JP2002297631A - Information rearranging and providing device and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user side to easily provide an editorial policy to an infor mation providing side and alter it as to an information rearranging and provid ing device and a recording medium for collecting information from a network by an automatic collection part and providing it to the user through the net work. SOLUTION: A selection and registration part makes the user select sample documents by presenting the sample documents corresponding to a category set composed of a combination of categories to the user and registers the set of categories of the selected sample documents and information collected by the automatic collection part is classified according to the category set registered by the selection and registration part and provided to the user.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information organizing / providing apparatus and a recording medium connected to a network for collecting documents, organizing and providing information requested by a user.

In recent years, a huge amount of information can be easily obtained by using the Internet. Since such information is updated daily and newly registered, it is becoming difficult to collect all the information by a document collection robot. In such a situation, it is not realistic for the user to obtain and organize necessary information in consideration of the time required for processing.

Generally, the information required by the user is limited to a limited area on the Internet. If the information is organized, information sharing and utilization can be very efficient. I have been waiting.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent content providing services using the Internet, personal information push services such as e-mail magazines are being promoted. The push service is an Internet information service in which users access the web server and bring information. In contrast to the conventional pull service, information is automatically sent from the web server. It is. The push service has an advantage that a useless time for a user to access various web servers is reduced.

For example, there is a system in which information such as various new news and weather forecasts is automatically taken into a user's personal computer by a push service. Such a system has problems such as limited information provided from the information providing side and limited communication for narrowing down necessary information. It is one of the solutions for organizing and providing the amount of information.

On the premise of information provision, there are the following methods (1) to (3) for promoting information classification and provision by interaction between the user and the information provision side.

(1) An information provider arranges information according to a predetermined arrangement method and receives provision of the organized information (one-way information classification and provision of the information from the provider).

(2) The information providing side first inputs a request to the providing side within a permissible range of the organizing method predetermined by the information providing side, and the providing side organizes and provides the information based on the input request ( Classification and provision of information by simple communication within the limited range provided by the provider).

(3) The information provided by the user by giving the necessity to the information actually provided by the provider to improve the organizing method (information classification and provision by unrestricted communication from the provider) .

[0010] The method (1) is used for WE of newspapers and magazines.
The B page is a representative example, and new news and information to be conveyed are distributed to categories prepared in advance (in most cases, they do not change) and provided. The method (2) is typified by a web page that provides a personalized information push service, a mailing list, and the like, and the user can declare the category of necessary information in advance and assign it to that category. Information is provided. Furthermore, in the method (3), the user narrows down to the necessary information by providing the necessity of the actually provided information, and provides the information.

[0011]

Various information classification methods intended to provide information have been proposed and implemented on the Web and the like. In many cases, the provision form is specified by the provider, as in the method described in (1) above, and only the types (categories) of information required by the user are collected and organized, and the information is collected and arranged. Cannot be received. Also,
Since the method of (2) above is a method of organizing within the allowable range determined by the provider, if the user's request does not fall within the allowable range, the user shall be provided with satisfactory organized information. Can not.

In the method of (3), in the current technology, a user declares a necessary category, or uses an abstract designation method such as a questionnaire for an information provision result, or a learning method with many repetitions. There is a problem that the communication has only been realized, the content of the information to be organized is still diverse, and the amount of information is still large, so the information is not narrowed down to the information that the user originally needs. There is a problem in that the information that is sent is hardly read, and the provision of the information is often a mere burden.

That is, in order to provide a user with information on a web page, which is a huge number of pages increasing daily, if the user depends on editing work on the information providing side as in the past, the user needs to edit the necessary information. It is not easy to narrow down. Therefore, not only is the work of editing the information burdensome,
If the provider cannot provide from various viewpoints, such as updating a category to be edited or adding a new category, there is a problem that it is impossible to respond to a request from the user.

An object of the present invention is to provide an information organizing / providing apparatus and a recording medium which enable a user to easily provide and change an editing policy to an information providing side, and further provide information provided to each user. It is another object of the present invention to provide an information organizing / providing apparatus which can instruct the editing policy of the information or change the content of the information and automatically reflect the content in the actual information classification / arrangement.

