JP2004151899A - Information providing method, information provision processing system and its program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily share knowledge between users in an information provision processing system using annotation. <P>SOLUTION: Document ID and annotation position are registered in an annotation DB 216 (S100). An annotation processor 218 prepares an associated user list based on the information from a plurality of users (S102). At receiving a retrieval instruction, a target character string indicated by annotation is compared with registered annotation information. Then, the users whose interests are close are estimated according as the target character strings are compared, and the points of view of the other users are obtained by calculating the difference of the target character strings. The information of the difference of the target character strings is transferred to a document server 222 (S110), and a document associated with the difference of the target character strings in a document DB 224 is retrieved (S120). An annotation processor 218 returns the list of users whose interests are close, the points of view of the other users, and the information of associated documents to a document viewer 102 based on the retrieval result of the associated information and the associated user list (S130). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an information providing method and an information providing processing system using an information management device such as a database, and a program used for these. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technique for sharing information among a plurality of users.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a means for sharing information between organizations and groups, a client-server type system using a database has conventionally been used. In a client-server type system using a database, information is stored in a database server in accordance with a database schema set in advance, and a query from the client application to the database using a database access language such as SQL (Structured Query Language) is performed. By storing information, information is shared.
[0003]
However, a client-server type system using a database has a drawback that information other than information conforming to a set schema cannot be handled. Further, the number and location of the databases constituting the system are fixed, and it has been difficult to add a new database. For this reason, it has been extremely difficult to cope with situations where the types of information to be handled increase or change.
[0004]
As a method for addressing such problems, information sharing can be achieved by allowing the same information management device to be both an information provider and an information consumer, depending on the situation at the time and the type of information to be handled. A mechanism to realize this is being considered.
[0005]
For example, there has been proposed a system that configures a cluster composed of information management devices having similar information in consideration of information content managed by the information management device. Patent Document 1 proposes a mechanism for realizing information sharing between persons having similar themes, topics, and interests.
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-10-301905
[0007]
In the method of Patent Document 1, sharing of information is realized by synthesizing a global relationship using a local relationship between information management devices. In other words, the meaning indicating the connection between the two information management devices, and furthermore, a pipe management means for managing a set of pipe information having a weight of connection, and a request from a user or a request from another information management device. A pipe search unit for searching for suitable pipe information from pipe information managed by the pipe management unit; and a pipe synthesis unit for generating new pipe information by synthesizing a plurality of pieces of searched pipe information. .
[0008]
Thus, when there is a request from the user (a request from another information management device), the pipe management means searches the pipe search means for pipe information matching the request and selects appropriate pipe information. Communication with various information management devices. Further, the pipe synthesizing means synthesizes a plurality of pieces of pipe information as needed, thereby generating pipe information suitable for the request, and enabling communication with a necessary information management device.
[0009]
The pipes are created and updated by monitoring information exchange in an e-mail system or the like and detecting communication to identify persons having the same interest. For example, detecting keywords from sending and receiving emails and managing the connections between people with common interests as "pipes", and combining multiple pipes did not directly connect, but shared interests Build a pipe with the people. Then, based on this, the databases can be used mutually, thereby realizing information sharing between persons having similar themes, topics, and interests.
[0010]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
On the other hand, in terms of information sharing, it is important to share knowledge (intellectual information), that is, to supplement knowledge not possessed by oneself with knowledge possessed by others.
[0011]
However, the conventional concept of “common information” including the invention of Patent Document 1 mainly focuses on sharing a database as an information source, and information sharing (knowledge sharing) on an individual basis. There is a difficulty in that. That is, the information sharing method disclosed in Patent Document 1 realizes information sharing by mutually providing information between “a plurality of information management apparatuses”. The main focus is on increasing the amount and number of information that can be provided by expanding “Masu)”.
[0012]
Therefore, the information sharing method disclosed in Patent Literature 1 does not solve information sharing on an individual basis, in other words, sharing knowledge possessed by a plurality of individuals.
[0013]
For example, there is a case where the user wants to know information that another person having the same interest as oneself knows but does not have. Can not. If you try to access information that you don't have but that someone else has (or will have), you search for what information you don't have but that others have, You need access to that information, but in practice it is difficult.
[0014]
The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and is intended to be information about people who have similar themes, topics, or interests but do not have one, but have (or will have) others. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information providing method which enables easy access to the information, and an information providing processing system to which the information providing method is applied. Another object of the present invention is to provide a program for realizing the above method and system using a computer.
[0015]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
That is, the information providing method according to the present invention is an information providing method in an information display processing system having a function of adding an annotation that can be managed separately from a document displayed on a predetermined display device to the document. First, for each document, the information of the annotation-added portion to which the annotation is added is managed for a plurality of users.
[0016]
When an annotation is given to an arbitrary part in the document and when a search process of related information relating to the arbitrary part is instructed, the information is managed in advance with the information of the annotation-added part for the arbitrary part. By comparing the information of the annotation-attached portions for a plurality of users, a search process for related information related to other users is executed. It goes without saying that search results are presented to the user.
[0017]
In the above description, the “relevant information related to other users” to be searched is annotated at least at the same position as the annotation position given by the user (instructed user) who instructed the search for the related information. Information related to another user (the degree of relevance to the designated user does not matter).
[0018]
For example, a document directly related (not directly related to the designated user) to information of a portion provided with the annotation by another user who has provided an annotation at substantially the same position as the annotation position given by the designated user. It may be information.
[0019]
Further, an annotation provided by another user may be provided at a position different from the annotation position provided by the designated user.
[0020]
Further, the information may be information on a user who has the same or similar viewpoint or interest as the designated user.
[0021]
Further, the information may be information regarding the viewpoint or interest of another user who has annotated the same position as the annotation position given by the designated user. In this case, the information related to the viewpoint or interest of the other user is a combination of the target character string indicated by the annotation given by the user who instructed the search for the related information and the target character string indicated by the annotation by the other user at the substantially same position. It may be indicated by the difference.
[0022]
“Related information related to other users” to be searched is directly related to the information of the annotated part in the document (for example, reference information embedded in text or image). Does not include document information. It is to be noted that information directly related to the information of the annotation portion given by the designated user can be freely presented to the user in accordance with the related information relating to the other user.
[0023]
An information providing processing system according to the present invention is a system to which the information providing method according to the present invention is applied, wherein an annotation that can be separately managed on a document displayed on a predetermined display device is added. An assigning unit, an annotation-assigned partial information acquiring unit that acquires annotation-assigned partial information related to the annotation assigned by the annotation assigning unit, and, for each document, a plurality of the annotation-assigned information acquired by the annotation-assigned partial information acquiring unit. And a registration unit for registering the user.
[0024]
Further, the information providing processing system according to the present invention, by comparing the annotation imparting information acquired by the annotation imparting partial information acquisition unit and the annotation imparting partial information for a plurality of users registered in advance in the registration unit, A search condition determining unit that determines a search condition of related information that is related to the information in which the annotation is added and that is related to another user, and a search that searches for information that matches the search condition determined by the search condition determining unit And a related information presenting unit that presents the search result searched by the searching unit as related information.
[0025]
The invention described in the dependent claim defines a further advantageous specific example of the information providing processing system according to the present invention. Further, the program according to the present invention is suitable for implementing the information providing method and the information display processing system according to the present invention by software using an electronic computer (computer). The program may be provided by being stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or may be distributed via a wired or wireless communication unit.
[0026]
[Action]
In the above configuration, first, each time a document is annotated, the information of the annotated portion to which the annotation is added is managed for each user, regardless of whether or not there is a search instruction.
[0027]
Then, when the annotation is given and the search processing of the related information related to the given part is instructed, the information of the annotation given part is compared with the information managed in advance, and there is a relation with another user. Determine search conditions for related information. Then, a search process is executed based on the determined search condition, and the search result is presented to the user.
[0028]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
[0029]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic conference system to which a display control method and an information display processing system according to the present invention are applied.
[0030]
As the scene setting of the electronic conference in this example, an electronic document-based meeting such as a development start proposal and an international technical standardization meeting is assumed.
[0031]
As electronic documents, for example, in the case of a proposal to start development, similar documents such as specifications related to the predecessor (previous models for the target model such as the current model), market trouble reports, technical standard documents of the support department, etc. There are many.
[0032]
In a technical standardization meeting, related documents such as a similar technical standard book and a mailing list for the same technology exist around the document.
[0033]
Participants in the electronic conferencing system may be, for example, participants, chairpersons, recorders, etc., which are representatives of organizations that influence decisions or are affected by decisions.
[0034]
In the electronic conference system, for example, one of the representatives puts together a proposal and distributes materials in advance. Then, before the meeting, the participants and the chair can read the material and add handwritten annotations on the display screen. Also, while the meeting is in progress, the organization's representatives can share the context with the stakeholders in the back office using annotations, and can coordinate departmental views in real time while communicating with each other.
[0035]
Here, in the flow of the conference in the electronic conference system, for example, the following can be considered as a scene involving sharing of handwritten annotation.
* Read distributed materials before the meeting and write annotations.
* Annotate while listening to the explanation.
* In a Q & A session, quickly search for questions and respond to questions based on annotations.
* Search past related documents.
* Ask your colleagues during the meeting.
* Discussion sessions.
* Confirmation session.
* Minutes preparation.
* Report the meeting to members of the group.
* Discover professionals through meetings and discover diverse perspectives.
[0036]
<System configuration>
Next, the configuration of the electronic conference system shown in FIG. 1 will be described. The electronic conference system 1 includes a client system 100 used by the participants of the electronic conference and electronic data (not only document data but also all other electronic information necessary for the conference) used in the electronic conference system 1. And a server system 200 for processing the same. Each functional element constituting the client system 100 and the server system 200 is connected by a wired (wireless) or wireless network (communication network) 9.
[0037]
The client system 100 is provided for each participant in the conference. In the illustrated example, two sets are illustrated, but the number is not limited to two. In addition, one set may be shared by a plurality of persons.
[0038]
The client system 100 includes a document viewer 102 (102a and 102b in the figure) for displaying an electronic document, and an annotation device 170 (for annotating an example of additional information) to the electronic document displayed on the document viewer 102. In the figure, 170a and 170b), and a manager section 180 (180a and 180b in the figure) for storing a history of screen operations and controlling the document viewer 102. The document viewer 102 and the annotation device 170 constitute an additional information providing unit 106 (106a and 106b in the figure) and an annotation detecting unit (annotation partial information acquiring unit) 107 (107a and 107b in the figure).
[0039]
The document viewer 102 is freely attachable to a main body (cradle / docking station) not shown. As the document viewer 102, for example, a display such as a CRT or a liquid crystal (LCD) used for a personal computer or the like, or a device imitating paper (for example, a tablet PC) may be used. Note that the document viewer 102 may be configured as a large tablet about the size of a whiteboard.
