JP2007293586A - Information exchange method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent ambiguity and leakage of retrieval for securing coverage of retrieval in an information exchange system using a SNS (Social Networking Site) covering researchers in a life science field. <P>SOLUTION: In this information exchange system using the SNS, ontology is used as a profile of a participant instead of a keyword or a natural sentence used conventionally. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information exchanging method using a social networking site (hereinafter referred to as SNS), and more particularly to an information exchanging method using an SNS for researchers in the life science field.

  In recent years, research techniques such as microarrays and two-hybrid methods have become higher throughput in the life science field, and interpretation of experimental results requires knowledge not only in one's own field but also in other fields. In addition, in order to understand complex life phenomena, it is necessary to understand the results in each subdivided research area, and for that purpose, it is necessary to efficiently process knowledge in other specialized fields. is there.

  It is important to exchange information with researchers in other specialized fields in order to gain knowledge in non-specialized fields. Until now, in the life science field, “person-to-person” information exchange methods by telephone and e-mail have been the mainstream, but social networking sites (hereinafter referred to as “new information exchange methods”) have recently attracted attention as new information exchange methods. SNS).

  SNS is a member-based community-type website that was established with the aim of expanding new acquaintance relationships. It is originally a system that can only be joined by invitations from existing participants.

  SNS is a function to publish participants' profiles and photos, an address book to register "friends", a function to introduce other friends to friends, a diary that can only be viewed by friends on the site, and exchange messages between friends It is a service that has been attracting a great deal of attention recently in order to increase the reliability of the Internet, along with blogs, with abundant functions for communication, such as bulletin boards and calendars used for the Internet.

  In recent years, several social networking sites for researchers in the life science field have also appeared. Participants (here, researchers) register their specialties as their profiles. When it is desired to obtain information on a specific field, it is possible to search for participants who have registered the field as a profile and exchange information.

The following publications relate to sites that communicate on the Internet as in the present invention.
JP 2005-4342

  In the conventional SNS, there is a problem in the method of inputting the participant's profile. Generally, an SNS profile takes a method of selecting a specified keyword or describing in a natural sentence. However, in the description in natural sentences, different expressions may be used for words having the same meaning depending on the writer, and there remains a problem in ambiguity at the time of search. In addition, even if a method for selecting keywords to eliminate ambiguity is adopted, the completeness of whether or not all areas are covered, and conversely, what is necessary when the number of keywords increases is selected without omission. The problem of whether or not it is done arises.

  An object of the present invention is to provide means capable of avoiding ambiguity and omission of search and ensuring completeness of search in an information exchange system using SNS for researchers in the field of life science. It is in.

  According to the present invention, in an information exchange system that manages an SNS for researchers in the field of life science, an ontology is used as a participant's profile instead of a conventional keyword or natural sentence.

  The information exchange system registers the participant ID, the ontology ID that is the participant profile, and the resource table ID used by the participant in the participant information table.

  In response to an access request from a client computer, a search condition input screen is displayed on the web browser. On the client computer, an ontology ID is input as a search condition on the search condition input screen. Upon receiving the ontology ID, the information exchange system searches the participant information table and searches for a participant who has registered the same ontology ID as the received ontology ID as a profile. The searched participant ID is transmitted as a search result to the client computer.

  In the client computer, an ontology ID and a resource name may be input as a search condition on the search condition input screen. The information exchange system narrows down by selecting a participant who has registered the same resource name as the received resource name from the participants searched based on the ontology ID. The narrowed participant ID is sent to the client computer as a search result.

  An information exchange system that operates an SNS has a resource table that stores a resource table ID, a resource name, and a resource URL. The information exchange system reads the resource table IDs of the narrowed participants from the participant information table, and reads the resource name and resource URL from the resource table using the read resource table ID as a search key. The narrowed participant ID, ontology ID, resource name, and resource URL are transmitted as search results to the client computer.

  According to the present invention, in an information exchange system using an SNS for researchers in the field of life science, it is possible to avoid ambiguity and omission of search and ensure completeness of search.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of an information exchange network system according to the present invention. The information exchange network system of this example includes an information exchange system 11 that operates an SNS, and client computers 13 and 14 in which SNS participants input registration information and search conditions. The information exchange system 11 and the client computer 13 14 is connected by the Internet 12. The SNS operated by the information exchange system 11 is intended for researchers in the life science field, and the participants are researchers in the life science field.

  The information exchange system 11 is configured by a server computer, and includes a central processing unit, a storage device such as a CDROM and a hard disk device, a storage device such as a RAM, an input / output interface, a communication interface, and the like.

  The information exchange system 11 includes a participation acceptance program 11A for accepting registration of participants, a participant information table 11B that stores registration information of participants, a resource table 11C that describes information on resources that participants usually use, and participants Ontology 11D used for specifying the profile of the participant, a participant search program 11E for searching for the participant, and a search result display program 11F for displaying the search result of the participant. These programs and tables are stored in the storage device.

  The client computer 13 includes a web browser 13A and electronic mail software 13B, and the client computer 14 similarly includes a web browser 14A and electronic mail software 14B. In FIG. 1, two client computers 13 and 14 are shown, but a plurality of client computers having functions equivalent to these may be connected.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of an ontology in the life science field. In the ontology, a superordinate concept and a subordinate concept are hierarchized with an “is_a” relationship 22 and a “part_of” relationship 23. For example, “biological process” 21 and “physiological process” 24 have an “is_a” relationship 22. “Morphogenesis” 25 and “development” 26 are in a “part_of” relationship 23.

  The “is_a” relationship 22 and the “part_of” relationship 23 are derived from English expressions, respectively. For example, an English sentence “physiological process is a biological process.” Is expressed by a set of a concept “biological process” 21, an “is_a” relationship 22, and a concept “physiological process” 24. Similarly, the English text “morphogenesis is part of development” is expressed by “morphogenesis” 25, “part_of” relation 23, and “development” 26.

  In addition, each concept is assigned a unique ID. For example, “GO: 0008150” is assigned to the “biological process” 21 as an ID.

  As described above, the ontology has a hierarchical structure, and it is usual that only a few subordinate concepts have one concept. Thus, the advantage of ontology is that several options can be traced hierarchically. In the life science field, many ontologies have been constructed. An example is Gene Ontology (http://www.geneontology.org/).

  FIG. 3 is an example of a flowchart showing a method for a person who wants to participate to register with an SNS operated by the information exchange system according to the present invention. In step S31A, the applicant who wishes to participate receives an e-mail in which the SNS URL and the ID of the invitee are described from an existing participant (inviter) using the e-mail software of his client computer. . In step S31B, the applicant wishes to access the SNS URL using a web browser. In step S31C, the information exchange system 11 starts the participation reception program 11A, and displays a participant registration screen (see FIG. 4) on the client computer of the applicant who wants to participate. Participants who wish to participate enter the invitee ID, name, ontology ID, email address, resources, etc. on the participant registration screen. Thus, in this example, the ontology ID is registered as the profile of the applicant who wants to participate. In step S31D, when all the information is entered, the participant who wishes to participate clicks the ID issue button on the participant registration screen. This completes registration.

  FIG. 4 is an example of a participant registration screen displayed on the client computer by the participation reception program 11A of the information exchange system 11. The participant registration screen has an inviter ID input field 41, a name input field 42, an ontology ID input field 43, an email address input field 44, a resource input field 45, and an ID issue button 46. In the resource input field 45, the name of a resource (database name, software name, paper name, etc.) most frequently used by the applicant is entered and a set of URLs. Thus, in this example, the ontology ID is registered as the profile of the applicant who wants to participate. The applicant who wishes to participate clicks the ID issuance button 46 after completing the input to all the input fields. Registration is thus completed and an ID is issued.

  In the ontology ID input field 43, an ontology list is directly displayed or a link to the ontology URL is displayed so that a participant who wishes to participate can easily enter the ontology ID.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of information stored in the participant information table 11B of the information exchange system 11. In the participant information table 11B, an inviter ID 52, a name 53, an ontology ID 54, an email address 55, and a resource table ID 56 are stored using the participant ID 51 as a main key. That is, the ontology ID is registered as the participant's profile. The inviter ID 52 corresponds to the value input by the inviter ID 41 in FIG. Similarly, the name 53 corresponds to the name 42 shown in FIG. 4, the ontology ID 54 corresponds to the ontology ID 43 shown in FIG. 4, and the mail address 55 corresponds to the value entered as the mail address 44 shown in FIG. The resource table ID 56 is a reference ID to the resource table 11C (see FIG. 6).