[0015]

FIG. 1 shows the principle of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is an information arrangement / providing device connected to a network, 2 is a network including the Internet,
Reference numeral 3 denotes a user terminal connected to the network 2.
Reference numeral 10 in the information organizing / providing device 1 is a selecting / creating unit for selecting a category (category) from the user using the presentation of the category and the sample document, or a selecting / creating unit for an information category to be provided by newly creating, and 11 is collected from the network. Information (WEB
Page information), an automatic classification system 12 for automatically collecting information from a network (called a collection robot), 13 a collection information storage unit, and 14 a classification result storage unit. It is. 10a is a category information presenting section, and 10b is category information presented to the user for selecting a category (sample documents for each category, characteristic keywords, representative examples, etc.). And 10c is a category set selection and registration unit. Also, 30 in the user terminal 3 is an input unit, 31 is an output unit, 11a in the automatic classification system 11 is a learning unit, and 11b is a classification unit.

When the user of the terminal 3 connects to the information organizing / providing device 1 via the network 2 and requests registration of the class of the information to be provided, the information classifying / selecting unit of the information organizing / providing device 1 10 starts. As a result, the first
According to the second method or the second method, the category is selected and registered by the selection from the user.

The first method is a category information presentation unit 10a
Extracts a combination of sample information (sample information corresponding to a category) corresponding to a combination (category list) of a plurality of categories (containers or classifications of information) prepared in advance, sends the combination to a terminal 3 and outputs the combination. The section 31 is presented. The user of the terminal 3 selects a desired category list from the list of the plurality of sample information by operating the input unit 30. Also, if the presented list of multiple sample information cannot be selected, by selecting individual sample information from the multiple sample information lists,
A new combination of sample information (category list) is created, or if there is no desired category in the presented list of sample information, a new category is added.
In the category list thus selected, created or added, a category set selected or newly created in accordance with the user of the terminal 3 is registered in the category set selection registration unit 10c.

In the second method of selecting and registering a category, a plurality of category lists combining the texts of the categories are extracted from the category information storage unit 10b, sent to the terminal 3, and displayed on the output unit 31. When there is a category set that the user of the terminal 3 desires to receive from among the displayed plurality of category sets, the category set is selected. If there is no desired category set and a plurality of categories are selected over a plurality of category sets, a combination of those categories is selected as a new category set. If the desired category does not exist in any of the presented category sets, a new category set is added by inputting a new category from the input unit 30. When the information organizing / providing device 1 receives any of these category sets, the category set corresponding to the user is registered in the category set selection / registration unit 10c.

The above first method and second method may be combined. That is, the category list and the sample documents corresponding to each category are presented to the user at the same time. The user can easily understand the information belonging to the category by looking at the sample document, rather than simply looking at the list of category names. Can be
Then, a category list can be selected, or a desired category can be selected from the category list and combined.

The category set registered for the user in this way is also supplied to the learning unit 11a of the automatic classification system 11, and the newly created category set is set in the category information storage unit 10b, and is provided to other users. Used for

On the other hand, the automatic collection unit 12 is a mechanism that has been used in the past, and collects various WEB page information specified in advance from a number of information providing sites via the network 2 and stores it in the collection information storage unit 13. I do. The information in the collected information storage unit 13 is automatically classified by the classification unit 11b of the automatic classification system 11 using the conventional technology, and the classified information is stored in the classification result storage unit 14, and this information is stored by the user. This is the information narrowed down by the registered category set. The information obtained in this way is information corresponding to the category set that the user has requested to provide from the terminal 3, sent to the user's terminal 3 and displayed on the output unit 31.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The functions of the information organizing / providing device 1 shown in the principle configuration of FIG.
It can be realized by an information processing device (computer) having a hard disk, an interface with a network, and the like. In that case, the program operation stored in a recording medium such as RAM, ROM, or hard disk
By registering the category set requested by the user, the information can be arranged (classified) and the requested information can be provided to the user.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a category selection operation of the user terminal and an operation of the information organizing / providing device. In the figure, 2,
Reference numeral 3 corresponds to each unit of the same reference numeral in FIG. 1, reference numeral 2 denotes a network, reference numeral 3 denotes a user terminal,
Only the configuration (reference numerals 10 and 11) related to the selection and creation of the category in FIG.
Denotes an information classification selection / creating unit, 11 denotes an automatic classification system, and 10a to 10c correspond to the same reference numerals in FIG.
10a is a category information presentation unit, 10b is a category information storage unit, and 10c is a category set selection registration unit.

In FIG. 2, the user operates the terminal 3 to access the information organizing / providing device 1 via the network 2 and selectively creates (registers) a category for which information provision is desired.
Request, the selection and creation unit 10 for information classification of the information organizing and providing device 1 is activated. At this time, the category information storage unit 10b depends on whether only a category set (combination of a plurality of categories) is provided, only sample documents for each category are provided, or both are combined.
Either one or both of the category set and the sample document are extracted from the list, and one or both of the category set providing unit 100 and the sample document providing unit 101 for each category operate. The category information provided in this way is displayed on the output unit (31 in FIG. 1) of the terminal 3, and for the category display, the user selects a desired one from the provided category set (FIG. 2). 3
a) or add a new category (including creating a new category set) (3b in FIG. 2). Also,
For the display of the sample document, whether the user selects the sample document corresponding to the desired category (3 in FIG. 2)
c), new addition of a sample document (3d in FIG. 2) can be performed. The new addition of this sample document is, for example,
A document obtained by a user through a search or the like is added as a new sample document.

The contents selected or added from the terminal 3 by one or more of the above operations 3a to 3d are registered in the category set selection registering unit 10c when determined by the information classification selection creating unit 10, The registered contents are supplied to the automatic classification system 11 and are used to classify information corresponding to the user. Further, among the contents registered in the category set selection / registration unit 10c, additional or new contents (category set or sample document) are stored in the category information storage unit 10b for learning and used for other users. It can be so.

Next, a configuration centering on a program for controlling the information organizing / providing device will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration of an embodiment including a flowchart of the information organizing / providing device, and particularly shows a configuration including a flowchart of category selection and registration and a relationship between the automatic classification system and the automatic collection robot. Reference numerals 1 and 10 in FIG.
b, 11 and 12 correspond to the same reference numerals in FIG.
Description is omitted.

The information organizing / providing device 1 presents a category set, its description, and features of each category (such as sample information) in response to access from the user via the Internet (S1 in FIG. 3). At this time, the information to be presented is extracted from the category set and the category information storage unit 10b. This information is sent to the user terminal (3 in FIG. 1) and presented. On the other hand, when the terminal selects a desired category set from a plurality of category sets including a combination of a plurality of categories from the terminal, it is determined that the category set in S2 in FIG. 3 has been selected. In this case, a category set for information classification is selected for the user (S8 in FIG. 3) and supplied to the automatic classification system 11.

If the selection of the category set is not satisfactory, it is determined whether individual categories in each list have been selected across a plurality of category sets (S in FIG. 3).
3) When an individual category is selected, a new category set is created by combining the selected categories (S6), and the category set is stored in the category information storage unit 10.
b (registered) and supplied to the automatic classification system 11. If the selection of the category is not satisfactory, a new category that is not included in the category of the category set presented by the information organizing / providing device is created and added. (Including addition) (S4 in FIG. 3). In this case, it is necessary to add information on specific examples of the new category at the same time. Create a new category set with the added category (S
5) Register in the category information storage unit 10b (S7)
Is supplied to the automatic classification system 11. In the automatic classification system 11 (the detailed configuration is shown in FIG. 4 described later), an information classification rule is generated based on the category set (S9 in FIG. 3). On the other hand, the automatic collection unit (robot) 12 collects the provided information 1 from the network.
2a, and collects the provided information 12
Stored as b. The automatic classification system classifies the provided information 12b using the information classification rule as teacher information (S10 in FIG. 3). Thus, the result of the information classification is presented to the user terminal (S11 in FIG. 3). The presentation method is push service by e-mail or personal WE
There are various methods such as B page creation, but the presentation method is not limited.

FIG. 4 shows the configuration of the automatic classification system. This classification system is publicly known. In the figure, reference numeral 140 denotes an automatic learning unit, and 141 denotes an automatic classification unit.

The automatic learning section 140 is supplied with sample text for each classification category. When this is received, a feature expression such as a keyword corresponding to a classification category, which is subjected to the process of conversion 140a into a feature expression, is extracted and stored as a classification rule 140b. Upon receiving the collected new text, the automatic classifying unit 141 performs a process of conversion 141a into a feature expression, and compares the converted feature expression with the classification rules for each category stored in the automatic learning unit 140. Then, a similarity calculation 141b is performed. The similarity obtained by this calculation is determined, the most similar category among the categories held in the classification rule 140b is assigned 141c to the new text, and the classification result is output.

Next, FIG. 5 shows an example of a category set and a sample document thereof. In the figure, reference numeral 5 denotes an example of a category set. In this example, four categories of automobiles, pharmaceuticals, computers, and securities are shown. FIG. 5 includes sample documents, some of which are shown as examples in FIG. 5 for the three categories of automobile, medicine, and computer in each category. Each document in these sample documents is also a document collected from the network.

