System and method for displaying relationships between electronically stored information to provide classification suggestions via nearest neighbor

A method for providing reference documents as a suggestion for classifying electronically stored information using nearest neighbor, comprising the steps of:

• designating a set of uncoded electronically stored information items and a different set of reference electronically stored information items that are each classified with a code;
• comparing at least one of the uncoded electronically stored information items from the set with the set of reference electronically stored information items and identifying one or more of the reference electronically stored information items that are similar to the at least one uncoded electronically stored information item;
• processing the classification codes associated with the similar reference electronically stored information items, comprising:
• determining a number of different types of the classification codes associated with the similar reference electronically stored information items;
• determining one or more of a presence and absence of the similar reference electronically stored information items with each type of the different classification codes;
• and
• determining for each type of the classification codes a quantity of the similar reference electronically stored information items;
• displaying a visual classification suggestion based on at least one of the presence and the absence and the quantity and the number of the types via a display of the uncoded electronically stored information item and the similar reference electronically stored information items;
• and
• receiving a classification code of one of the types for the at least one uncoded electronically stored information item from a human reviewer based on the suggestion,
• wherein the steps are performed by a suitably programmed computer.

A system for identifying reference documents for use in classifying uncoded documents, comprising:

• a database to store a set of reference documents that are each classified with a code;
• a clustering module to designate a set of clusters each comprising uncoded documents from a different set than the reference documents;
• a similarity module to select at least one uncoded document from the set, to compare the at least one uncoded document with each of the reference documents, and to identify one or more reference documents that satisfy a threshold of similarity with the at least one uncoded document;
• a processing module to process the classification codes associated with the similar reference documents, comprising:
• a type module to determine a number of different types of the classification codes associated with the similar reference documents;
• a presence module to determine one or more of a presence and absence of the similar reference documents with each type of the different classification codes;
• and
• a quantity module to determine for each type of the classification codes a quantity of the similar reference documents;
• a suggestion module to display a visual classification suggestion based on at least one of the presence and the absence and the quantity and the number of the types via a display of the at least one of the uncoded document and the similar reference documents;
• a classification module receiving a classification code of one of the types for the at least one uncoded document from a human reviewer based on the suggestion;
• and
• a processor to execute the modules.

A method for identifying reference documents for use in classifying uncoded documents, comprising the steps of:

• designating a set of reference documents that are each classified with a code;
• designing a set of clusters each comprising uncoded documents from a different set than the reference documents;
• selecting at least one uncoded document from the set and comparing the at least one uncoded document with each of the reference documents and identifying one or more reference documents that satisfy a threshold of similarity with the at least one uncoded document;
• a processing module to process the classification codes associated with the similar reference documents, comprising:
• determining a number of different types of the classification codes associated with the similar reference documents;
• determining one or more of a presence and absence of the similar reference documents with each type of the different classification codes;
• and
• determining a quantity of the similar reference documents for each type of the different classification codes;
• displaying a visual classification suggestion based on at least one of the presence and the absence and the quantity and the number of the types via a display of the at least one of the uncoded document and the similar reference documents;
• and
• receiving a classification code of one of the types for the at least one uncoded document from a human reviewer based on the suggestion,
• wherein the steps are performed by a suitably programmed computer.