  FIG. 6 shows an example of information stored in the resource table 11C of the information exchange system 11. The resource table 11C stores a resource table ID 61, a resource name 62, and a resource URL 63. The resource table ID 61 corresponds to the resource table ID 56 of the participant information table 11B. The resource name 62 and the resource URL 63 correspond to the values input in the resource input field 45 of FIG.

  FIG. 7 is an example of a flowchart illustrating a method for a participant to perform a search using the information exchange system according to the present invention. In step S71A, the participant who wishes to search accesses the SNS operated by the information exchange system 11 using the Web browser of his / her client computer. In step S71B, the participant search program 11E of the information exchange system 11 is activated, and a search condition input screen is transmitted to the participant's client computer. Participants input search conditions on the search condition input screen. The search condition is sent to the information exchange system 11. In the information exchange system 11, search processing is performed according to the search conditions. In step S71C, in the information exchange system 11, when the search process is completed, the search result display program 11F is activated and the search result is displayed on the Web browser of the participant's client computer.

  FIG. 8 shows an example of a search condition input screen displayed on the client computer when the participant search program 11E is started. The search condition input screen has an ontology ID input field 81, a keyword input field 82, and a search execution button 83.

  An ontology ID is input as a search condition in the ontology ID input field 81, and a resource name is input as a search condition in the keyword input field 82.

  In the ontology ID input field 81, an ontology list is directly displayed or a link to the ontology URL is displayed so that a participant can easily input an ontology ID. In the keyword input field 82, a list of resource names may be directly displayed so that the applicants can easily input the resource names.

  When the input of the search conditions is completed, the search process is executed by clicking the search execution button 83.

  In the search process, first, the participant information table 11B is searched, and participants who register the same ontology ID as the ontology ID input in the ontology ID input field 81 are listed. Next, the participants who have registered the same resource name as the resource name input in the keyword input field 82 are narrowed down from the listed participants. The ID of the finally narrowed participant is sent to the client computer as a search result.

  When the participant ID is obtained as a search result, the participant information table 11B is searched by using it as a search key, and the resource table ID registered by the participant is read. The resource table 11C is searched using this resource table ID as a search key, and the resource name 62 and resource URL 63 included in the resource table ID are read. The participant ID, resource name 62, and resource URL 63 obtained in this way are obtained as search results.

  FIG. 9 shows an example of a search result output screen displayed on the client computer when the search result display program 11F is started. On the search result output screen, a participant ID 91, a name 92, an email address 93, an ontology ID 94, a resource name 95, and a resource URL 96 are displayed. It should be noted that, from the specification of the search processing, the ontology ID 94 is displayed with the value input in the ontology ID input field 81 of FIG. 8, and the resource name 95 is displayed with the value input in the keyword input field 82 of FIG. .

  The example of the present invention has been described above, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described example, and various modifications can be easily made by those skilled in the art within the scope of the invention described in the claims. Will be understood.

It is a conceptual diagram of the information exchange network system by this invention. It is the figure which showed an example of ontology in the life science field. It is a figure which shows the example of the flowchart of the participation registration method to SNS of the information exchange system by this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the participant registration screen by the participation reception program by this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the participant information table by this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the resource table by this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the flowchart of the participant search method by SNS of the information exchange system by this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the search condition input screen by the participant search program by this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the search result output screen by the search result display program by this invention.

Explanation of symbols

11 ... Information exchange system computer, 12 ... Internet, 13, 14 ... Client computer

Claims (1)

Participant information registration step of registering the participant ID, the ontology ID that is the participant's profile, and the resource table ID used by the participant in the participant information table;
A search condition input screen display step for displaying a search condition input screen on a website in response to an access request from a client computer;
A search condition receiving step for receiving the ontology ID entered in the search condition input screen;
A participant search step of searching the participant information table and searching for a participant who has registered the same ontology ID as the received ontology ID as a profile;
A search result transmission step of transmitting the ID of the searched participant to the client computer as a search result;
A computer-readable program for causing a computer to execute an information exchange method.

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