Next, a specific example of category selection by the user according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 to 8 show specific examples of category selection (part 1) to (part 3).
It is. In each figure, reference numeral 5 denotes an example of a display screen of a category set provided from the information organizing / providing device, which is displayed on the output unit 31 of the terminal 3 (FIG. 1). Is shown, and 30 is an input unit of the terminal 3 (FIG. 1).

In the example of FIG. 6, the category set 5-1 is a combination of the categories "music", "movie", "sports", "money", and "multimedia". Is a combination of four categories: "politics", "economy", "international", and "sports". Category 5-3 is a set combining five categories of "new product", "new service", "industry trend", "computer", and "event", and further category 5-4 is "event", This is a category set combining four categories of “present”, “leisure”, and “gourmet”.

FIG. 6 shows that the user of the terminal 3 has selected a category set 5-4 indicated by a thick ellipse.
In this case, the information organizing / providing device (1 in FIG. 1) registers this category set 5-4 in correspondence with the user of the terminal 3.

Next, in a specific example (part 2) of the category selection shown in FIG.
Are the same as those of the above, but 5-5 represents a newly combined category set.

In the example of FIG. 7, the same category sets 5-1 to 5-5 as in FIG. 6 are displayed on the display screen 5.
This is a case where a desired set is not included in a plurality of category sets provided by the user of the terminal. In this case, a plurality of categories desired by the user exist over different category sets. In this example, the user sets the category of “sports” in the category set 5-1, the category of “new service” in the category set 5-3, and the “event” and “event” in the category set 5-4. The category of “gourmet” is designated (selected) by the user. By transmitting the result of the designation to the information organizing / providing device, a new category set 5-5 including four categories of "sports", "new service", "event", and "gourmet" is newly designated. , Registered for this user.

FIG. 8 shows a specific example (No. 3) of category selection, in which 30, 5, 5-1, 5-2,... Are the same as those in FIG. The category added from the terminal, 5-7 represents a category set newly created and added by the user.

In FIG. 8, the user of the terminal organizes information
Looking at the category sets 5-1, 5-2,... Displayed on the display screen 31a presented by the providing device, the user selects the "music" and "sports" categories in the category set 5-1. Since that alone is not enough, the user creates (adds) a new combination 5-6 of the categories of “house” and “life” from the input unit (30 in FIG. 1), and obtains their teacher information (the category). Of the information to be arranged) is input. In this case, category set 5
A new category set 5-7 is created from a total of four categories of "house" and "life" of the combination 5-6 of "music" and "sports" created (added) with "music" and "sports" selected from -1. Then, it is registered in the information organizing / providing device.

In the information organizing / providing device, this new category set 5-7 is registered as a category set corresponding to the user who made the request, and the category set is set as a category set normally provided in the information organizing / providing device. Register in the information storage unit (10b in FIG. 1). By this registration, other users are used as selection targets including a new category set.

Thus, in order to satisfy the user,
In addition to the basic category set, prepare a number of category sets to be selected, and a large number of specific examples (examples of information to be organized in that category: correct teacher information) for determining the organization method for each category. Can be. Since the user selects a desired category from these selection targets, the user's satisfaction can be determined by how fine these selection targets are and whether the user can prepare what he wants in advance. For this purpose, the information organizing / providing device holds a large number of correct teacher information for various category sets and individual categories, and generates and stores classification rules in advance. Registration of a new category set and registration of a specific example of a category are called learning.

(Supplementary Note 1) In an information organizing / providing apparatus for collecting information from a network by an automatic collection unit and providing the information to a user via the network, a sample document corresponding to a category set including a combination of a plurality of categories is provided to the user. And a selection / registration unit for registering a set of categories of the selected sample document by allowing the user to select sample documents and information collected by the automatic collection unit by the category set registered by the selection / registration unit. An information organizing and providing apparatus for classifying information and providing organized information to the user.

(Supplementary Note 2) In an information organizing / providing apparatus for collecting information from a network by an automatic collecting unit and providing the information to a user via the network, a plurality of categories including a list of a plurality of categories preset for the user. Means for presenting a set, a category set selected by the user from the presented plurality of category sets, a category set combining categories individually selected from the presented plurality of category sets, and A selection / registration unit for receiving and registering any one of a set of categories newly created and added by the user, and information collected by the automatic collection unit based on the category set registered by the selection / registration unit And providing the organized information to the user. Management / providing device.

(Supplementary Note 3) An information organizing / providing apparatus according to supplementary note 2, wherein a sample document is presented to the user simultaneously with a plurality of category sets and each category list of each category set.

