US 7,353,246 B1 · System and method for enabling information associations

Abstract

A system and method for enabling information associations which parses objects contained within a document such a Web page, in order to form a list of “metalink” objects within the document for which related information may be available. Visual indications of metalink objects within the document may be provided automatically, or in response to a user action requesting such indications be made, and may include any kind of modification to the visual display of the metalink objects or to the cursor as it is moved over or near the metalink objects. User selection of a metalink object, for example clicking on the display of a metalink object, is further detected. In response to such user selection of a metalink object, a database is searched for information related to the selected metalink object, including pointers or links to other documents. The search results (“metadata”) are then displayed, for example in a pop-up window. Metadata may be weighted in terms of their perceived relevancy to a user of the local system, or to a group of users spread across multiple systems, or to all users, based on monitoring of activities performed on one or more client systems by client side software.

Claims53

Dependent claims

A method of enabling information associations, said method being performed in conjunction with at least one client system and at least one server system, said method comprising the steps of:

in a first accessing step, accessing, at said client system, at least one document, said document containing informational content and having an associated address for use in accessing said informational content,
wherein said first accessing step includes accessing said informational content using said address, said informational content including parsable data;
in a parsing step, parsing, on one of said client system and said server system, said parsable data included in said informational content to identify a number of objects included in said document;
in a second accessing step, accessing, from at least one database, information related to those of said identified objects included in said document for which related information is available;
in a first displaying step, displaying, on a display of said client system, at least some of those of said identified objects for which related information is available;
in a detecting step, detecting, on said client system, a selection, by a user, of one of said objects displayed on said display;
and
in a second displaying step, displaying, on said display, information from said at least one database related to said selected one of said objects.

5 more elements

A computer program product including a computer readable medium, said computer readable medium having program code stored thereon, said program code comprising:

first program code for accessing, at least one client system, at least one document, said document containing informational content and having an associated address for use in accessing said informational content,
wherein said first program code for accessing at least one document includes program code for accessing said informational content using said address, said informational content including parsable data;
program code for parsing, on one of said at least one client system and at least one server system, said parsable data included in said informational content to identify a number of objects included in said document;
second program code for accessing, from at least one database, information related to those or said identified objects included in said document for which related information is available;
first program code for displaying, on a display of said client system, at least some of those of said identified objects for which related information is available;
program code for detecting, on said client system, a selection, by a user, of one of said objects displayed on said display;
and
second program code for displaying, on said display, information from said at least one database related to said selected one of said objects.

5 more elements

A system for enabling information associations, comprising:

at least one client system, said client system including a display;
at least one processor coupled to at least one memory;
and
an information association utility loaded in said at least one memory and executable on said at least one processor, said information association utility operable:
to access at least one document, said document containing informational content and having an associated address for use in accessing said informational content, said information association utility being further operable to access said informational content using said address, said informational content including parsable data;
to parse said parsable data included in said informational content to identify a number of objects included in said document;
to access, from at least one database, information related to those of said identified objects included in said document for which related information is available,
to display, on said display, at least some of those of said identified objects for which related information is available;
to detect a selection, by a user, of one of said objects displayed on said display;
and
to display, on said display, information from said at least one database related to said selected one of said objects.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

System and method for enabling information associations

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System and method for enabling information associations

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims53