JPH0981580A - Information retrieval device and information retrieval system using the device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically build dictionary reference information in retrieval information in the case of acquiring retrieval information with respect to an information retrieval device. SOLUTION: When data for acquisition of retrieval information is inputted from an input/output means 1, a retrieval information acquisition means 3 acquires retrieval information from an information retrieval server as an WWW server of an internet in accordance with this data. An information conversion means 2 selects internal information related to acquired retrieval information from an internal information preservation means 4 and refers to this internal information to build dictionary reference information, which is data for acquisition of dictionary information, in retrieval information. retrieval information in which dictionary reference information is built is displayed out by the input/ output means 1.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information search device and an information search system using the same, and in particular, when the search information is acquired from an information search server, the acquired search information is automatically referenced by referring to internal information. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to an information search device that changes dynamically and an information search system using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the development of computer networks and communication technologies, it is now possible to freely retrieve information from information servers distributed all over the world. As a typical information retrieval system, there is WWW (World Wide Web) which has been popularized on the Internet. Mosaic and Netscape are famous as WWW information retrieval devices (information retrieval browsers).

By the way, most of the information transmitted on the Internet is currently described in English, and it is considered that useful information will be mainly described in English in the future. In this case, even if information is retrieved from all over the world and desired information is obtained, it may be necessary to look up a dictionary to know the meaning and details because the display output is in English.

Therefore, it is possible to separately have an English dictionary on the information retrieval device side. Specifically, for example, the information search device may include a dictionary stored in a CDROM or the like and a search tool (search program) for the dictionary. Further, for example, a relay server is provided between the information search device and the information server, and the relay server translates the search information in English into Japanese and then causes the information search device to acquire the translated search information. It is possible.

[0005]

If the information retrieval apparatus has a separate English dictionary as described above, the following problems occur.

[0006] When the information retrieval device is provided with a dictionary and a retrieval tool, it is troublesome because it is necessary to separately activate the retrieval tool, and it is necessary to manually input a meaningless word again. It is also a WWW information search browser.
When Mosaic is running, I usually can't start a search tool, so I can't look up the dictionary immediately when I want to know the meaning. Even if the search tool can be started from the information search browser, it still requires the trouble of starting and the trouble of inputting a word. Further, it is necessary to equip each information retrieval device with a dictionary and its retrieval tool, and the facilities are duplicated in companies, universities, etc. that have a plurality of information retrieval devices.

On the other hand, when the information retrieval device acquires the translated search information from the relay server, it is inevitable that a certain amount of mistranslation will occur due to the nature of the relay server as an automatic translation system. Also, because the entire text of the search information is translated into Japanese and only the Japanese search information is acquired,
The original text (English) of the search information cannot be referenced. Further, even when both the original sentence and the translation of the search information are acquired, it is troublesome to compare the two and recognize the corresponding relationship, and it is troublesome to check whether or not there is a mistranslation.

As described above, according to the above-mentioned technique, there is a possibility that the acquired search information cannot be effectively or simply used. In addition, the acquired search information may not be accurate or may not be found to be incorrect.

By the way, according to the study by the present inventor, the above problem is that the information retrieval browser in the present WWW only displays the information provided by the information server as it is. That is, the search information is basically determined by the process on the information server side, and the search information is changed (customized) on the information search device side (client side) according to the personal information of the client (user). ) It's because you can't.

On the other hand, it is not realistic to send the user's personal information to a server such as an information server (or relay server) to customize the search information on the server side. That is, in this case, the user must create his own personal information and send it to the server, and the user must manually input the personal information.
The burden on the user is heavy and annoying. In addition, since it passes through the Internet, it cannot handle information that the user does not want other people to know.

As described above, in the current WWW, since the processing is completed on the server side, the search information cannot be customized according to the personal information of the user.
It may take time for the user to use the search information.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an information search device which automatically changes the acquired search information by referring to the internal information when the search information is acquired. Further, the present invention, when acquiring the search information from the information search server,
An object of the present invention is to provide an information search device that automatically changes search information so that data for obtaining dictionary information by referring to internal information is incorporated into the search information.