[0040]
The annotation device 170 preferably has a function of enabling handwriting input. For example, an input device such as a pen-shaped device may be used. In the case of a pen-shaped device, it is assumed that both the document viewer 102 and the annotation device 170 have a mechanism for detecting an instruction input so that, for example, in the case of a detection mechanism of an electromagnetic induction method, both the document viewer 102 and the annotation device 170 can direct an instruction on the display surface. . Further, a touch panel method may be adopted. Further, the annotation device 170 is not limited to a pen-type device, and may use an input / instruction device such as a mouse or a keyboard.
[0041]
The manager unit 180 has a storage unit 182 (182a, 182b in the figure) for storing a document browsing history and an annotation history (log file). The manager unit 180 is provided with a functional unit that implements a display method (highlighting function in this example) specified by the reader (see FIG. 3 described later).
[0042]
The server system 200 is an example of an additional information management unit, and includes an annotation management unit 210 that manages log files and annotations, a document management unit 220 that manages electronic documents, a profile management unit 230 that manages individual profiles, and a document management unit. It has an information search unit 240 that supports meetings by performing analysis and extracting important words.
[0043]
An annotation management unit 210 includes an annotation server 212 that is a server for storing and retrieving the annotations given to the document, an action log DB 214 that is a database (Data Base) for storing the contents of log files of each client terminal, and an addition. An example of the information storage unit includes an annotation DB 216 which is a database for storing annotations and attribute information associated therewith.
[0044]
The document management unit 220 has a document server 222 which is a server for storing and retrieving documents, and a document DB 224 which is a database for storing documents and attribute information associated therewith.
[0045]
By providing the document management unit 220 that manages the document body and the annotation management unit 210 that manages additional information such as annotations given to the electronic document, even when each of the distributed materials is independently edited and modified, the It is possible to avoid inconsistencies in the contents when the contents are combined with the original at the end.
[0046]
For example, even if someone adds a supplementary explanation to a certain part of the original, and if someone makes a correction to delete the same part, those edited parts are not included in the document body registered in the document DB 224. Separately, by registering in the annotation DB 216 in association with the document body, information can be managed without inconsistency in the contents of the meeting material body and contents such as corrections to the meeting material body. Further, by referring to the annotation DB 216, it is easy to write out the contents of opinions and discussions given on the spot later.
[0047]
The profile management unit 230 has a profile server 232 that is a server that stores and searches for personal profiles, and a profile DB 234 that is a database that stores personal profiles.
[0048]
The information search unit 240 is a natural language processing server 242 that is a server that analyzes sentences and extracts important words, and a natural language processing DB 244 that is a database that stores analysis dictionaries, synonym dictionaries, and the like that the natural language processing server 242 refers to. And
[0049]
The natural language processing DB 244 stores predetermined data in a data structure suitable for an information search method. For example, a word vector dictionary (a dictionary is an example of a database) that stores semantic vectors of words on a semantic basis, a co-occurrence database that stores co-occurrence relationships between dependent words, and synonym expansion and related expansion are used. Extended dictionaries (including synonym dictionaries).
[0050]
The information search unit 240 can select and use various search engines by having these various databases (including dictionaries) in the natural language processing DB 244.
[0051]
Each of the management units 210, 220, 230, and 240 of the illustrated server system 200 may be separate units, or may be housed in an arbitrary combination in the same housing. . For example, each server may be configured by a common computer, or may use a common hard disk device as each database. The annotation management unit 210, the document management unit 220, and the information search unit 240 are collectively referred to as a document information management unit. As the management units 210, 220, 230, 240, for example, a workstation may be used.
[0052]
<Appearance of Document Viewer>
FIG. 2 is an external view focusing on the display surface side of the document viewer 102 which is an embodiment of the information display processing device. As shown in the figure, the document viewer 102 includes a liquid crystal display panel 103, which is an example of a display device, and operation buttons 110 including various hardware keys housed in a housing 109. It is formed in a single plate having a thickness.
[0053]
The liquid crystal display panel 103 is configured as a panel with a backlight, and is used as a document display area 104 for displaying a document. On the document display area 104, handwriting input (digital ink) is possible with the annotation device 170. The manager unit 180 incorporates a memo writing utility (hardware and application software) corresponding to the digital ink.
[0054]
A controller compatible with digital ink only needs to recognize and process handwritten input data as “digital ink (handwritten characters)”. It is not necessary to have a character recognition function. Even in this case, the text can be handled as the top format of the text, and the search can be performed with the handwritten character as it is, and the character can be processed (color change or the like). The digital ink data format may be handled as image data (for example, bitmap data).
[0055]
As described above, the document viewer 102 can write and input using the annotation device 170 in the same manner as when underlining or enclosing a document or writing a memo in a desired form when reading a paper document. ing. In addition, since it is formed in a single thick plate, it is easy to place it on the knee or tilt it, for example, at the time of writing, so that it can be set at a position or angle that is easy to read.
[0056]
The information input and written (additional information of the document body) is stored in a storage unit (not shown) in the document viewer 102, sent to the annotation management unit 210 of the server system 200 at a predetermined time, and stored in the annotation DB 216 in correspondence with the document body. It is stored with it. When the document is read out later, the annotations entered in the past are read out together with the document body and displayed in the document display area 104.
[0057]
This makes it possible to exert an effect of visually assisting the memory of the reader regarding the place where the information is written by freely writing the underline, circle, memo, or the like in a favorite shape like paper.
[0058]
For example, in the case of a conference using the electronic conference system 1, the distributed material can be used for reading an annotation before the conference, writing an annotation, or adding an annotation while listening to explanation contents.
[0059]
As the operation button 110, a plurality of hardware keys are prepared. For example, as illustrated, a document read button 114 for reading a document stored in the document DB 224, a save button 116 for saving the annotation drawn in the document display area 104, and an annotation stored in the annotation DB 216. A search button 118 for searching and displaying in the document display area 104 and an update button 120 for updating the display are provided.
[0060]
The operation buttons 110 include a page turning button 122 including a previous page turning button 122a and a next page turning button 122b for turning pages forward and backward, a highlight button 124 for displaying important words, and a document viewer 102. And a user display button 126 for displaying a list of users who have annotated the open document.
[0061]
Note that, instead of the hardware key of the operation button 110, a software key for displaying a key button in the document display area 104 may be used.
[0062]
The document viewer 102 displays an image on a liquid crystal display based on data read from a storage medium provided therein or data obtained from a server system 200 (or a Web server) via a network connection function unit (not shown). It is configured to display on the panel 103.
[0063]
In addition, the document viewer 102 has a function of switching the display in units of pages while flipping the book like a book (turning display function). It is configured so that desired information can be quickly retrieved from a large number of information.
[0064]
That is, at the time of information search in the document viewer 102, by operating two page turning buttons (a page turning button 122) such as a previous page turning button 122a and a next page turning button 122b, desired page information is performed while performing a page turning operation. Can be displayed on the liquid crystal display panel 103. Further, when one of the previous page forward button 122a and the next page forward button 122b is continuously pressed, the page can be turned at a high speed. The operation of searching for information is possible.
[0065]
In the flip display, the image contrast, which is the pixel amplitude for driving the liquid crystal element of the liquid crystal display panel 103, and the display brightness (brightness / background luminance), which is the brightness of the entire image, are normally displayed in accordance with the page turning operation. It is configured such that the brightness of the display image on the display device is different from the brightness of the normal state for a predetermined time, thereby facilitating the feature extraction of the entire image. I have.
[0066]
<Document Viewer / Manager>
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the document viewer 102 and the manager unit 180. The document viewer 102 is a liquid crystal display panel 103 which is an example of a display device that displays images in page units, a controller 130 that controls the entire display processing in the document viewer 102, and generates a new page image under predetermined conditions. A page image generation unit 140. The controller 130 includes a page feed instruction receiving unit 132 that receives a page image switching instruction on the liquid crystal display panel 103 via the operation button 110. The page image generation unit 140 generates a new page image on condition that the page feed instruction reception unit 132 receives a page image switching instruction.
[0067]
In addition, the document viewer 102 switches the image on the liquid crystal display panel 103 and switches the brightness of the display image according to a predetermined order on condition that the page feed instruction receiving unit 132 receives the page image switching instruction. A unit 150 is provided.
[0068]
When the page feed instruction receiving unit 132 receives the page image switching instruction, the page image generating unit 140 generates a new page image in the specified direction (either forward or rearward). To the display brightness control unit 150.
[0069]
The display brightness control unit 150 includes a contrast control unit 150a that controls the display contrast of a page image on the liquid crystal display panel 103, and a function unit that controls brightness by controlling the backlight brightness of the liquid crystal display panel 103. And a brightness control unit 150b.
[0070]
The display brightness control unit 150 adjusts the contrast of the page image on the liquid crystal display panel 103 by the contrast control unit 150a, or adjusts the brightness of the page image by the brightness control unit 150b to display on the liquid crystal display panel 103. Control brightness. The present invention is not limited to both the contrast and the brightness, but may be any as long as at least one of the two is adjusted.
[0071]
When the page feed instruction receiving unit 132 receives a page image switching instruction, the display brightness control unit 150 switches the image on the liquid crystal display panel 103 to a new page image generated by the page image generating unit 140, and The brightness of the upper display image is set to be different from the brightness of the normal state (the state of contrast or brightness set by the user at that point in time) immediately before accepting the display image switching instruction for a predetermined time. After that, the luminance is set substantially equal to the luminance in the normal state. For example, the display brightness is set to be high during the turning-over display, and after the turning-over display is completed, the display brightness is returned to a state substantially equal to the original display luminance (the state of the contrast or brightness immediately before the page turning operation).
[0072]
When the page image generation unit 140 finishes generating the new page image, the display brightness control unit 150 receives the notification of the generation completion signal S1 from the page image generation unit 140 and changes the image on the liquid crystal display panel 103 to the new page. Switch to an image. When receiving the image switching instruction S2 from the display luminance control unit 150, the page image generation unit 140 sets the generated new page image on the liquid crystal display panel 103.
[0073]
Further, the display luminance control unit 150 sets the luminance of the display image to a luminance relatively higher than the normal luminance. As a result, the new page image generated by the page image generation unit 140 is displayed at a higher level than the normal luminance. Then, the display luminance control unit 150 gradually returns the higher display luminance to the normal luminance in accordance with the elapsed time from the input of the generation completion signal S1.
[0074]
As described above, when the page is switched, the display brightness is slightly changed from the normal display for a predetermined period of time, so that the discrimination ability can be improved even when the display is flipped like a book and displayed.
[0075]
On the other hand, in addition to the log file storage unit 182, the manager unit 180 captures a target document to be read by the reader from the document DB 224, and specifies an emphasized word / sentence specifying unit 184 that specifies a character or a sentence to be highlighted. An emphasized word / sentence selection method instructing unit 186 for instructing the emphasized word / sentence specifying unit 184 on a character / sentence selection method to be selected, and an emphasis instruction control unit 188 for controlling validity / invalidity (on / off) of a highlighting function. And
[0076]
First, the manager unit 180 selects an emphasized word / sentence specifying method for realizing the method specified by the reader (in this example, the conference participant) in the emphasized word / sentence selection method instructing unit 186, and selects the emphasized word / sentence specifying unit. Instruct 184. The target document to be read by the reader is input to the emphasized word / sentence specifying unit 184. When the highlighting function is turned on, after the word / sentence specifying unit 184 determines how to display a word (word, sentence, or sentence) to be highlighted, the document viewer 102 Image information is sent to the page image generation unit 140 through the controller 130.
[0077]
As the highlighting method, the display is performed by changing the density (contrast / bright), the display is performed by changing the font (type or size), the display is performed by changing the character color, or the background color of the character is changed. Display, or underline or add a solid color.
[0078]
When the display is performed with the density changed, the function of the display luminance control unit 150 is used as described above. In this case, the density may be switched in multiple stages according to the value of the certainty factor.
[0079]
When displaying by changing the font, when changing the character color, when changing the background color of the character, or when adding an underline or solid color, the emphasized word / sentence specifying unit 184 is used. The document information acquired from the document DB 224 is converted into image data corresponding to the document information and passed to the page image generation unit 140. In these cases, the font may be switched or the color of the character, background, underline, or solid color may be switched in multiple stages according to the value of the certainty factor.
[0080]
Depending on the value of the certainty factor, if you change the density, font, or character color, background color, underline or solid color in multiple stages, the importance of the search result depends on the difference in highlighting after the search result Can be determined.
[0081]
For example, the emphasized word / sentence specifying unit 184 controls so as to highlight a technical term or a proper noun classification with a high degree of certainty given by the natural language processing server 242. Which category is highlighted depends on the reader.
[0082]
By doing so, it is possible to highlight only a phrase that seems to match the interest of the current reader, rather than a general word importance. This can prevent the location information from being erroneously highlighted, for example, when the system is collecting materials related to the case by the company.
[0083]
The emphasis word / sentence specifying unit 184 controls so as to highlight a noun phrase (which may include proper nouns or technical terms) appearing in the description of a part that summarizes the outline of the document such as an abstract or a preamble, or a synonym thereof. May be. By using the words included in the summary as important words, the important words or important sentences can be highlighted with high accuracy and without any trouble. For example, words that express a sentence well can be displayed darkly. The process is faster than performing similarity analysis on all sentences in the text and calculating the similarity of each sentence.
[0084]
In addition, since summaries and preambles are compiled by humans, the reliability of selecting words to be highlighted is higher than in the case of using machine summarization (automatic summarization). In addition, highlighting not only words and phrases that appear in summaries, but also synonyms, expresses the content that the author wants to convey through the document, rather than important words as a comparison with other documents Can be accurately identified and read. As a result, the contents can be quickly understood.
[0085]
Further, the emphasized word / sentence specifying unit 184 may specify a word to be highlighted using a semantic distance from the summary. The calculation of the semantic distance from the summary is performed by, for example, using a vector space method to measure the similarity of sentences (see, for example, JP-A-11-110395 and JP-A-2000-331027), It is preferable to use a method of measuring the similarity by comparing the used case structures, expressing the result of the dependency analysis or the semantic analysis in a graph or a tree structure, and measuring the similarity by comparing them.
[0086]
This makes it possible to clarify points of interest in the text, and to quickly understand the contents. Also, unlike the machine abstract, the text itself can be referred to, so there is no misinterpretation.
[0087]
In addition, the effect is enhanced when a “flow-reading function” is provided. For example, when skimming through a paper document, the reader may get a general impression of the page or document where important content is likely to appear while browsing for words of interest or words that characterize the document. Doing things. Also in the document viewer 102, by providing the “flowing mode”, it is possible to display important words and phrases that seem to express the meaning well. By following the darkly displayed keywords, the contents of the document can be understood in a short time. The reader can also infer that the area around the darkly displayed phrase is an important part. If you want a deeper understanding, you can read on.
[0088]
Further, it is also possible to display a document linked with automatic generation of a document list using the annotation function. For example, a search is performed on a document stored in the server system 200 by using a word with a mark such as an underline or a circle written by a reader as a keyword. Then, documents in which keywords frequently appear are listed as references. The reader can refer to the document title, the sentence (clip) where the keyword frequently appears, and the page number. When displaying the specified reference, the keyword in the clip (indicating the phrase corresponding to the search condition) may be changed, for example, by changing the font type or size, underlining, coloring, or using dark characters. Highlight such as displaying. This makes it possible to quickly understand the contents of the reference document.
[0089]
The details of the processing of the emphasized word / sentence specifying unit 184, the emphasized word / sentence selection method instructing unit 186, and the emphasis instruction control unit 188, in particular, the processing of obtaining the certainty factor, are described in Japanese Patent Application No. See 314876.
[0090]
<Document server / Document database>
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the document server 222 and the document DB 224. The document server 222 receives “registration” and “document reading” according to an external instruction. For example, when the client system 100 detects that the document reading button 114 of the document viewer 102 has been operated, the client system 100 notifies the document server 222 of the document management unit 220 included in the server system 200 of the fact. Thereby, the document server 222 reads the specified document from the document DB 224.
[0091]
The “registration” is to be registered indicating an address indicating the storage location of the document in the document DB 224, such as “http://datacenter.company.co.jp/access.cgi?DocumentID=8gjk3cl3”. It is provided by a path such as a URL (Uniform Resource Locators) to a document or a path to a directory.
[0092]
The document server 222 sequentially assigns a document ID to the document (group) indicated by the given path, and registers the document name and the document text in the document DB 224. At this time, the data structure in the document DB 224 is, for example, as shown in FIG. The document name or the document body may be a path to the document such as a URL.
[0093]
The document server 222 receives an instruction of “read document” from the document viewer 102. When the document server 222 receives the “read document” instruction, it creates a list of document names in the document DB 224 and returns it to the document viewer 102. Further, the document server 222 receives the document name from the document viewer 102 and sends the corresponding document body back to the document viewer 102.
[0094]
<Annotation server / Annotation database>
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the annotation server 212 and the annotation DB 216.
[0095]
The annotation server 212 receives “save” and “search” according to an external instruction. For example, when the client system 100 detects that the save button 116 of the document viewer 102 has been operated, the client system 100 notifies the annotation server 212 of the annotation management unit 210 configuring the server system 200 of the fact. Thereby, the annotation server 212 associates the annotation information instructed to be stored (an example of information representing the characteristics of the additional information) with the document to which the annotation has been added, and stores the annotation information in the annotation DB 216 which is an example of a storage unit. Register (store).
[0096]
For example, the annotation server 212 receives a “save” instruction from the document viewer 102. At this time, the content of the annotation to be saved, the rectangle information, the color and the shape of the annotation, the document ID to which the annotation is added, and the terminal ID of the document viewer 102 that has issued the “save” instruction are given. At this time, similarly, the user name of the conference participant (client) instructing “save”, the group ID to which the participant belongs, the public attribute related to the annotation instructed to save, and the time when the annotation was given are also given. Given.
[0097]
The annotation server 212 uses the given terminal ID, document ID, rectangle information (details will be described later), annotation content, color, shape, user ID (or user name), group ID, public attribute, and time as table data. It is stored in the annotation DB 216. At this time, the data structure in the annotation DB 216 is, for example, as shown in FIG. The annotation ID is newly given when the combination of the document ID and the user ID is new. If not new, the line indicated by the annotation ID is overwritten.
[0098]
The annotation content is data for reproducing the drawn annotation, and is data such as a bitmap and vector data. The color or shape is the color or shape of the annotation. The user ID (or user name) is information indicating a user operating the document viewer 102, and the group ID is an ID of a group to which the user belongs.
[0099]
The public attribute is, for example, any of publicly available (no restriction) (= Pub), publicly available only in a certain group (= Frd), and private (private) annotation (= Prv). Shall be taken. When the information is disclosed only within a certain group (Frd), information on the group to be disclosed (for example, group ID) is also registered in the annotation DB 216.
[0100]
The time is the time when the annotation was given in the document viewer 102, and is composed of a date and a time.
[0101]
When detecting that the search button 118 of the document viewer 102 has been operated, the client system 100 notifies the annotation server 212 of the annotation management unit 210 configuring the server system 200 of the fact. As a result, the annotation server 212 reads the annotation information instructed to be searched from the annotation DB 216.
[0102]
For example, the annotation server 212 receives a “search” instruction from the document viewer 102. At this time, the annotation server 212 receives, from the client system 100 (the document viewer 102), information on the document ID, the rectangle information, and the range to which the annotation is provided. The annotation server 212 searches the annotation DB 216 based on these pieces of information (search conditions), and returns appropriate annotation contents to the document viewer 102. This search processing will be described later.
[0103]
<Processing related to annotation addition>
Next, a process regarding the annotation assignment will be described using a specific example. First, registration, reading, annotation addition, and storage of a document will be described.
[0104]
<Document registration processing>
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the document DB 224 in a specific example described below. Each document in this example is a manual relating to the operation of the copier.
[0105]
As described above, a document is registered by giving a URL to a document to be registered or a path to a directory. The document server 222 registers the document ID, the document name, and the document body of the document indicated by the received path as the registration contents of the document in the document DB 224 as shown in FIG.
[0106]
<Document reading process>
The participant who wants to read the document presses the document reading button 114 of the document viewer 102. Upon receiving this instruction, the document viewer 102 sends a document reading request to the document server 222.
[0107]
The document server 222 that has received the notification creates a list of document names in the document DB 224 and returns the list to the document viewer 102. In this case, “manual1.txt, manual2.txt, manual3.txt, manual4.txt”. The document viewer 102 displays a list of document names in a list box or the like, and prompts the user A (user ID is user1) to make a selection.
[0108]
It is assumed that the user A has selected “manual2.txt”. The document viewer 102 notifies the document server 222 that “manual2.txt” has been selected. The document server 222 searches the document DB 224 for the document ID and the document text assigned to “manual2.txt” and returns them to the document viewer 102. The document viewer 102 displays the received document text in the document display area 104. If the document server 222 is provided with a full-text search function or the like, it is possible to present search results as objects to be read.
[0109]
<Annotation addition processing>
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a state where annotation is added to a document displayed in the document display area 104 of the document viewer 102. The reader (user A) reads the document displayed in the document display area 104 while giving a mark (annotation) such as an underline or a circle according to interest or interest. Here, a pen-type device is used as the annotation device 170. In this case, an annotation can be added so as to write on paper.
[0110]
At this time, as shown in FIG. 7A, it is assumed that the document display area 104 is partitioned into rectangles that are not actually visible but include characters. Spaces with no characters, such as blank names and charts, are also divided into rectangles of an appropriate size. For example, it is good to divide into a rectangle of an appropriate size with reference to the font size of the characters before and after. Information for specifying each rectangle is added to each rectangle. For example, consecutive rectangle numbers are sequentially assigned in the horizontal direction from the upper left.
[0111]
For example, at a meeting for proofreading a manual of a copying machine, user A pays attention to “the center of the document ...” in the description of a page containing the manual, and adds an annotation a1 shown in FIG. I do. Further, it is assumed that the annotation b1 is given by paying attention to the operation for performing the binding margin. After that, it is assumed that the user proceeds to read the second page and the third page, and annotates the points to be noted while actually performing the operation over three pages as shown in FIG. 7B.
[0112]
<Save processing>
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of information that the document viewer 102 sends to the annotation server 212 in this case. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the annotation DB 216 in this case. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the action log DB 214 in this case.
[0113]
The user A (user ID user1) performs personal authentication by inputting a user ID given in advance and inquiring the profile server 232 when using the present system. If a match is found, the system becomes available. Thereafter, the user A can instruct saving of the annotation by pressing the save button 116 of the document viewer 102.
[0114]
Upon receiving the save instruction, the document viewer 102 stores the document ID of the annotated document, the terminal ID, the rectangle number of the annotated rectangle, the annotation content, the line type, the user ID, the public attribute, and the time. Send to the annotation server 212. Information to be sent to the annotation server 212 is as shown in FIG. Here, it is assumed that the terminal ID of the document viewer 102 is “1”.
[0115]
The annotation server 212 receives the information illustrated in FIG. 8 and stores the information in the annotation DB 216. At this time, if there is already a combination of the same document ID and user ID, the received information is overwritten there. Further, the annotation server 212 sends the user ID to the profile server 232, receives the group ID (143 in this example) to which the user belongs from the profile server 232, and registers the group ID in the annotation DB 216.
[0116]
In this example, as shown in FIG. 9, the annotation DB 216 already stores six annotations assigned to the document IDs 2, 3, 4, and 5 by a predetermined terminal (annotation IDs: 1, 2, , 3,4,5,6). Here, since the annotation DB 216 does not register the same combination of the document ID and the terminal ID as the information shown in FIG. 8 transmitted from the document viewer 102, the annotation server 212 newly assigns “7” to the annotation ID. Assigned and registered as shown in the lower part of FIG.
[0117]
Further, upon receiving a save instruction from the user A (user ID is user1), the document viewer 102 also sends the contents of the log file stored in the log file storage unit 182 to the annotation server 212. The annotation server 212 stores the log file received from the document viewer 102 in the action log DB 214 as shown in FIG. The action log DB 214 also records the time when the page of the document being viewed is changed (PAGE_OPEN) and the time when the document is open (DOC_OPEN). Also, the time (ANT_SAVE) at which the annotation was stored is recorded.
[0118]
Thus, the saving of the operation history of the annotation, the document, and the page in the predetermined database is completed.
[0119]
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another configuration example of the annotation DB 216 in this case. In the case of this configuration example, the annotations are grouped into one annotation by a certain group in advance. For example, it is assumed that annotations written within a certain time are combined into one vector data. Here, the “vector data” is data in which a plurality of coordinate points having a certain color and a certain thickness are collected in the order of writing time.
[0120]
<< Information search using annotations >>
Next, by annotating the document displayed in the document display area 104 of the document viewer 102 and using the information indicated by the annotation, the individual information of each user using the system can be shared, that is, the personal information can be shared. A method for realizing information sharing (knowledge sharing) on a basis will be specifically described.
[0121]
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the electronic conference system 1 focusing on annotation processing. The basic framework is no different from the overall configuration diagram shown in FIG. A plurality of users can add annotations to the same document.
[0122]
In the system configuration of the present embodiment, an annotation processing device 218 is provided, which is a dedicated device that manages a mechanism for executing an annotation process for realizing information sharing (knowledge sharing) on an individual basis.
[0123]
The function of the annotation processing device 218 may be handled by the annotation server 212 or the document server 222. In this case, as indicated by a dotted line in the figure, the annotation server 212 and the document server 222 exchange annotation information relating to the annotation processing directly (or via the network 9).
[0124]
While reading the document displayed in the document display area 104 of the document viewer 102, the document viewer (participant in the conference in this example) uses the annotation device 170 to characterize an interesting phrase or document. Write a mark (annotation) such as an underline or circle on the phrase. Alternatively, a memo may be added.
[0125]
When the save button is pressed, the information related to the handwritten input (digital ink) of the document body is transmitted to the server system 200 via the network 9 (see FIG. 8). The document body is managed by the document management unit 220 (see FIG. 6). The additional information such as the annotation corresponding to the document body is managed (stored) in the annotation DB 216 of the annotation management unit 210 in association with the document body (see FIGS. 9 and 11). Then, when a search is instructed by the reader as needed, additional information (for example, annotation) matching the attribute of the additional information specified by the reader is searched (searched) using the annotation management unit 210.
[0126]
Further, it is possible to extract a word or phrase indicated by the annotation, for example, a target character string that is character information written near the annotation. Further, using the target character string as a query, the document server 222 can search the document DB 224 for documents that match the query, and return the list to the document viewer 102. At this time, the document server 222 adds information of the storage destination (URL) of the document body listed as the search list as a link.
[0127]
The user refers to the list (search result) displayed on the document viewer 102 and, if necessary, clicks a document linked to the list. In response to this, the document server 222 reads the instructed document body from the document DB 224 and presents it to the document viewer 102.
[0128]
With such a search mechanism, for example, during the proceedings, it is possible to search for past related documents or to find an expert through a meeting. As a result, it is possible to acquire information that is necessary and that the user did not know before.
[0129]
Here, in the present embodiment, when a search result is obtained, the search result is not limited to the information related to the search condition itself specified by the user, and may be obtained using a search condition specified by another user similar to the search condition specified by the user. A mechanism is also provided for automatically presenting information to the user.
[0130]
In other words, although the search conditions are almost the same viewpoint, focusing on the viewpoint difference (slightly different point) due to the individuality of the individual, the information that can be obtained by others having similar interests is also given to the user who instructed the search. To be presented. Hereinafter, this point will be described in detail.
[0131]
First, the annotation information includes the person (user) who has given the annotation information and the position (annotation position) in the given document. By specifying one or more annotation positions, it is possible to search for all the users who have given annotations in the vicinity and other annotations given by those users.
[0132]
Here, the search target of the annotation may be within the same document or another document. That is, the search is performed in the order of “document part → user who has given an annotation to the part → annotation position (set of) given by the user → target character string (set)”.
[0133]
The information providing processing system 7 manages a target character string of an annotation given by a certain user, and sets a target character string of a certain annotation, a set of target character strings of all the annotations in the document to which the annotation is given, Search the set of target character strings of the added annotation. The annotation processing device 218 functions as a central processing unit that realizes such processing.
[0134]
FIG. 13 is a block diagram of the electronic conference system 1 shown in FIG. 1 focusing on a function that enables information sharing among a plurality of users by using a search process and an information providing process using annotations. Here, FIG. 13A shows an outline of the overall configuration, and FIG. 13B shows details of functional elements specialized for the information providing process.
[0135]
As shown in FIG. 13A, an information sharing processing system 7 having this function includes a search request specifying unit 500 for receiving a search instruction from a reader, and a document requested to be searched and other related information are annotated. The annotation processing unit 218 searches the annotation DB 216 of the management unit 210, the document DB 224 of the document management unit 220, or the annotation processing unit 218 to determine whether or not the registration has been performed. And a display processing unit 101 for displaying the search result sent from the annotation processing device 218. The display processing unit 101 includes a part related to display processing in the document viewer 102 and the manager unit 180.
[0136]
One configuration example of the annotation processing device 218 is shown in FIG. This block diagram specifically shows a function that enables information sharing among a plurality of users by using a search process and an information providing process using annotations.
[0137]
As illustrated, the annotation processing device 218 includes, for each document, a registration unit 542 that registers the annotation addition information acquired by the annotation detection unit 107 for a plurality of users, and an annotation addition information acquired by the annotation detection unit 107. By comparing the annotation-added partial information of a plurality of users registered in advance in the registration unit 542, a search condition of related information related to the information of the part where the annotation is added and related to another user is determined. Search condition determining unit 544, a search unit 546 that searches for information that matches the search condition determined by the search condition determining unit 544, and a related information presenting unit that presents the search result searched by the search unit 546 as related information. 548.
[0138]
The search unit 546 is directly related to the information of the annotated part by another user who has annotated the same position as the text (target character string) of the annotated part of the designated user. (Not directly related to the instructing user).
[0139]
For example, a document directly related (not directly related to the designated user) to information of a portion provided with the annotation by another user who has provided an annotation at substantially the same position as the annotation position given by the designated user. Search for information. In addition, information about a user who has the same or similar viewpoint or interest as the designated user is searched. At this time, information registered in the registration unit 542 is referred to.
[0140]
In addition, information about the viewpoint or interest of another user who has annotated the same position as the annotation position given by the designated user is searched. Also in this case, the information registered in is referred to. At this time, the difference between the target character string indicated by the annotation given by the user who instructed the search for the related information and the target character string indicated by the annotation by another user at substantially the same position is compared with the information regarding the viewpoint or interest of the other user. I do. At this time, the search unit 546 instructs the annotation management unit 210 to search for the annotation of another user.
[0141]
Note that even if the document management unit 220 is instructed to search for document information or annotations that are directly related to the information (for example, reference information embedded in text or images) of the portion of the document to which the annotation has been added. Good.
[0142]
FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing a procedure of an annotation process (particularly, a process of providing information relating to another user) in the information providing processing system 7 shown in FIG. In the following, we consider the act of giving an annotation as expressing one's own interest or viewpoint, and explain the operations and functions for knowing the closeness of interest and the difference in viewpoint through annotations (act and itself and the target character string). I do.
[0143]
Step S100;
While reading the document displayed in the document display area 104 of the document viewer 102, the user uses the annotation device 170 to annotate a word of interest or a word characterizing the document. The document viewer 102 detects the position and attribute of the annotation added to the document, and sends information of the detected position and attribute of the annotation to the annotation management unit 210. The annotation management unit 210 registers the information of the position and attribute of the annotation in the annotation DB 216 via the annotation server 212 as shown in FIG. At this time, the document viewer 102 sends the document ID displayed on the document viewer 102 as an attribute. The annotation server 212 passes the document ID and the information of the annotation position received from the document viewer 102 to the annotation processing device 218.
[0144]
Step S102;
In response to this, the annotation processing device 218 searches for the annotation positions in the same document for all the other users who have annotated the annotation positions based on the registration information in the annotation DB 216, and searches for the target character strings. Get the set of That is, the annotation processing device 218 receives such processing from a plurality of users and constructs a database. For example, the annotation processing device 218 creates a list including the following elements (hereinafter also referred to as a related user list).
a) A list of users who have provided at least one annotation at the same position in the same document
b) A list of the annotation positions (rectangular positions specifying the annotated parts) (for all the above users)
c) List of target character strings (for all the above users)
[0145]
Next, when the annotation processing device 218 receives a search instruction together with the annotation information from a certain user, the annotation processing device 218 sends information on the target character string to the document management unit 220. The document server 222 of the document management unit 220 uses the target character string as a query, searches the document DB 224 for a document that matches the query, and, via the annotation processing device 218, retrieves the search list via the annotation processing device 218. Return to document viewer 102. At this time, the document server 222 adds information of the storage destination (URL) of the document body listed as the search list as a link.
[0146]
When receiving the search instruction, the annotation processing device 218 executes the above-described related user list creation and compares the target character string indicated by the annotation with the registered annotation information. By comparing the target character strings, it is possible to estimate a user having a close interest. In addition, the viewpoint of another user can be obtained by calculating the difference between the target character strings.
[0147]
Here, the comparison of the target character strings is performed by, for example, extracting a keyword (for example, a proper noun) from the target character string, calculating the similarity by calculating the similarity by comparing the keyword vectors, and resembling a certain threshold value. Is determined. As a method of calculating the similarity, for example, a TF (Term Frequency) method, an IDF (Inverted Document Frequency) method, or a TF / IDF method combining the TF method and the IDF method may be used.
[0148]
Next, the annotation processing device 218 passes the information on the difference between the target character strings to the document server 222 (S110). In response, the document server 222 searches for a document related to the difference between the target character strings in the document DB 224 (referred to as a related document search). The related document search may be performed by any method. For example, a known full-text search engine such as “Namazu” may be used.
[0149]
The document server 222 passes the information of the search result to the annotation processing device 218 (S120). The annotation processing device 218 returns at least one of the following information to the document viewer 102 based on the search result of the related information and the related user list (S130).
a) List of interested users
b) Another user's viewpoint (difference of target character string)
c) Information on related documents (search list of related documents)
[0150]
At this time, the annotation processing device 218 (or the document server 222) adds information of the storage destination (URL) of the document body listed as a related document search list as a link.
[0151]
As described above, according to the method of the above-described embodiment, when a user gives an annotation to a character string desired to be searched and issues a search instruction, a search is performed using only the target character string to which the annotation is added as a query. Rather, a search result that takes into account the viewpoint of another user who has annotated a position similar to that of the target character string and information about another user with a similar search viewpoint is presented to the user.
[0152]
As a result, the following effects can be obtained.
(1) By comparing sets of target character strings obtained from the annotations of each user, it is possible to estimate the degree of interest in the document and to present a list of users with similar interests.
(2) The difference between the target character string obtained from the annotation of the other user and that of the user can be obtained, and the viewpoint of the other user can be obtained. The closeness of interest and the difference between the target character strings can be presented to the user as a user name having close interest or another interpretation of the document from the viewpoint of the user.
(3) The difference between the target character strings can be used for searching for another document having similar contents.
(4) Further, it is also possible to search for other users who have given the annotation from the annotation given to the document obtained as a result of the search. As a result, it becomes easy to handle a plurality of documents interactively and comprehensively.
[0153]
In other words, a search target character string based on a theme, topic, or interest from a certain user's viewpoint is used as a trigger to provide not only document information directly related to this target character string but also a viewpoint similar to the user's viewpoint. Document information directly related to the target character string by the user (not directly to the original user) can also be acquired.
[0154]
In other words, the search range can be expanded to information that another user having a viewpoint similar or similar to the viewpoint of a certain user will obtain. Even if there is a difference in personality, the information search range can be extended to a range that is "slightly different" from one's own viewpoint or interest, by taking into account information of others having similar viewpoints or interests. Then, this is performed among a plurality of users, and as a result, the information possessed (or expected to have) can be shared with each other, and the information can be shared among the plurality of users. Sharing can be realized.
[0155]
As a result, information that cannot be obtained from only the user's own viewpoint, but can be obtained from another user's viewpoint similar to the user's own viewpoint can be obtained as own knowledge. In other words, knowledge not possessed by oneself can be complemented by knowledge possessed by others, and knowledge (intelligent information) can be shared.
[0156]
Also, by notifying not only the search result but also information about another user having a viewpoint similar or similar to a certain user's viewpoint, it is possible to know the similarity of interest between the self and another person and the difference in viewpoint.
[0157]
For example, suppose you are just beginning to view a document and annotate a location while you are reading. Also, at this time, it is assumed that another person has already annotated the same place as the annotation position (first assigned point) that the user has given. In this case, it is assumed that the other person has already read the document, and has attached a large number of annotations even after the first assigned point.
[0158]
In such a case, in the configuration of the above-described embodiment, with the annotation given by the user as a trigger, information on another user who has added the annotation at the same position as the annotation position (first addition point) given by the user is used as the user's own. Will be notified. At this time, the information of the annotation attached to the document by another person can be known. For example, by displaying an annotation given by another person, by reading only the part that is read ahead and marked by another person, quick reading can be performed, and the contents of the document can be quickly understood.
[0159]
As described above, in the configuration of the above-described embodiment, since information about other users is automatically notified simply by annotating a part desired to be searched, such information can be easily accessed.
[0160]
Note that the series of processes for realizing the sharing of knowledge using the above-described annotation can be executed by hardware, but can also be executed by software. When a series of processing is executed by software, the programs that make up the software are executed by a computer (such as an embedded microcomputer) built into dedicated hardware, or by installing various programs to perform various functions. It is installed from a recording medium into a general-purpose personal computer that can be executed.
[0161]
This recording medium is distributed separately from a computer in order to provide the program to a user. The recording medium is a magnetic disk (including a flexible disk) on which the program is recorded, or an optical disk (CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory)). , A DVD (including a Digital Versatile Disc), a magneto-optical disk (including an MD (Mini Disc)), or a package medium including a semiconductor memory, etc. It may be provided, or may be constituted by a ROM or a hard disk in which the program is recorded. Alternatively, a program constituting software may be provided via a communication network.
[0162]
FIG. 15 is a diagram schematically showing a system configuration when the above-described information display processing system 7 is configured by a computer. The basic configuration of such a computer system includes four layers: a hardware layer 910, an OS (Operating Systems) layer 920, a document information management layer 930, and a user interface layer 940. Each layer is kept independent, making it easy to expand the function of each layer or exchange it for another layer.
[0163]
The hardware layer 910 corresponds to the system configuration shown in FIG. 1, and includes, for example, a tablet 911 corresponding to the document viewer 102, a pen input device 912 corresponding to the annotation device 170, a button 913 corresponding to the operation button 110, And a communication network 914 corresponding to the network 9. Note that another mechanism such as a voice input / output interface 915 may be provided.
[0164]
A document information management layer 930 is a document layer 932 corresponding to the document management unit 220 and responsible for managing the document body, and a workspace corresponding to the annotation management unit 210 and responsible for managing additional information such as annotations added to the document body. 934 and an information search layer 936 corresponding to the information search unit 240 and performing information search using annotations and the like.
[0165]
The user interface layer 940 corresponds to the document viewer 102 and the annotation device 170 and manages input from a user. The user interface management layer 942, a screen layer 944 related to information display in the document display area 104, and a document corresponding to the manager unit 180. It comprises a screen manager 946 for managing the display operation of the display area 104.
[0166]
The function part of “Note by handwriting” of the user input management layer 942 is a function part of accepting handwriting input by the annotation device 170, and the result of the reception is the “database of annotation” in the workspace 934 of the document information management layer 930 ( (Corresponding to the annotation DB 216). The workspace 944a of the screen layer 944 corresponds to a work screen such as a designation screen for inputting necessary information. In the screen manager 946, in addition to the function parts for switching the display mode (946a to 946c), the highlighting corresponding to the highlighting / sentence selection method instructing part 186 which is a function part in the manager part 180 shown in FIG. It has a management layer 946d.
[0167]
In such a system configuration, for example, a storage medium storing a program code of software for realizing the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to the system, and a computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system is stored in the storage medium. The effect described in the above embodiment is achieved by reading and executing the program code. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium implements the functions of the above-described embodiment. When the computer executes the readout program code, not only the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized, but also the operating system OS or the like running on the computer based on the instructions of the program code. Some or all of the processing may be performed, and the functions of the above-described embodiments may be realized by the processing.
[0168]
Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in a memory provided in a function expansion card inserted into the computer or a function expansion unit connected to the computer, the function expansion card is written based on the instruction of the program code. Or a CPU provided in the function expansion unit may perform part or all of the actual processing, and the processing may realize the functions of the above-described embodiments.
[0169]
Note that the program is provided as a file in which the program code for realizing the processing described in the above embodiment is described. In this case, the program is not necessarily provided as a collective program file, but may be provided according to the hardware configuration of the system. , May be provided as individual program modules.
[0170]
For example, in the system configuration shown in FIG. 1, since the client system 100 and the server system 200 are connected via the network 9, a display-related processing program (for example, a highlighting function for turning a page or reflecting a search result). Is provided as a client system module to the device on the client system 100 side. On the other hand, a processing program related to annotation management and search, or document management and word / phrase search is provided as a server system module to an apparatus on the server system 200 side. Further, the server system module is further provided as a collective file or a sub-module file according to the configuration of each management unit included in the server system 200.
[0171]
Although the client system 100 and the server system 200 are connected via the network 9, they may be arranged in a close place. In this case, the manager section 180 of the client system 100 may be integrated with the server system 200 (whole or part thereof).
[0172]
Further, in the above description, the document viewer 102 has been described as being separate from the main body (cradle / docking station) accommodating the manager unit 180. However, the function part in the manager unit 180 described in the above embodiment is described as a document. It may be integrated with the viewer 102.
[0173]
As described above, the present invention has been described using the embodiment. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the embodiment. Various changes or improvements can be made to the above-described embodiment without departing from the spirit of the invention, and embodiments with such changes or improvements are also included in the technical scope of the present invention.
[0174]
Further, the above embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims (claims), and all combinations of the features described in the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the means for solving the invention. Absent. The embodiments described above include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent features. Even if some components are deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment, as long as the effect is obtained, a configuration from which some components are deleted can be extracted as an invention.
[0175]
** Other functions of the electronic conference system 1 **
Next, other characteristic functions which are not within the scope of the present invention but can be realized by the configuration of the electronic conference system 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.
[0176]
<< 1. Notification of annotation update >>
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-62676, the annotation is managed by the person or the date and time when the annotation is given, and the annotation given by the person is reproduced by designating a specific person, or the annotation is added at a specific date and time. A method capable of reproducing an annotation is disclosed.
[0177]
However, in the method described in the publication, for example, when a plurality of people write and share annotations in the same document at the same time in a scene such as a meeting, the user must always read and reproduce the annotations.
[0178]
On the other hand, in the electronic conference system 1 shown in FIG. 1, when an annotation is given, a mechanism for notifying a user who is referring to the document of the annotation can be taken. Hereinafter, this point will be described.
[0179]
The overall configuration refers to FIG. 1, and an example of the content of the annotation data refers to that illustrated in FIG. 11.
[0180]
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a storage process related to a notification of an annotation update. The user gives an annotation on the document viewer 102 and selects saving. The document viewer 102 sends the annotation including the user ID, the document ID, and the content of the annotation to the annotation management unit 210 that manages the storage.
[0181]
The annotation server (storing unit) 212 of the annotation management unit 210 stores the received user ID, document ID, and annotation content in the annotation DB 216.
[0182]
The annotation server 212 sends the changed document ID, the user ID (user name), and the added annotation ID to the notification means of all the document viewers 102 where the session currently exists.
[0183]
The notifying unit compares the sent document ID with the document ID displayed on the document viewer 102, and if the same, notifies the user that the annotation has been updated with the sent user name.
[0184]
FIG. 17 is a diagram for explaining the update of the annotation related to the notification of the update of the annotation. When the user is notified of the annotation by the notification unit, the user can update the annotation by pressing an “update” button. The update unit passes the updated annotation ID to the update search unit. The update search means (the annotation server 212) searches the annotation DB 216 using the annotation ID as a key, and passes the annotation contents to the display means (the document viewer 102). The display unit displays the contents of the annotation on the document viewer 102.
[0185]
<<< 2. Annotation Restrictions >>
Annotations are personal and may not be public. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-120191 proposes a technique in which an annotation has a public attribute, a search is performed using the public attribute as a key, and a document is searched.
[0186]
However, this method is a method of searching for a document including an annotation having a certain public attribute, and does not reproduce the annotation for a document already displayed.
[0187]
On the other hand, in the electronic conference system 1 shown in FIG. 1, a mechanism can be taken in which the annotation is given a public attribute to restrict the disclosure of the annotation. Hereinafter, this point will be described. Note that the entire configuration may refer to FIG.
[0188]
FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content of the profile DB 234. The profile server 232 and the profile DB 234 manage and store groups to which each user belongs. The contents of the profile DB 234 are as shown in FIG.
[0189]
First, the user performs a log-in operation on the document viewer 102 to acquire the group to which the user belongs from the profile server 232.
[0190]
FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating storage of annotations related to restriction on the disclosure of the annotations. The user gives an annotation to the document viewer 102 and presses a save button. The user notifies the annotation storage unit whether to store the annotation with any of the public attributes “individual”, “group: group name”, and “no restriction” of the annotation to be stored. The annotation storage unit sends the user ID, the document ID, the content of the annotation, and the public attribute to the storage unit (the annotation server 212). The storage unit (annotation server 212) stores it in the annotation DB 216. As a result, the annotation DB 216 has contents as shown in FIG.
[0191]
FIG. 20 is a diagram for describing search and reproduction related to restriction on the disclosure of annotations. First, the user performs a log-in operation on the document viewer 102 to acquire the group to which the user belongs from the profile server 232. The search request unit sends the document ID of the document displayed on the document viewer 102, the user ID, and the group name to which the user belongs to the search unit.
[0192]
The search unit searches for an annotation whose public attribute is appropriate with the matching document ID. Here, the appropriate public attribute is “an unlimited number” or an annotation having the same group name as the user. Of course, even if the public attribute is "individual", if the same user, the annotation is searched for.
[0193]
As the public attribute, another user ID (user name) or a group can be specified. When the user ID is specified, the annotation in which the user specifies the attribute without restriction is reproduced. When a group name is specified, the annotation with the group attribute is reproduced.
[0194]
<< 3. Access restriction using sheet GUI (hardware is also possible) >>
2. In the restriction on the disclosure of the annotation, the public attribute was specified and saved when saving / searching the annotation. In order to easily specify attributes, a sheet-like GUI may be introduced.
[0195]
FIG. 21 is a diagram for explaining an access restriction process using the sheet GUI. As shown in FIG. 21, a mechanism for overlaying a plurality of (semi-) transparent sheets on the document viewer 102 is expressed as a GUI.
[0196]
One public attribute is assigned to one sheet, and the public attribute of the sheet is automatically assigned by covering the sheet and giving an annotation. Also, by covering the sheet, it is possible to reproduce another person's annotation of the attribute.
[0197]
For example, a personal attribute is given to the document viewer 102 itself, a group attribute on the first sheet is given, and an unlimited attribute is given to the second (top) sheet. By setting the attributes in this way, it is possible to provide an annotation whose disclosure restriction gradually relaxes each time a sheet is covered.
[0198]
To add personal annotations, attach the first sheet directly to the document viewer 102. To share with the group, attach the first sheet of annotation. Annotations that can be viewed by anyone are assigned to the second sheet. To cover.
[0199]
When the sheet is made translucent, the viewer is displayed in darker colors by increasing the number of sheets to be superimposed, so that it is obvious at a glance which attribute of the view is to be written. In this case, since the sheet is translucent, the annotations given by the user can always be seen.
[0200]
<< 4. Meeting retrospective support using annotation information >>
The electronic conference system 1 can propose a mechanism for supporting a review of a conference and creating a summary of conference materials by using an attribute of the annotation in a device capable of displaying an electronic document and providing an annotation thereon. .
[0201]
Consider a case where an intellectual activity is performed using a document display device to which annotations can be given in a meeting using various documents or a huge amount of documents, or in an activity using documents for a long period of time.
[0202]
You start with one document, and then need to know more about one part of that document, and then display another. There is a place in the other document that needs information of another document, and another document is opened. Consider a scene in which important points are annotated one after another.
[0203]
If you want to look back on the past discussions, such as during or after a meeting, if you can see the annotations attached to important points in chronological order, at least if you are a person who participated in the meeting, You can remember the flow.
[0204]
The entire configuration may refer to FIG. Note that FIG. 9 is referred to as an example of the content of the annotation DB 216, and FIG. 10 is referred to as an example of the content of the action log DB 214.
[0205]
FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating the function of “review support”. By performing some action on the attached annotation, the user can see before and after the attached annotation. For example, by pressing a page turning button 122 (see FIG. 2 showing the appearance of the document viewer) while a certain arbitrary annotation is selected with a pen, the user looks back on the document centering on the annotated part before and after. Can be.
[0206]
As a method of displaying the relevant annotation, the relevant annotation is brought to the center of the document viewer 102 as shown in FIG. The corresponding annotation is displayed using a color other than the color used for the annotation.
[0207]
FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a search for an annotation related to the function of “review support”. This figure shows a search request input screen displayed when a search button of the document viewer 102 is pressed.
[0208]
The viewer user can search for annotations of himself or others that he or she can view. Items that are not specified are all possible items.
[0209]
<< 5. Extraction of annotation location >>
FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating the extraction processing of the annotation part. The electronic conferencing system 1 already has a function of cutting out an annotation part added to a document and arranging the part in order of position, or displaying only a specific annotation color (in order of position). It is possible to add a function of rearranging or dividing and displaying for each user.
[0210]
At present, only one document can be used, but this can be performed for a plurality of documents.
[0211]
If any of the partial annotations overlaps among the users, it indicates that the words and phrases in the annotated range are important in activities using the document.
[0212]
As a review of the annotated portion, there are, for example, a case in which the review is performed only in the range of the individual, a review in which all the participants in the activity are included, and a review in which the overlap is obtained by merging all the members.
[0213]
If the annotation range indicates a phrase, dependency analysis is performed, the range is limited to the main word, and then the duplication is calculated.
[0214]
Now, it is assumed that each user uses his / her terminal and annotates the document as shown in FIG. 24 in performing an activity using the document.
[0215]
Here, when the user instructs the annotation view, the apparatus cuts out and displays the annotated portion by the following method.
1) According to the rectangle information, the first rectangle number of the cut annotation portion is arranged and displayed in ascending (larger) order.
2) According to time information, cut out annotation parts are arranged and displayed in order of time information (early (latest))
[0216]
In addition, annotations are selected and displayed by the following method.
1) Only display specific terminal ID
2) Display only specific document ID (s)
3) Display only the specific time section
4) Display only specific annotation colors
5) Display only specific annotation shapes
[0217]
<< 6. Use of summary (including other summary descriptions) >>
When many annotations are added in time, it indicates that the discussion in the document unit (document, page) was active.
[0218]
In addition to the importance of the annotated part, it also indicates that the document unit with the most frequent temporal annotation was the peak of activities using the document. In other words, the part to which the annotation is attached increases the importance.
[0219]
Based on frequency information obtained from “the number of annotations / time in one document”, weighting such as biasing the importance of words (obtained from TF / IDF, annotated place, etc.) can be performed. .
[0220]
Basically, among the fixed number of words, priority is given to the overlapping part of the annotation, and at that time, the candidate of the sentence to be used for the summary is selected in consideration of the frequency of the annotation. When the sentence is determined, the sentence is omitted by dependency analysis, and the relationship between the sentences is corrected to complete the summary.
[0221]
Or, just output an important sentence, and then a human creates a summary based on it.
[0222]
The result of merging the annotation DB with respect to the time and the action DB relating to the document / page may be shown, for example, in FIG. 25 described later.
[0223]
<<< 7. Visualization of activity activity >>
FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the activity activity is visualized. The page turning time and the annotation providing time of the document can be collected from the annotation DB 216 and the action log DB 214. The vertical line indicates the presence of the annotation, and the number in the rectangle indicates the document ID. Alternatively, a method of displaying the activity for each page can be used.
[0224]
<< 8. Annotation search and display method and apparatus; the search condition is based on the viewpoint from which the annotation is added >>
When a person reads a document, it is natural to use a pointing device such as a pen to read while giving an annotation. The position where the annotation is given seems to be a position of some interest to the reader.
[0225]
Annotations can be shared by digitizing documents and using networks. By reproducing the annotation previously given by another person or oneself, the position of interest given by another person or oneself can be known.
[0226]
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-62676, it is possible to manage for each person to which an annotation has been given, and to reproduce the annotation given by that person by designating a specific person. If you want to know the interest of a certain person, you can solve it by this method.
[0227]
However, it may be more effective to reproduce the annotation given from a specific viewpoint than to reproduce the annotation of a specific person.
[0228]
For example, if you read a document from a certain viewpoint, and another person has already read the document from the same viewpoint and has given annotations, you can reproduce the annotations of the other person to obtain the same viewpoint. Can be obtained. Therefore, since the annotation is already given to the place of interest, interesting information can be quickly obtained by looking through the annotation.
[0229]
In the electronic conference system 1 of FIG. 1, it is possible to propose a mechanism for searching for and reproducing such annotations that are considered to have the same viewpoint.
[0230]
Specifically, in a device that can share the annotations (underlining, marking, writing of characters, etc.) given to a document displayed electronically, the state of the annotation given to a part of a certain document is queried. It is possible to propose a mechanism for reproducing all the annotations of a document already given at the same position as a search result. This will be specifically described below.
[0231]
The basic hardware configuration is the same as the above-described embodiment of the present invention. The operations of reading, annotating, and saving a document are the same as those of the above-described embodiment of the present invention. However, the following description will be given using the configuration example of FIG. 26 instead of the configuration example of the annotation DB shown in FIG.
[0232]
Next, an annotation search will be described. Another user B reads the document into the document viewer 102 of his terminal. The reading procedure is as described above. Here, it is also assumed that the document of document ID 2 has been read as a document for moving the image at the time of copying.
