JP2001282792A - Information retrieval supporting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information retrieval supporting device capable of realizing such an information retrieval that arranges information groups having a statement relation and considers the statement relation. SOLUTION: A mail analytic part 12 detects a transmitter or reference message a concerning a received message, a mail DB 14 stores the identification information of the received message or information of the transmitter or the like, a link generating/updating part 15 detects the transmitter of the reference message, a link DB 16 correspondently stores a link relating these two transmitters and the relevant received message. Besides, while using a figure or personnel relation accepted from a user through an interface part 18 as a key, a retrieval part 17 retrieves information and the interface part 18 displays the retrieved result.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information retrieval support apparatus and a storage medium for assisting a user to access necessary information, and more particularly to a technique for organizing a group of information having a statement relation and a statement relation. The present invention relates to technology for realizing information retrieval.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, in an electronic conference room operated on personal computer communication or a computer network, or in a place where electronic information is exchanged typified by electronic news, an electronic bulletin board, a mailing list, etc. There has always been a need to easily find the necessary information from within.

[0003] In response to such needs, a conventional technique is known in which a full-text search is performed for information including a specific keyword from an information set, and the search results are displayed in a list.
Further, by classifying the information set into an information group composed of information having a reference relationship with each other, and displaying indentation of the title of each information in the information group, a conventional technique of posting the reference relationship of each information, There is also known a conventional technique of displaying a reference relationship of each information by displaying the number of each information in an information group in a tree display.

Further, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-143912, information titles, keywords included in the information, speakers, date and time, etc. are combined to display information centering on the reference relationship between the keywords and the information. There is also known a conventional technique for displaying information centering on a speaker and an information title to facilitate information search performed by a user.

[0005]

However, the prior art described above focuses on the information contained in the information alone and the reference relation between the information, and the information is expressed in terms of who and to whom. No search has been performed. For this reason, in the related art, there is a problem that the search cannot be easily performed when it is desired to perform a search by focusing on the utterance between the speaker A and the speaker B, for example.

Conventionally, for example, from a speaker A to a speaker B, and further from a speaker B to a speaker C, the link of the person who made the statement is followed, and opinions and the like exchanged between the persons are taken. There was a problem that it was not possible to easily search for or browse the information of the user. The present invention
In consideration of such conventional circumstances, for example, an information search support device or a storage device capable of organizing an information group having a utterance relation and realizing an information search in consideration of a utterance relation, for example. The purpose is to provide a medium.

[0007]

Means for Solving the Problems In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, an information retrieval support apparatus according to the present invention, when supporting retrieval of predetermined information from an information group, has a statement relation as follows. Organize a group of information. Note that the information search support device according to the present invention is used in a place where electronically communicates a message to which identification information of a sender and identification information of a referenced message are added, such as, for example, An electronic conference room, electronic news, an electronic bulletin board, a place where electronic information exchange represented by a mailing list and the like are performed.

That is, in the information search support apparatus according to the present invention, the received message information detecting means detects the identification information of the sender and the identification information of the referenced message with respect to the received message, and the received message information storage means stores the received message information. The identification information and the identification information of the sender detected with respect to the received message are stored in association with each other, and the reference message information detection unit stores the information stored in the reception message information storage unit (for example, the identification of the reference message already stored). Based on the information and the identification information of the sender), the identification information of the sender of the reference message (the referenced message) detected with respect to the received message is detected, and the link information storage unit is detected by the reception message information detection unit. Detected by the sender's identification information and reference message information detection means Stored in association with identification information of the link information and the received message relating the the sender identification information.

Here, for example, assuming that a person B transmits a message b created with reference to a message a received from a person A to a user (information search support device), the message b received by the user is The message a referred to by the person B corresponds to the message (reference message) referred to for the received message, the person B corresponds to the sender of the received message, and the person A corresponds to the sender of the reference message. Is generated, and link information that associates the person A and the person B is generated, and the identification information of the message b is associated with the link information as the identification information of the received message. In this case, regarding the statement relationship, the person B (for example, the person A)
And / or) that the content of the message b is uttered to the user.

Therefore, the sender of the received message and the sender of the reference message are associated with each other, and the association is associated with the received message.
For example, a group of information of a received message having a utterance relationship can be organized, thereby supporting information search.

As the identification information in the present invention, any information may be used as long as it can identify a person or a message to be identified. Specifically, for example, information such as address information assigned to a person or a message can be used as identification information.For example, a part of a person's name or a message can be used as identification information. is there. As the identification information of each person or each message, for example, it is preferable that the same identification information is used in unification in each processing according to the present invention. Even if information is used, it is sufficient if it is understood that the plurality of pieces of identification information indicate the same person or the same message.

Further, the information search support device according to the present invention realizes information search in consideration of a statement relation as follows. That is, the receiving unit receives the identification information of the person and the identification information of the other person, and the message identification information detecting unit, based on the information stored in the link information storage unit,
The identification information of the message corresponding to the link information that associates the received identification information with each other is detected, and the output unit outputs information on the message corresponding to the detected identification information.

Here, as in the above example, link information relating person A and person B is generated and message b
For example, when the identification information of the person A is stored in the link information storage means in association with the link information as the identification information of the received message, the information search support device may identify the identification information of the person A and the identification information of the person B, for example. In response to receiving the information, the content of the message b, information generated based on the message b, and the like are output as information related to the message. When a plurality of received messages are associated with one piece of link information, for example, information about each of the plurality of received messages is output.

Therefore, for example, an information search can be performed using a set of information representing a certain person and information representing another person as a key, thereby realizing an information search in consideration of a statement relation. it can. The method of outputting information is not particularly limited, and for example, a method of displaying and outputting on a screen, a method of printing and outputting with a printer, and the like can be used.

Further, the information search support device according to the present invention realizes information search in consideration of a statement relation as follows. That is, the receiving unit receives the identification information of the person, and the identification information detecting unit detects the identification information of another person associated with the received identification information based on the information stored in the link information storage unit, The output unit detects the identification information of the message corresponding to the link information linking the identification information, and outputs information on the other person corresponding to the detected identification information and information on the message corresponding to the detected identification information. I do.

Here, as in the above example, link information relating person A and person B is generated and message b
In the case where the identification information of the person A is stored in the link information storage unit in association with the link information as the identification information of the received message, for example, the information search support device determines that the identification information of the person A has been received. Accordingly, the name and the like of the person B are output as information on the other person, and the contents of the message b and information generated based on the message b are output as information on the message. Further, when a person other than the person B is associated with the person A, or when a plurality of received messages are associated with the link information between the person A and the person B, for example, It outputs information relating to each and information relating to each of the plurality of received messages.

Accordingly, for example, by using information representing a certain person as a key, one or more links having the person as one end, and information on a received message related to the link are output, whereby Can be realized.

Further, in the information search support device according to the present invention, the identification information detecting means further includes, based on the information stored in the link information storage means, an identification of the person associated with the identification information of the other person. In addition to detecting the information, it detects the identification information of the message corresponding to the link information linking the identification information, and the output means responds to the information on the person corresponding to the detected identification information and the identification information corresponding to the detected identification information. Outputs information about the message that was sent.

Here, assuming that the information on the person B and the information on the message b are output in response to the reception of the identification information of the person A as in the above-described example, the information search support device further includes And a function of outputting information on a message c corresponding to link information for linking these persons (person B and person C).

Therefore, as for the other person associated with the person used as the key, information relating to one or more links having the person as one end and the received message related to the link is output. The information can be searched by following the link of the person who made the statement. Note that such information output may be performed by the information search support device with respect to a person selected by the user from among persons displayed and output, for example.
For example, the information search support device may be configured to automatically perform the setting according to the setting.

In the information search support apparatus according to the present invention, link information generated in a plurality of places and identification information of a message corresponding to the link information are collectively used, so that the plurality of places can be simply identified. Support information retrieval by treating it as a place of choice. Here, the plurality of places include, for example, places such as an electronic conference room, electronic news, an electronic bulletin board, and a mailing list, as described above. Therefore, by comprehensively using the link information and the like generated in such various information exchange places, the support of the information search can be further enhanced.

The various processes according to the present invention as described above can also be realized by, for example, reading and executing a program stored in a storage medium by a computer. As an example, the storage medium according to the present invention stores a program to be executed by a computer so that input means of the computer can read the program, and the program adds identification information of a sender and identification information of a referenced message. A computer used in a place for electronically communicating the received message, the program includes a first process of detecting the identification information of the sender and the identification information of the referenced message with respect to the received message; A second process of storing the identification information and the identification information of the sender detected with respect to the received message in the received message information memory, and detecting the received message based on the information stored in the received message information memory Processing for detecting the identification information of the sender of the reference message obtained And link information that associates the sender identification information detected by the first process with the sender identification information detected by the third process, and the received message identification information are stored in the link information memory in association with each other. And causing the computer to execute the fourth process.

[0023]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration example of an information search support device 1 according to the present embodiment, and also shows a user terminal screen 2 and a mail server 3. Here, the present embodiment is directed to a case where information (messages) such as opinions is exchanged using a system for performing e-mail broadcast communication, which is generally called a mailing list. Also,
The SMTP mail is taken up as a target e-mail.

Further, the information retrieval support device 1 according to the present embodiment
Is installed in the user terminal, and the screen provided in the user terminal corresponds to the above-described user terminal screen 2. The user terminal has, for example, functions similar to those of a normal personal computer, with the function of the information search support device 1 according to the present embodiment. In addition, the mail server 3 has a function of storing mail addressed to the user of the information search support device 1 and transmitting the mail to the information search support device 1 in response to a request from the information search support device 1, for example. ing.

The information search support device 1 according to the present embodiment includes:
A mail receiving unit 11, a mail analyzing unit 12, a morphological analyzing unit 13, a mail database (mail DB) 14,
Link generation / update unit 15, link database (link DB) 16, search unit 17, interface unit 1
8 are provided. In the information search support device 1 according to the present embodiment, the processor performs various processes by executing a control program stored in the ROM in a hardware resource including a processor, a memory, and the like.

An example of the operation of each of the processing units 11 to 18 will be described below in detail. The mail receiving unit 11 accesses the mail server 3 autonomously, for example, and checks whether there is a mail (received mail) addressed to the user who uses the information search support device 1. Then, when there is mail addressed to the user, the mail receiving unit 11 sends the mail to the mail server 3.
, And the received mails are sequentially sent to the mail analysis unit 12. Whether or not there is an e-mail addressed to the user is confirmed, for example, by determining whether or not there is an e-mail addressed to the address of the user.

When the mail analysis unit 12 receives the mail sent from the mail reception unit 11, it first analyzes the header of the mail to determine the sender address of the mail. (From :), a destination address (To :) which is information for specifying an address of a person who is a destination of the mail, and a copy address which is information for specifying an address of a person other than the person who is a destination of the mail. (Cc :) and transmission date and time (Date :) which is information for specifying the date and time when the mail was transmitted.
And a subject (Su which is information for identifying the subject of the mail)
bject :), a message ID (Message-ID :) that is identification information for identifying the mail, and a reply target that is identification information for identifying another mail (reference mail) referred to when the mail is created. The message ID (In-Reply-To :) is extracted.

Here, the mail analysis unit 12 receives, for example, a user input via the interface unit 18,
Address information of one or more mailing lists is held. Then, when the above-described extraction processing is performed, the mail analysis unit 12 determines whether or not one or more of the held mailing list addresses is included in either the extracted destination address or the copied address, for example. However, if it is determined that it is included, the following processing is continued.

That is, the mail analyzer 12 separates the body text from the received mail and sends it to the morphological analyzer 13. Then, as described later, a list of keywords is returned from the morphological analysis unit 13 to the mail analysis unit 12 as a result of the analysis. Upon receiving such a list of keywords, the mail analysis unit 12 receives the extracted sender address, destination address, copy address, transmission date and time,
The subject, message ID, reply target message ID, separated body text (Body :), and a list of received keywords (Keywords :) are collectively stored as mail data in the mail database 14 as mail data.

Here, FIG. 2 shows the mail database 1
4 shows an example of mail data stored in the storage unit 4. As shown in FIG. 4, one unit of mail data includes information corresponding to each of the above-described items. When the reply message ID is not an empty character string (that is, when there is a reference mail), the mail analysis unit 12 stores the mail data in the mail database 14 as described above, and then extracts the sender address. And the information for specifying the message ID and the reply target message ID are transmitted to the link generation / update unit 15.

When the morphological analyzer 13 receives the body text from the mail analyzer 12, it extracts a keyword from the body text using, for example, a generally known morphological analysis technique. And the morphological analyzer 13
Creates a list of the extracted keywords and transmits the list to the mail analysis unit 12 as a result of the analysis.

Note that which of the words included in the body text is to be extracted as a keyword is determined, for example, by extracting a noun in the body text as a keyword,
For example, a method in which some words are set in advance and the same words as those words are extracted as keywords from the body text can be used. The mail database 14 has a function of storing mail data as shown in FIG.

When the link generating / updating unit 15 receives the information for specifying the sender address, the message ID, and the message ID to be returned from the mail analyzing unit 12, the link generating / updating unit 15 performs the following link generation processing and link update processing. Start. The link referred to here expresses the relationship between the person A and the person B when the person B posts information such as an opinion with respect to the information such as the opinion posted by the person A,
One end of the link is a person A and the other end is a person B.

Specifically, the link generating / updating unit 15
One end of the link is associated with the sender address (corresponding to the address of person B) received from the mail analysis unit 12. Then, the link generating / updating unit 15 accesses the mail database 14 to determine the person at the other end of the link, and uses the reply target message ID received from the mail analysis unit 12 as a key, and Is searched for, for example, mail data containing the message ID.

If the relevant mail data is found as a result of such a search, the link generation / update unit 15
Is the sender address (person A
Is extracted, and the sender address is associated with the sender address received from the mail analyzer 12 using the sender address as the other end of the link.

The link generating / updating unit 15 uses the information specifying the two sender addresses corresponding to both ends of the link and the information specifying the message ID received from the mail analyzing unit 12 as link data. The data is stored in the link database 16 in one unit. The link (person A and person B) is stored in the link database 16.
Is registered, information that specifies the message ID is registered as additional information of the link that has already been registered. By updating the link data in this manner, each link has a message ID of a mail posted by the other person to provide an opinion or the like with respect to the opinion or the like of one person associated with the link. Is accumulated.

FIG. 3 conceptually shows a specific example of the processing performed by the link generation / update unit 15 as described above. That is, when there is a mail b posted by the person B with reference to the contents of the mail a posted by the person A, the link generation / update unit 15 determines the person B from the sender address of the mail b. Is specified, the mail a referred to from the reply message ID of the mail b is specified, the person A is specified from the sender address of the reference mail a, and a link linking the specified person A and the person B is formed. Generated and associates the message ID of the received mail b with the link.

FIG. 4 shows a link database 16.
An example of the link data stored in the link data is shown in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG.
It contains two addresses for linking persons and the message ID of the mail associated with this link. The link database 16 has a function of storing link data as shown in FIG.

The search unit 17 receives, for example, search conditions from the user via the interface unit 18,
The search process for mails that match the search condition is started.
First, a case where three search conditions (information specifying two addresses and one keyword) are specified (hereinafter, referred to as search 1) will be described. In this case, the search unit 17
Accesses the link database 16 and searches for link data including both of the two input addresses, and reads the message ID stored in the link data when the corresponding link data exists.

Next, the search unit 17 accesses the mail database 14 using the read message ID as a key, and searches for the corresponding mail data (mail data including the read message ID in the message ID). Then, the search unit 17 searches the mail data thus searched for mail data in which the keyword specified by the search condition is included in the keyword list, and information for specifying the message ID of the searched mail data. A pair with the searched link data is transmitted to the interface unit 18 as a set.

Next, of the above three search conditions,
A case where one address is an empty character string (that is, information specifying one address and one keyword are specified) (hereinafter, referred to as search 2) will be described. In this case, the search unit 17 accesses the link database 16 to search for link data including the specified one address, and when the corresponding link data exists, the message ID stored in the link data Read.

Next, the search unit 17 accesses the mail database 14 using the read message ID as a key, and searches for corresponding mail data (mail data including the read message ID in the message ID). Then, the search unit 17 searches the mail data thus searched for mail data in which the keyword specified by the search condition is included in the keyword list, and information for specifying the message ID of the searched mail data. A pair with the searched link data is transmitted to the interface unit 18 as a set.

Next, a case where a keyword is an empty character string (that is, information for specifying two addresses is specified) among the above three search conditions (hereinafter referred to as search 3) will be described. . In this case, the search unit 17 accesses the link database 16 to search for link data including both of the two specified addresses, and when the corresponding link data exists, the link data is stored in the link data. The read message ID is read, and information specifying each of the read message IDs and the searched link data are paired and transmitted to the interface unit 18.

The interface section 18 has, for example, a keyboard and a mouse for receiving information and instructions from the user, and also has a screen for outputting information to the user (in this embodiment, the user terminal screen 2), a speaker and the like. ing. Then, for example, when the user uses the information search support device 1 for the first time, the interface unit 18 receives the address of one or more mailing lists in response to an input from the user. The received address is transmitted from the interface unit 18 to the mail analyzing unit 12, and is held by the mail analyzing unit 12 as described above.

The interface unit 18 displays a window as shown in FIG. 5 on the user terminal screen 2 when, for example, a user requests a mail search. Then, in order to specify who wants to search for a mail that contains opinions or opinions issued to whom and which keyword, an address (one or two addresses in this embodiment) and a keyword (in this embodiment, one or two addresses) are specified. , Zero or one keyword) according to the input from the user.

After the address and the keyword are input,
When the user presses the “search” button shown in the figure, the interface unit 18 sends the input search conditions to the search unit 17. Then, as described above, the search unit 17
, A set of link data and information for specifying the message ID is transmitted as a search result, and the interface unit 18 receives the set.

In this embodiment, there are three display screens for displaying the search results in accordance with the following three cases depending on how the user inputs search conditions. That is, the first corresponds to the above-described search 1 and all search conditions are input, and the second corresponds to the above-described search 2 and one address and one keyword are input. The third case corresponds to the above-described search 3, and is a case where two addresses (and zero keywords) are input.

First, in the case of the above-mentioned search 1, a search result as shown in FIG.
The display content is displayed on the interface unit 18 as a result of the search.
Received the link data and the message I from the search unit 17
D. Specifically, in the “member display field A” and the “member display field B” shown in FIG. 4, the respective addresses input as the search conditions are displayed. Below that, the subject of the email that matches the search and a portion of the text containing the keyword specified in the body text of the email are displayed.

When the user looks at such displayed contents and determines that the information is desired by the user, the user presses the "display" button next to the subject. When this button is pressed, the interface unit 18 restores the corresponding mail based on the mail data stored in the mail database 14 and presents it to the user.

When the user inputs an address in the "input box A" and presses the "search button A", the search unit 17 displays the address displayed in the "member display field A" and the "input box A". The search 1 is performed using the address input to A "and the keyword input last time as search conditions.
Is performed, and the interface unit 18 displays and outputs the search result.

When the user presses the "search button A" while leaving the "input box A" blank, the search unit 17 inputs the address displayed in the "member display field A" and the address previously input. A search similar to the search 2 is performed using the keyword as a search condition, and the interface unit 18 displays and outputs the search result. Note that the operation when the “input box B” or the “search button B” is operated is also described.
This is the same as the operation when the “input box A” or the “search button A” is operated. With such an easy operation, the user can search for a target mail on the condition of the connection between members (persons) and keywords.

Next, in the case of search 2 described above, search results as shown in FIG. 7 are displayed and output on the user terminal screen 2.
The display content is displayed on the interface unit 18 as a result of the search.
Received the link data and the message I from the search unit 17
D. Specifically, the address input as a search condition is displayed in the “member display column 0” shown in FIG. Also, "Member display column 1" ~
Each of the “member display columns n” is input as a search condition among those who have exchanged information such as opinions with the person having the address displayed in the “member display column 0” by mailing list. The address of a person who has exchanged information including the keyword is displayed. n is equal to the number of such persons.

Under each of the "member display section 1" to "member display section n", similarly to the above-described search 1, the subject of the mail matched with the search and the main body text of the mail are displayed. Part of the text containing the specified keyword is displayed. Looking at this, if the user determines that the information is his / her desired information, he / she presses the “display” button next to the subject. When this button is pressed, the interface unit 18 restores the corresponding mail based on the mail data stored in the mail database 14 and presents it to the user.

When the user inputs an address in the "input box 1" and presses the "search button 1", the search unit 17 displays the address displayed in the "member display field 1" and the "input box 1". The search 1 is performed using the address entered in “1” and the keyword entered last time as search conditions.
Is performed, and the interface unit 18 displays and outputs the search result.

When the user presses the "search button 1" while leaving the "input box 1" blank, the search unit 17 inputs the address displayed in the "member display field 1" and the address previously input. A search similar to the search 2 is performed using the keyword as a search condition, and the interface unit 18 displays and outputs the search result. The operations performed when the “input box 2” to “input box n” or the “search button 2” to the “search button n” are operated are the same as those performed when the “input box 1” or the “search button 1” is operated. The operation is the same.

Next, in the case of the above-described search 3, a search result as shown in FIG.
The display content is displayed on the interface unit 18 as a result of the search.
Received the link data and the message I from the search unit 17
D. More specifically, “member display field A” and “member display field B”, “input box A” and “input box B”, “search button A” and “search button B” shown in FIG. The search 1 is the same as that shown in FIG. Further, as a display content different from the case of the above-described search 1, in the case of the search 3, a subject list of all the mails exchanged between the two is displayed in the result list.

As described above, the information search support device 1 of the present embodiment can support, for example, performing a search by focusing on statements between the speaker A and the speaker B. Speaker A to Speaker B, and Speaker B to Speaker C
Can follow the link of the person who made the remark, and assist in searching and browsing information such as opinions exchanged between those persons, thereby enabling the user to search for information. Can be facilitated.

Here, in the present embodiment, the mail analyzer 12
Constitutes the received message information detecting means according to the present invention, the mail database 14 constitutes the received message information storing means according to the present invention, and the link generation / update section 15 constitutes the reference message information detecting means according to the present invention. The link database 16 constitutes link information storage means of the present invention, the search unit 17 constitutes message identification information detecting means and identification information detecting means of the present invention, and the interface unit 18 accepts the receiving means of the present invention. Output means is configured.

In this embodiment, the SMTP mail is taken as an example of the electronic mail. However, for example, the message itself, the sender of the message, and the reference message (the message to be returned) of the message can be uniquely specified. Others may be used.
Further, in this embodiment, only the mailing list is taken up as a place to be analyzed. However, for example, if a mail environment transmitted and received by an individual is taken as one place, the address of the mailing list input in the interface unit 18 is changed to the address of this individual. It may be.

In this embodiment, the information retrieval support device 1
Is installed in the user terminal. However, the installation location of the information search support device according to the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the information search support device can be installed in a server that manages a mailing list. .

Further, according to the present invention, for example, an information group is generated in an electronic place where information is exchanged, information in the information group has a reference relationship, and a person who has created such information can be specified. It can be implemented in various environments such as, for example, an electronic conference room,
There are electronic news and electronic bulletin boards. Also, in this embodiment, one place called a mailing list has been exemplified,
For example, by integrally using the link data generated in a plurality of places, it is possible to consider the plurality of places as a single place and further enhance the support of the information search.

The configuration of the information search support device according to the present invention is not necessarily limited to the above-described configuration, and various configurations may be used. For example, in this embodiment,
In a preferred embodiment, the various processes performed by the information search support device according to the present invention are controlled, for example, by executing a control program stored in a ROM on a hardware resource including a processor and a memory. Although the configuration is described, for example, each functional unit for executing the processing may be configured as an independent hardware circuit.

The present invention also relates to a floppy (registered trademark) disk or CD-ROM storing the above-described control program.
It can be understood as a computer-readable storage medium such as a ROM, and the processing according to the present invention can be performed by inputting the control program from the storage medium to the computer and causing the processor to execute the control program.

[0064]

As described above, according to the information retrieval support apparatus and the storage medium of the present invention, for example, person B issues information b such as opinions with reference to information a such as opinions issued by person A. In such a case, the person A and the person B are associated with each other, and the association is associated with the information b. Therefore, an information group having such a utterance relationship can be arranged.

Further, in the information search support device according to the present invention, information search can be performed using a person or a person relation as a key based on such an information group. Information retrieval can be realized. In addition, the information search support device according to the present invention can further perform information search by following the personal relationship, and thus can further support the information search in consideration of the utterance relationship as described above.

As described above, the user using the information search support device according to the present invention can see, for example, what kind of community members who participate in a mailing list or an electronic bulletin board form,
At the same time, since it is possible to know what kind of opinions and the like are exchanged between individuals, it is possible to easily grasp such a community.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an information search support device according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of mail data stored in a mail database.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a process performed by a link generation / update unit;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of link data stored in a link database.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed when a user performs a mail search.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search result when two persons and a keyword are specified;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search result when one person and a keyword are specified;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search result when two persons are specified.

[Explanation of symbols]

1. Information search support device 2. User terminal screen
3. Mail server, 11 Mail receiving unit, 12.
・ Mail analysis unit, 13 ・ ・ Morphological analysis unit, 14 ・ ・ Mail database, 15 ・ ・ Link generation / update unit, 1
6. Link database, 17. Search section, 18.
・ Interface part,

Claims (6)

[Claims] An information retrieval support apparatus for supporting retrieval of predetermined information from an information group, wherein a message to which a sender's identification information and identification information of a referenced message are added is electronically communicated. A received message information detecting means for detecting a sender's identification information and a referenced message's identification information with respect to a received message, and associating the received message's identification information with the sender's identification information detected with respect to the received message; Receiving message information storing means for storing the received message information based on the information stored in the received message information storing means, and reference message information detecting means for detecting the identification information of the sender of the reference message detected for the received message; Sender identification information and reference message information detected by the message information detection means Information retrieval support apparatus characterized by comprising a link information storage means for storing in association with the identification information of the link information and the received message relating the identification information of the detected sender by the detecting means. 2. The information search support device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving unit receives the identification information of the person and the identification information of another person based on the information stored in the link information storage unit. Message identification information detection means for detecting identification information of a message corresponding to link information that associates identification information with each other, and output means for outputting information about a message corresponding to the detected identification information. Information search support device. 3. The information search support device according to claim 1, wherein the receiving means for receiving the identification information of the person and the information associated with the received identification information based on the information stored in the link information storage means. Identification information detecting means for detecting the identification information of the person of interest and detecting the identification information of the message corresponding to the link information relating the identification information; and information and detection of another person corresponding to the detected identification information. Output means for outputting information about a message corresponding to the identified identification information. 4. The information search support device according to claim 3, wherein the identification information detecting means is associated with the identification information of the other person based on the information stored in the link information storage means. Detecting the identification information of the person and detecting the identification information of the message corresponding to the link information relating the identification information, the output unit outputs the information on the person corresponding to the detected identification information and the detected An information search support device for outputting information about a message corresponding to identification information. 5. The information search support device according to claim 1, wherein link information generated in a plurality of places and identification information of a message corresponding to the link information are integrated. An information search support device characterized in that the information search is supported by using the plurality of places as a single place by using the information search apparatus. 6. A storage medium storing a program to be executed by a computer in a manner readable by an input means of the computer, wherein the program converts a message to which identification information of a sender and identification information of a referenced message are added. The program is read by a computer used in a place where the communication is performed, the program performs a first process of detecting the identification information of the sender and the identification information of the referenced message, and the identification information of the received message and the reception of the received message. A second process of storing the identification information of the sender detected with respect to the message in the received message information memory in correspondence with the identification information of the sender detected based on the information stored in the received message information memory; A third process for detecting the identification information of the sender; A fourth step of storing in the link information memory the link information relating the sender identification information detected by the processing and the sender identification information detected by the third processing in association with the identification information of the received message; And a process for causing the computer to execute the processing.