Further, according to the present invention, when the search information is obtained from the information search server which is the WWW server on the Internet, the internal information is referred to obtain the dictionary information from the dictionary server which is another WWW server. It is an object to provide an information search device and an information search system that automatically change search information so that data is incorporated into the search information.

[0014]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of the principle of the present invention, showing an information retrieval apparatus according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, the information search device 100 includes an input / output unit 1, an information conversion unit 2, a search information acquisition unit 3, and an internal information storage unit 4.

The input / output means 1 inputs the data for acquiring the search information and the data for managing the internal information, and displays and outputs the acquired search information. The search information acquisition unit 3 communicates with an information search server external to the information search apparatus 100 according to the data for acquiring the search information input from the input / output unit 1, and the search information is acquired from the information search server. To get. The internal information storage means 4 stores internal information which is data for changing the search information. The information conversion means 2 changes the search information acquired by the search information acquisition means 3 by referring to the internal information stored in the internal information storage means 2.

In the information retrieval apparatus 100, when the data for obtaining the search information is input from the input / output unit 1, the search information obtaining unit 3 responds to the data for obtaining the search information and retrieves the information according to the data. The search information (first search information) is acquired from the server. The information conversion unit 2 selects internal information related to the acquired search information from the internal information storage unit 4, and refers to this to change the acquired search information. The input / output unit 1 displays and outputs the changed search information.

Here, in changing the search information, dictionary information about a predetermined word / phrase included in the first search information is acquired from another information search server as other new search information (second search information). Data for this is incorporated into the first search information. Particularly, when the first search information is displayed and output in a foreign language such as English, the change of the first search information is a translation in Japanese of a predetermined phrase included in the first search information. Data for obtaining the dictionary information as the second search information is incorporated into the first search information.

According to the information search apparatus 100, the processing of search information is performed as follows. First, the user inputs, via the input / output unit 1, data for obtaining desired search information. In response to this, in the information search device 100, the search information acquisition means 3 makes the first
To obtain search information (written in English, for example). Then, the information converting unit 2 refers to the internal information so as to incorporate the data for acquiring the dictionary information about the predetermined word / phrase included in the first search information as the second search information into the first search information. To change the first search information. Here, the internal information is personal information of the client (user). As a result, according to the information search apparatus 100, when the user inputs data for obtaining desired search information, the search information is obtained and the obtained search information is automatically obtained based on the internal information. It can be changed and displayed.

Therefore, in the information search system using the information search apparatus 100, it is basically not necessary to complete the processing on the information search server side, and the information search apparatus 100 side (client side) can meet the user's request. Processing can be performed. That is, the search information can be changed (customized) according to the personal information (internal information) of the client (user) on the client side without the search information being determined by the processing on the information search server side. . On the other hand, there is no need to send internal information to an information search server or the like for customization. Therefore, the trouble of creating and inputting the internal information can be omitted, and the information that the user does not want others to know can be handled.

Further, since much of the search information on the WWW of the Internet is in English, the internal information is for incorporating data (dictionary lookup information) for obtaining dictionary information which is a translation of the search information into the search information. And With this, the user can easily obtain the dictionary information by using the dictionary lookup information. Therefore, the information retrieval device 1
It is possible to eliminate the need to have a dictionary and search tool for each 00, and to eliminate the need to activate it or manually enter words. You can also look up the dictionary immediately when you want to know the meaning. On the other hand, the occurrence of erroneous translation in automatic translation can be avoided, and the original text of the search information can be referenced. Therefore, accurate search information can be obtained and can be used effectively or easily.

[0021]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment and shows an information retrieval apparatus 100. The information retrieval device 100 includes an input / output unit 1, an information conversion unit 2, a retrieval information acquisition unit 3, and an internal information storage unit 4.