[0233]
It is assumed that attention is paid to an operation of moving a document image to the center of a sheet and adding a margin. At this time, annotations 40 and 41 are given to a word or a sentence to be focused on the first page as shown in FIG.
[0234]
By pressing the search button 118, the user B can search and reproduce the annotations that are considered to have been given from the same viewpoint based on these annotations.
[0235]
FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating an example of information of a search request. When the search button 118 is pressed, as shown in FIG. 28, the document viewer 102 sends the document ID, the terminal ID, and the rectangle number of the rectangle to which the annotation of the displayed page is added as a search request to the annotation server 212. Here, the terminal ID of the document viewer 102 is assumed to be 4.
[0236]
The annotation server 212 receives the information shown in FIG. The annotation server 212 searches the annotation DB 216 to determine whether an annotation corresponding to the document ID 2 exists. If not, the document viewer 102 is returned to the document viewer 102 that there is no annotation for the document ID2.
[0237]
Here, it is assumed that the annotation DB 216 having the data structure shown in FIG. 26 has been searched. Three annotations (annotation IDs 2, 4, and 5) are searched for the document ID2.
[0238]
The search request in FIG. 28 and the rectangle information (rectangle numbers) of the annotation IDs 2, 4, and 5 are sequentially compared, respectively. The comparison method is as follows.
[0239]
1) The smallest rectangle number (MinRectNum) is extracted from the rectangle information of the search request. In the example of FIG. 28, MinRectNum = 79.
[0240]
2) Extract the largest rectangle number (MaxRectNum) from the rectangle information of the search request. In the example of FIG. 28, MaxRectNum = 142.
[0241]
3) The following is repeated for the rectangle information (rectangle number) of each annotation ID to be compared.
[0242]
3-1)
It is calculated whether or not there is a rectangle number TargetNum such that MinRectNum ≦ TargetNum ≦ MaxRectNum. If it exists, the rectangular information in that range is searched. If it does not exist, the next annotation ID is checked. For example, when examining the rectangle information of the annotation ID2, it is 159-183, 231-256, and there is no TargetNum that satisfies MinRectNum ≦ TargetNum ≦ MaxRectNum. Since the rectangle information of the annotation ID 4 includes 134-142 of 134-147, it is a search target. Since the rectangle information of the annotation ID 5 includes 79-100 and 133-142 of 76-100 and 133-147, it is a search target.
[0243]
3-2)
a: Calculate what percentage of the search request rectangle is included in the search target rectangle information within the range of MinRectNum and MaxRectNum (annotation recall rate).
[0244]
b: Calculate what percentage of the rectangular information to be searched is included in the rectangular information of the search request within the range of MinRectNum and MaxRectNum (annotation matching rate).
[0245]
c: Take the average value of the annotation recall rate and the precision rate.
[0246]
In the case of the annotation ID 4, the ratio of the rectangular information of the search request included in the rectangular information to be searched is: 9/26 = 0.35 (79-94, 133-142 are included in nine of 134-142). Also, the ratio of the rectangular information of the search target of the annotation ID 4 included in the rectangular information of the search request is 9/9 = 1 (79-94 and 133-142 are included in 134-142). The average value is (0.35 + 1) /2=0.675.
[0247]
In the case of the annotation ID 5, the ratio of the rectangular information of the search request included in the rectangular information to be searched is 26/26 = 1 (79-94, 133-142 are 79-100, and 18 are included in 133-142). . Also, the ratio of the rectangular information of the search target of the annotation ID 4 included in the rectangular information of the search request is 26/42 = 0.62 (79-94, 133-142 are included in 26 of 79-100, 133-142. ). The average value is (1 + 0.62) /2=0.81.
[0248]
As described above, when the comparison has been completed for all the search target annotations, the annotation server 212 returns the annotation content (image information) of the annotation ID having the highest score to the document viewer 102. Here, since the score of the annotation ID5 is the highest at 0.81, the image information 1, 2, 3 of the annotation server 212 is returned to 01.
[0249]
The document viewer 102 reproduces the received image information on the document display area 104.
[0250]
The above is the annotation search procedure.
[0251]
The user B can obtain the annotations on the second and third pages based on the annotation given on the first page. Since the annotation given to the first page by the user B is similar in position to the annotation given to the first page by the user A, it can be considered that the annotation is given from a close viewpoint.
[0252]
Therefore, the user B may possibly also give the annotations given by the user A to the second and third pages. By presenting it in advance, user B will be able to promote the understanding of the document.
[0253]
In this example, since the user B wants to move the document to the center of the sheet and copy it with a binding margin in the manual of the copy operation, the user B annotates the first page with a position corresponding to the operation. If the user A has already annotated the same position, and also annotates the notes and supplements on the second and third pages, the user A refers to the annotation, This has the effect of allowing the user to quickly check what should be done.
[0254]
In this example, the annotation of an unspecified other person can be saved and searched, but in the case of a manual, the user of the manual should note in advance that any user who is interested in this part should be interested in this part as well Annotation is given in advance to the part that the user wants to try, and by providing it together with the manual, it is possible to promote the understanding of the manual.
[0255]
The following can be considered as modified examples.
[0256]
A. In the above example, rectangle information is added to the annotation search, and the similarity of the annotations is determined at the rate of sharing the same rectangle. However, the similarity determination method does not use this method.
[0257]
B. In the above example, the ranking of the search result of the annotation is simply based on the number including the same rectangle. However, in the case of the annotation given to a longer range, further weighting may be performed.
[0258]
C. A color attribute may be given to the annotation so that color matching may be considered at the time of search.
[0259]
D. Weighting with priority on recall and precision. The user can specify only the recall rate or the precision.
[0260]
E. FIG. By making the login function to the electronic viewer wait, the user ID can be used instead of the terminal ID. In this case, matching of user IDs can be considered (filtering by user ID).
[0261]
F. How to specify the range of annotation assignment to be a query
F-1. In the above example, regarding the range of the annotation of the search request, the smallest rectangle number and the largest rectangle number to which the annotation is added are set as the range.
[0262]
F-2. The entire page displayed when the search button is pressed is assumed.
[0263]
F-3. Explicitly specified by the user. Specify the range using a pen. At this time, the annotation used to specify the range has a different mechanism from the normal annotation. For example, it has a range designation attribute as an annotation attribute, and changes the color of ink on the GUI from other pens. The smallest rectangle number and the largest rectangle number written with the pen are set as a range.
[0264]
F-4. The range of one latest annotation or the combination of F-1 and F-2.
[0265]
<< 9. Annotation search and display method and apparatus; Annotated person attribute as search condition >>
When a person reads a document, it is natural to use a pointing device such as a pen to read while giving an annotation. The position where the annotation is given seems to be a position of some interest to the reader.
[0266]
Annotations can be shared by digitizing documents and using networks. By reproducing the annotation previously given by another person or oneself, the position of interest given by another person or oneself can be known.
[0267]
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-62676, it is possible to manage for each person to which an annotation has been given, and to reproduce the annotation given by that person by designating a specific person. If you want to know the interest of a certain person, you can solve it by this method.
[0268]
Annotation of a specific person is meaningful if you know which person has what characteristics, but if an unspecified number of people share documents and annotations, annotation of unknown people is not very meaningful There seems to be no.
[0269]
In some cases, it is more effective to reproduce the annotation given by a person with a specific attribute than to reproduce the annotation of a specific person.
[0270]
For example, you might want to quickly find out what an engineer is looking at or what a sales person is looking for in a press release article.
[0271]
Quickly know the points of interest of people with a certain attribute by highlighting on the article the position where the engineer annotated, the position where the business annotated, the position where the project annotated etc. Can be.
[0272]
In the electronic conference system 1 of FIG. 1, it is possible to propose a mechanism for retrieving and reproducing an annotation given by a person having a specific attribute.
[0273]
Specifically, in a device that can share annotations (underlining, marking, writing of characters, etc.) given to a document displayed electronically, the state of the annotation given to a part of a certain document is queried. It is possible to propose a mechanism for reproducing all the annotations of a document already given at the same position as a search result. This will be specifically described below.
[0274]
The basic hardware configuration is the same as the above-described embodiment of the present invention. The operations of reading, annotating, and saving a document are the same as those of the above-described embodiment of the present invention.
[0275]
FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the profile server 232 and the profile DB 234. FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating an example of the data structure of the profile DB.
[0276]
The document server 222 receives “registration” and “document reading” according to an external instruction. The profile server 232 accepts “registration” or “correction” according to an external instruction.
[0277]
“Registration” gives user information described in a predetermined format. The user information includes a user name and various attribute information. The attribute information includes age, occupation, gender, title, current address, nationality, and the like. In "correction", a correction item is provided to correct the user information. The profile DB 234 is as shown in FIG. The user ID is newly assigned when the registered user is new. “Search” searches for and returns a user ID having a specific attribute.
[0278]
Next, registration of a user profile will be described using a specific example.
[0279]
<Registration of user profile>
FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the profile DB 234 in this case. The profile provides a text file described in a predetermined format to the profile server 232. The profile server 232 stores the given profile in the profile DB 234. At this time, a user ID is assigned. Here, it is assumed that the information is registered as shown in FIG.
[0280]
The profile need not be provided in a text file, and can be registered from a GUI using CGI or the like.
[0281]
Next, registration, reading, annotation and storage of a document will be described.
[0282]
<Registration of documents>
FIG. 32 is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of the document DB 224 in this case. The registration is given by a URL to a document to be registered or a path to a directory. The document server 222 registers the document ID, the document name, and the document text of the document indicated by the received path in the document DB 224. Each document is a press release of a new product announced by various companies.
[0283]
<Read>
When using the document viewer 102 in advance, the user logs in to the document viewer 102. Here, the user logs in with the user name user A. Upon receiving the user name and the password, the document viewer 102 sends the user name and the password to the profile server 232 and performs authentication. If the authentication is successful, the document viewer 102 becomes available.
[0284]
A document reading button 114 of the document viewer 102 is pressed. The document viewer 102 sends a document reading request to the document server 222.
The document server 222 creates a list of document names in the document DB 224 and returns the list to the document viewer 102. Here, (press1.txt, press2.txt, press3.txt, press4.txt). The document viewer 102 displays a list of document names in a list box or the like and prompts the user A to make a selection.
[0285]
User A press2. It is assumed that txt has been selected. The document viewer 102 executes the press2. txt is notified to the document server 222. The document server 222 presses the press2. The document ID and the document text given to txt are retrieved from the document DB 224 and returned to the document viewer 102. The document viewer 102 displays the received document text in the document display area 104.
[0286]
If the document server 222 is provided with a full-text search function or the like, it is possible to present search results as objects to be read.
[0287]
<Annotation>
FIG. 33 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a state in which an annotation is added to a document in this case. The user A reads the document displayed in the document display area 104 while giving the annotation. Here, a pen-type device is used as the annotation device 170. In this case, an annotation can be added so as to write on paper.
[0288]
At this time, it is assumed that the document display area 104 is divided into rectangles that are invisible but include characters as shown in FIG. A blank name portion without characters or a portion such as a chart is also divided into rectangles of an appropriate size with reference to the font size before and after. Each rectangle is assigned a continuous rectangle number sequentially from the upper left in the horizontal direction.
