or more search topics and for identifying accessible computer documents whose contents are related to the search topics, the method comprising:

• for each of a plurality of computer documents,
• receiving an indication from the user to display the computer document;
• displaying to the user the indicated computer document;
• monitoring interactions by the user with the displayed computer document;
• recording information related to the monitored user interactions;
• and
• identifying topics related to the contents of the displayed computer document by analyzing the contents, wherein each identified topic is a term present in the contents of the displayed computer document to which the identified topic is related;
• and
• without user intervention,
• generating topics of interest to the user from the recorded interactions information and the identified topics such that the generated topics of interest to the user are discarded if monitored user interactions with the displayed computer documents whose contents are related to the topic do not reach a threshold level;
• prioritizing the generated topics based on degree of interest to the user;
• using the computer document search engine to identify accessible computer documents whose contents are related to the prioritized generated topics;
• and
• presenting the identified computer documents to the user for possible display,
• whereby identified computer documents with contents related to higher priority generated topics are presented before identified computer documents with contents related to lower priority generated topics.

A computer-implemented method for locating computer data of interest to a user, the method comprising:

• monitoring interactions of the user with a group of computer data;
• and
• without user intervention, analyzing contents of the group of computer data to identify topics related to the contents;
• using the monitored user interactions to determine at least one topic of user interest that is related to the identified topic;
• determining the identified topic of most interest to the user based on the monitored user interactions that includes prioritizing the identified topics based on the monitored user interactions;
• establishing a priority level;
• and
• selecting the identified topics with priorities above the established priority level to be the determined topics of user interest;
• generating topics of interest to the user from the recorded interactions information and the identified topics such that the generated topics of interest to the user are discarded if monitored user interactions with the displayed computer documents whose contents are related to the topic do not reach a threshold level;
• locating additional groups of computer data that are related to the determined topic which includes analyzing designated groups of computer data to determine if they are related to the determined topic;
• and
• choosing related designated groups of computer data to be the located additional groups of computer data so that the chosen groups of computer data will be presented to the user before other groups of computer data.;
• and
• selecting the located additional groups of computer data for the user.

A method for identifying computer documents with contents of interest to a user of a computer, the method comprising:

• for each of a plurality of computer documents selected by the user,
• monitoring user interactions with the computer document;
• and
• identifying additional computer documents without user intervention by,
• identifying topics related to the contents of the plurality of selected computer documents;
• generating search topics from the identified topics and the monitored user interactions such that the generated topics of interest to the user are discarded if monitored user interactions with the displayed computer documents whose contents are related to the topic do not reach a threshold level;
• for each of the generated search topics, measuring the pertinence of the topic to the contents of the selected computer documents;
• and
• using the monitored user interactions to determine a level of user propensity to interact with computer documents whose contents are related to the topic;
• and
• identifying computer documents with contents related to the generated search topics, the identified computer documents in an order based on a level of user interest in the topics as indicated by the measured pertinence and the determined levels of user propensity.

A method for identifying computer documents with contents of interest to a user of a computer, the method comprising:

• for each of a plurality of computer documents selected by the user,
• monitoring user interactions with the computer document;
• and
• identifying topics related to the contents of the computer document;
• and
• identifying additional computer documents without user intervention by,
• generating search topics from the identified topics and the monitored user interactions such that the generated search topics are discarded if monitored user interactions with the computer documents whose contents are related to the topic do not reach a threshold level;
• for each of the generated search topics,
• measuring the pertinence of the topic to the contents of the selected computer documents;
• and
• using the monitored user interactions to determine a level of user propensity to interact with computer documents whose contents are related to the topic;
• and
• identifying computer documents with contents related to the generated search topics in an order based on a level of user interest in the topics as indicated by the measured pertinences and the determined levels of user propensity.

A computer system for locating computer data of interest to a user, comprising:

• a document access monitor that monitors interactions of the user with a group of computer data and that, without user intervention, analyzes contents of the group of computer data in order to identify a term related to the contents;
• wherein the document access monitor monitors the interactions of the user with a plurality of groups of computer data and identifies a plurality of terms that relate to the groups of computer data, and user interactions information for a plurality of groups of computer data, prioritize the received identified terms based on the received user interactions information, establishes a priority level, and selects the identified terms with priorities above the established priority level to be the determined topics of user interest;
• a topic analyzer that receives monitored user interactions information, that receives an identified term, and that uses the received user interactions information to determine at least one topic of user interest related to the received identified term;
• and
• a new document identifier that operates without user intervention, that receives at least one determined topic of user interest, that locates additional groups of computer data that are related to the received determined topics of user interest, and that selects the located groups of computer data for the user;
• generating search topics from the identified topics and the monitored user interactions such that the generated topics of interest to the user are discarded if monitored user interactions with the displayed computer documents whose contents are related to the topic do not reach a threshold level;
• wherein a plurality of groups of computer data have been designated to be interacted with in the future by the user, and
• wherein the new document identifier locates additional groups of computer data by analyzing designated groups of computer data to determine if they are related to the received determined topics of user interests;
• choosing related designated groups of computer data to be the located additional groups of computer data so that the chosen groups of computer data will be presented to the user before other groups of computer data.

A computer-readable medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to locate computer data of interest to a user by:

• monitoring interactions of the user with computer data;
• and
• without user intervention,
• extracting a term from contents of the computer data;
• using the monitored user interactions to determine at least one topic of user interest that is related to the extracted tern;
• determining the identified topic of most interest to the user based on the monitored user interactions that includes prioritizing the identified topics based on the monitored user interactions;
• establishing a priority level;
• and
• selecting the identified topics with priorities above the established priority level to be the determined topics of user interest;
• generating topics of interest to the user from the recorded interactions information and the identified topics such that the generated topics of interest to the user are discarded if monitored user interactions with the displayed computer documents whose contents are related to the topic do not reach a threshold level;
• locating additional computer data that is related to the determined topics of user interest which includes analyzing designated groups of computer data to determine if they are related to the determined topic;
• and
• choosing related designated groups of computer data to be the located additional groups of computer data so that the chosen groups of computer data will be presented to the user before other groups of computer data;
• and
• selecting the located additional computer data for the user.