(Supplementary Note 4) In any one of claims 1 and 2, as a judgment material for the user in selecting a category set or each category, not only a keyword representing a feature of the category but also a method of classifying the category is used. An information organizing / providing apparatus characterized in that the information is provided to the terminal from the selection / registration unit so that an example of the determined information can be referred to.

(Supplementary Note 5) In any one of claims 1 to 3, when a set of categories newly created and added by a user is registered, category information including the new category set is registered by another user. An information organizing / providing device characterized by being presented for registration.

(Supplementary Note 6) A computer-readable recording medium recording a program for organizing and providing information that automatically collects information from a network and classifies and provides information of a category desired by a user. In response to the presentation of a list of categories consisting of a combination of multiple categories or each sample document, the user inputs a category list, adds a category list by selecting a category, or includes a new category. A program for determining which one of the inputs is to create a list, registering the determined category list, classifying the collected information based on the registered category list, and providing the classified information to a user terminal is recorded. A computer-readable recording medium characterized by the above-mentioned.

[0048]

According to the present invention, the organizing method (classification method) set by communication with the user cooperates with the automatic classification system to minimize the burden on the user and reduce the information intended by the user. An organizing / providing device can be realized. In addition, classification (organization) by user
The change of the method has the effect that it can be realized seamlessly by re-learning of the automatic classification system or changing or replacing the classification rules.

Further, there is an effect that a request from a user can be made only by a very simple menu selection. By learning in a category prepared in advance, it is not necessary to re-learn the automatic classification system. Processing time can be greatly reduced. In addition, it is possible to respond to more specific requests from the user side, and by presenting information that requires substantial narrowing down for organization, it is possible to accurately and promptly convey user requests. . Further, it is possible to provide information for facilitating the narrowing down accurately and in a short time at the discretion of the user. Further, by learning individual know-how for each user for narrowing down, communication with the user can be smoothly advanced. By learning, the selection range of the user can be expanded, and detailed operations for input can be omitted. Further, by providing a category set and a judgment material for selecting a category, communication with the user side can be smoothly performed. In particular, even if the category names are the same, when they are different as category sets, the specific information actually arranged is often different. For example, specific information arranged in the category of sports and baseball as categories of general newspaper articles and the category of sports and baseball as categories of sports newspaper articles have different levels. In order to understand and judge these, some keywords and specific examples (teacher information) representing the characteristics of the category can be referred to.

The category newly provided by the improvement / expansion from the user side and the correct teacher information thereof are new know-how of the information organizing / providing device. Therefore, by learning these, a new category set to be selected is added, and the range of selection on the user side is expanded. In addition to selecting a category set and a category, a new category can be freely added.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the principle configuration of the present invention.

[Fig. 2] Operation of category selection and information arrangement /
It is a figure showing operation of a providing device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment including a flowchart of the information organizing / providing device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of an automatic classification system.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a category set and a sample document thereof.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a specific example (part 1) of category selection.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example (part 2) of category selection.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a specific example (part 3) of category selection.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information organizing / providing apparatus 10 Information classification selection creation part 11 Automatic classification system 12 Automatic collection part 13 Collection information storage part 14 Classification result storage part 2 Network 3 User terminal 30 Input part 31 Output part

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An information organizing / providing apparatus for collecting information from a network by an automatic collecting unit and providing the user to the user via the network, presents a sample document corresponding to a category set including a combination of a plurality of categories to the user. A selection / registration unit for registering a set of sample document categories selected by allowing the user to select sample documents, and classifying information collected by the automatic collection unit according to the category set registered by the selection / registration unit. And providing the organized information to the user. 2. An information organizing / providing apparatus for collecting information from a network by an automatic collection unit and providing the information to a user via the network includes a plurality of category sets including a list of a plurality of categories preset for the user. Means for presenting, a category set selected by the user from the plurality of presented category sets, a category set combining categories individually selected from the plurality of presented category sets, and A selection / registration unit for receiving and selectively registering a category set of a newly created and added category set, and classifying information collected by the automatic collection unit according to the category set registered by the selection / registration unit And providing the organized information to the user. Place. 3. The information organizing and providing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein each sample document is presented to the user simultaneously with a plurality of category sets and corresponding to each category list of each category set. 4. A computer-readable recording medium on which a program for organizing and providing information for automatically collecting information from a network and classifying and providing information of a category desired by a user is provided. In response to the presentation of a list of categories consisting of a combination of multiple categories or each sample document, the user can select a category list, add a category list by selecting a category, or enter a category list containing a new category. Determine which of the inputs to create,
A computer-readable recording medium on which is recorded a program for registering a determined category list, classifying information collected based on the registered category list, and providing the classified information to a user terminal.