[0289]
<Save>
FIG. 34 is a diagram illustrating an example of information transmitted to the annotation server 212 in this case. FIG. 35 is a diagram showing a registration example of the annotation DB 216 in this case.
[0290]
The user A can save the annotation by pressing the save button 116. When the save button 116 is pressed, the document viewer 102 sends the document ID and user ID of the annotated document, the rectangular number of the annotated rectangle, and the image information of the annotation to the annotation server 212.
[0291]
The information sent to the annotation server 212 is as shown in FIG. Here, the terminal ID of the document viewer 102 is 1. The annotation server 212 receives the above information and stores the information in the annotation server 212. At this time, if there is already a combination of the same document ID and terminal ID, the combination is overwritten.
[0292]
It is assumed that this is not the case, and 5 is newly assigned to the annotation ID and registered as shown in FIG. It is assumed that the annotation DB has already stored annotations given by other users to the document IDs 2, 3, and 4 (annotation IDs 1, 2, 3, and 4). This completes the storage of the annotation. Next, an annotation search will be described.
[0293]
FIG. 36 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen displayed when the user logs in to the document viewer 102. FIG. 37 is a diagram illustrating an example of the reproduced annotation from the viewpoint of the engineer.
[0294]
User X logs in to document viewer 102. The user X sends the press2. Read txt and press the search button 118. Then, a list box in which the category names of the person attributes and the attribute candidates are displayed as shown in FIG. 36 is displayed.
[0295]
The user X wants to refer to the annotation given from the viewpoint of the engineer, and selects the engineer of the genus name. The personal attribute is sent to the annotation server 212, and the annotation server 212 inquires the profile server 232 of a user ID having the personal attribute.
[0296]
The profile server 232 searches for the user ID 1 as the user ID having the engineer attribute and returns it to the annotation server 212.
[0297]
The annotation server 212 searches the annotation DB for the annotation having the user ID 1 and the document ID 2. Here, the annotation ID5 is searched. The content of the annotation is returned to the document viewer 102.
[0298]
The document viewer 102 displays the received annotation image on the document viewer 102, for example, as shown in FIG.
[0299]
As described above, the user X can reproduce the annotation given from the viewpoint of the engineer, and can quickly read what points the user having a specific attribute is interested in.
[0300]
Next, a case where a plurality of persons having the same attribute have annotated the same document will be described.
[0301]
In this case, the annotation server 212 returns to the document viewer 102 the annotation given by a plurality of persons as a search result. At this time, the document viewer 102 can take the following method.
1. Display multiple annotations as they are.
2. Receiving rectangle information as a search result, highlights characters included in a plurality of rectangles.
[0302]
In the second method, for example, as shown in FIG. 38, according to the number of a plurality of rectangles present as a search result, characters included in the rectangles are displayed more densely. In this example, assuming that the annotation given from the perspective of the planner is reproduced, "hot tea" is newly added from December 9, "requested retail price", "140 yen 115 yen", An annotation is given to “Take a popular actress, TTT”, and it can be seen that the dark portion in this is particularly noticed by a plurality of people.
[0303]
Other examples of highlighting include changing the thickness to underline, displaying characters in a different size, and the like.
[0304]
The following can be considered as modified examples.
A. Allows you to specify attributes for multiple categories when searching. For example, job type: engineer, gender: male, age: 30s, etc. can be specified. In this case, it is assumed that a search can be performed using AND, OR, or NOT as a search condition.
B. Allow multiple attributes to be specified within a single category when searching. Occupation: Can be specified as engineer, researcher (OR search in this case).
[0305]
In this case, by changing the color of the annotation or the color of the highlighting according to the attribute, it is possible to compare and see the points of interest of people having different attributes.
[0306]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, a search process is performed via an annotation, and information to be obtained by another user having a viewpoint similar or similar to the viewpoint of the user to which the annotation is added is expanded to a search range. I did it.
[0307]
As a result, the search target range can be extended not only to the viewpoint and the range of interest of one's own but also to the viewpoint and range of interest of another person similar to one's own. As a result, information that cannot be obtained from only the user's own viewpoint but is obtained from another user's viewpoint similar to the user's own viewpoint can also be obtained as own knowledge. In other words, knowledge not possessed by oneself can be complemented by knowledge possessed by others, and knowledge sharing can be realized.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic conference system to which a display control method and an information display processing system according to the present invention are applied.
FIG. 2 is an external view focusing on a display surface side of a document viewer which is an embodiment of the information display processing device.
FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a document viewer and a manager unit.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a document server and a document DB.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an annotation server and an annotation DB.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a specific configuration example of a document DB.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a state where an annotation is added to a document.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of information sent from a document viewer to an annotation server.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an annotation DB.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of an action log DB.
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another configuration example of the annotation DB.
FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the electronic conference system 1 focusing on annotation processing.
FIG. 13 is a block diagram focusing on a function that enables information sharing among a plurality of users using a search process and an information providing process using annotations.
14 is a schematic diagram showing a procedure of a process of providing information related to another user in the information providing processing system shown in FIG.
FIG. 15 is a diagram schematically illustrating a system configuration when the information display processing system is configured by a computer.
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a storage process related to a notification of an annotation update.
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an annotation update related to an annotation update notification.
FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of a profile DB.
FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating storage of an annotation related to restriction on disclosure of the annotation.
FIG. 20 is a diagram for describing search and reproduction related to restriction on disclosure of annotations.
FIG. 21 is a diagram for describing an access restriction process using a sheet GUI.
FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating a function of “reflection support”.
FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a search for an annotation related to the function of “reflection support”.
FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an extraction process of an annotation portion.
FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example in which activity activity is visualized.
FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating another configuration example of the annotation DB.
FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen to which an annotation is added.
FIG. 28 is a diagram showing an example of search request information.
FIG. 29 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a profile server 232 and a profile DB 234.
FIG. 30 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a profile DB.
FIG. 31 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of a profile DB in a case.
FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of a document DB in a case.
FIG. 33 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a state in which an annotation is added to a document in an example.
FIG. 34 is a diagram showing an example of information to be sent to the annotation server in this case.
FIG. 35 is a diagram showing an example of registration of an annotation DB in this case.
FIG. 36 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed when logging in to the document viewer.
FIG. 37 is a diagram showing an example of the reproduced annotation from the viewpoint of the engineer.
FIG. 38 is a diagram showing an example of highlighting based on annotations given by a plurality of persons.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Electronic conference system, 7 ... Information sharing processing system, 9 ... Network, 100 ... Client system, 101 ... Display processing unit, 102 ... Document viewer, 103 ... Liquid crystal display panel, 104 ... Document display area, 109 ... Housing, 110 operation button, 114 document reading button, 116 save button, 118 search button, 120 update button, 122 page turn button, 122a previous page forward button, 122b next page forward button, 124 highlighting Button, 126: user display button, 130: controller, 132: page feed instruction receiving unit, 140: page image generation unit, 150: display brightness control unit, 150a: contrast control unit, 150b: brightness control unit, 170: annotation device , 180 ... manager part, 182 ... b File storage unit, 184: emphasized word / sentence specifying unit, 186 ... emphasized word / sentence selection method instruction unit, 188 ... emphasis instruction control unit, 200 ... server system, 210 ... annotation management unit, 212 ... annotation server, 214 ... action Log DB, 216: Annotation DB, 220: Document Management Unit, 222: Document Server, 224: Document DB, 230: Profile Management Unit, 232: Profile Server, 234: Profile DB, 240: Information Search Unit, 242: Natural Language Processing server, 244: Natural language processing DB, 500: Search request designation unit, 542: Registration unit, 544: Search condition determination unit, 546: Search unit, 548: Related information presentation unit

Claims (10)

An information providing method in an information display processing system having a function of adding an annotation that can be managed separately from a document displayed on a predetermined display device to the document,
For each document, manage the information of the annotation-attached portion to which the annotation is added for a plurality of users,
When the annotation is given to an arbitrary part in the document and a search process of related information related to the arbitrary part is instructed,
By comparing the information of the annotated portion with respect to the arbitrary portion and the information of the annotated portion with respect to the plurality of users managed in advance, the search process for the related information related to another user is performed. An information providing method, which is performed. An information providing processing system for providing information using a function of adding an annotation that can be managed separately from the document to a document displayed on a predetermined display device,
An annotation providing unit that adds an annotation that can be managed separately from the document to a document displayed on a predetermined display device,
An annotation imparting partial information acquiring unit for acquiring annotation imparting partial information related to the annotation given by the annotation imparting unit,
For each document, a registration unit that registers the annotation addition information acquired by the annotation addition partial information acquisition unit for a plurality of users,
By comparing the annotation addition information acquired by the annotation addition partial information acquisition unit with the annotation addition partial information about the plurality of users registered in advance in the registration unit, a relation related to another user is obtained. A search unit for searching information;
A related information presentation unit that presents a search result searched by the search unit;
An information providing processing system comprising: The registration unit may include at least one of information on a position where the annotation is provided in a document, information on a target character string indicated by the annotation, and information on a user who has provided the annotation at the same position in the same document. 3. The information providing processing system according to claim 2, wherein the information is registered. The information providing processing system according to claim 2, wherein the search unit searches for document information related to information in the document indicated by the annotation. The search unit refers to the annotation-added partial information about the plurality of users registered in advance in the registration unit, and a user having the same or similar viewpoint or interest as the user who instructed the search for the related information. The information providing processing system according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the information providing system searches for information related to the information. The search unit refers to the annotation-added partial information about the plurality of users registered in advance in the registration unit, and the search unit is located at substantially the same position as the annotation position given by the user who instructed the search for the related information. The information providing processing system according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein information on a viewpoint or an interest of another user to which the annotation is attached is searched. The search unit is configured to display information related to the interest of the other user by a target character string indicated by the annotation given by the user who instructed the search for the related information and the annotation by the other user at the substantially same position. 7. The information providing processing system according to claim 6, wherein the information is obtained by comparison with a target character string. The search unit indicates the information on the viewpoint of the other user by a target character string indicated by the annotation given by the user who instructed the search for the related information and the annotation by the other user at the substantially same position. 7. The information providing processing system according to claim 6, wherein the information is obtained by a difference from a target character string. The search condition determination unit determines the search condition with reference to an evaluation value obtained by any of a TF (Term Frequency) method, an IDF (Inverted Document Frequency) method, and a TF / IDF method. The information providing processing system according to any one of claims 2 to 8, wherein A program for presenting predetermined information to a user in an information display processing system having a function of adding an annotation that can be managed separately from the document to a document displayed on a predetermined display device,
For each document, a procedure for managing the information of the annotation-attached portion to which the annotation is added for a plurality of users,
Based on the information on the attached annotation and the information of the annotation imparted portion for the plurality of users that are managed in advance, a procedure for searching for related information related to other users,
A program for presenting a search result.

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