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US 8,027,991 B2Granted
Enhanced searching using a thesaurus
OwnerVictoria Lesley Redferninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of providing enhanced on-line computer searching capabilities comprises: (a) forming a thesaurus database including first core concept terms and a series of secondary related terms; (b) providing a user interface to said database for selection of first core concept terms by a user; (c) carrying out a search for information relating to the core concept terms and to the secondary related terms; and (d) returning the results of the search to the user.
Claims18
A method of providing enhanced on-line computer searching capabilities, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) forming a thesaurus database including first core concept terms and a series of secondary related terms, related to said core concept terms;
- (b) providing a user interface to said database for selection of first core concept terms by a user;
- (c) instructing said user on various methods of information seeking through a teaching tool comprising at least three subcomponents, said at least three subcomponents being speech bubbles that tells said user what is happening or clarifying information, banners that provide information of other subjects that are included in said thesaurus database, and ‘pop-ups’ that explain stages of information seeking and factors that make up academically acceptable and authoritative material;
- (d) providing said user an interactive subject selection screen comprising a list of subjects from which user selects at least one subject;
- (e) connecting a subject data screen to said subject selection screen, said subject data screen allows said user to commence an internet search;
- (f) upon selection of a core concept term by a user, carrying out a search for information relating to the core concept terms and of the secondary related terms;
- (g) providing the user with the results of said search and
- (h) providing a script including sub elements comprising:
- saving said search in a separate folder created by said user;
- selecting a record from said list;
- saving said record in a personal folder;
- and
- determining if said record was saved, and if said record was saved, providing to said user the option of identifying if said record is authoritative and if said record is usable for academic referencing.
10 more elements
A method of providing enhanced on-line computer searching capabilities, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) providing a database for storing search terms and synonym sets;
- (b) storing said search terms, synonym sets, and sub-components of said search terms and synonym sets in said database so to minimize repetition of data;
- (c) providing scripts to access and manipulate said database, said scripts being adapted to support a Object-Oriented Programming (OOP) paradigm, said scripts utilizes said OOP to represent and access said search terms, synonym sets, and said sub-components;
- (d) providing a user interface adapted to accept a user's input data;
- (e) instructing said user on various methods of information seeking through a teaching tool comprising at least three subcomponents, said at least three subcomponents being speech bubbles that tells said user what is happening or clarifying information, banners that provide information of other subjects that are included in said thesaurus database, and ‘pop-ups’ that explain states of information seeking and factors that make up academically acceptable and authorative material;
- (f) providing said user an interactive subject selection screen comprising a list of subjects from which said user selects at least one subject;
- (g) connecting a subject data screen to said subject selection screen, said subject data screen allows said user to commence an internet search;
- (h) entering said input data into said user interface, said input data being said search terms;
- (i) passing said input data to said scripts which interacts with said database to create said synonym sets related to said search terms;
- (j) breaking down said synonym sets into individual search terms and giving each individual search term a unique identification number;
- (k) using said identification number to link said individual search terms into sets of words with similar meanings;
- (l) linking said sets of words to create said synonym sets;
- (m) presenting to a user through said user interface said search term and said synonym sets related to said search terms;
- (n) offering said user the option of conducting a search using any of said search terms and said synonym sets;
- (o) determining if any of said search terms and said synonym sets were selected;
- (p) carrying out a search for information relating to the selected said search terms and said synonym sets over the internet and said search is carried out for a predetermined subset of web domains selected by said user;
- (q) providing said user with the results of said search;
- and
- (r) providing a further script including sub elements comprising:
- saving said search in a separate folder created by said user;
- selecting a record from said list;
- saving said record in a personal folder;
- and
- determining if said record was saved, and if said record was saved, providing to said user the option of identifying if said record is authoritative and if said record is usable for academic referencing.
21 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.