In this embodiment, the information retrieval device 10 of the present invention is used.
This is an example in which 0 is applied to the WWW on the Internet. The dictionary lookup information is automatically incorporated into the search information, the internal information is used to incorporate the dictionary lookup information into the search information, and the search is performed by using the dictionary lookup information. This is an example of easily obtaining dictionary information from information. That is, it shows a dictionary lookup system on the WWW.

The information retrieving apparatus 100 is a single independent data processing apparatus and is connected to an integrated computer network such as the Internet as shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the embodiment, and shows a dictionary system and an information search system in which the present invention is applied to the WWW on the Internet.

As shown in FIG. 3, the information retrieval apparatus 100
Is the information search server 1 via the Internet 103
01 and the dictionary server 102, and communicates with them. The information search device 100 is an information search browser (WWW browser) in WWW, and the information search server 101 and the dictionary server 102 are servers in WWW (WWW server).

Information retrieval device 100 which is a WWW browser
Requests the information search server 101, which is a WWW server managing the information desired to be referenced, to search for the information by designating the information and obtains the corresponding information.
Hereinafter, this information is referred to as search information. In this specification, the search information means that the user originally has the information search device 100.
This is the primary information that was desired to be obtained (referenced) from outside.

The information search server 101 manages information (search information) created by the sender and permitted to be referred from outside. The search information is specified by the user, for example, by referring to the home page of the information search server 101.

The information search device 10 is provided along with the acquisition of the search information.
0 refers to the personal information (information unique to the client) of the user (client) and changes the acquired search information. Hereinafter, the personal information of the user is referred to as internal information. In this specification, the internal information is a different type of information from the search information, and is the second-order information for changing the information (search information) that the user originally wanted to obtain, In particular, it is information for changing the search information so that the information for acquiring other new search information from outside the information search apparatus 100 is incorporated into the search information.

In this embodiment, when the search information is displayed and output in a foreign language such as English, the internal information is
This is data for incorporating dictionary lookup information into search information. The dictionary lookup information is information for obtaining other new search information from the outside of the information search device 100,
In particular, it is data for obtaining dictionary information, which is a translation in Japanese of a predetermined word / phrase included in the search information, from the dictionary server 102 as the search information. The dictionary information is a translation in Japanese of a predetermined phrase included in the search information. The dictionary information may be a detailed description or information about the predetermined word or phrase (information such as what is called a dictionary or an encyclopedia).

The dictionary server 102 is a type of the information search server 101, and is a server that refers to dictionary information as search information. The dictionary server 102 manages information (dictionary information) created by the sender and allowing external reference.

As shown in FIG. 3, the information retrieval apparatus 100 has a dictionary lookup function 104. The dictionary lookup function 104
It is mainly realized by the input / output unit 1 (in particular, the internal information management unit 12 and the information display unit 13 described later), the internal information storage unit 4, and the information conversion unit 2. Dictionary lookup function 1
04 changes the acquired search information based on the internal information. That is, "look up a dictionary" on the original information (search information)
The dictionary lookup information for is added and output. Therefore, the information retrieval device 100 is a WWW to which the dictionary lookup function 104 is added.
It can be said that it is a browser.

When the user designates a certain piece of information from the information retrieval apparatus 100 and acquires it, the output is as follows:
The information (search information) and the information for dictionary lookup (dictionary lookup information) are obtained. Therefore, by using the dictionary lookup information, the user can easily access the dictionary server 102 from the search information screen and easily obtain the dictionary information from now on.

As described above, the information retrieving apparatus 100 is a single independent data processing apparatus, and although not shown, the information retrieving apparatus 100 includes a CPU, a memory, a program on the memory, an input / output device, a communication device, and the like. Become. The input / output unit 1 comprises an input / output device and its control program. The information conversion means 2 comprises a CPU, a memory, an information conversion program on the memory, and the like. The search information acquisition unit 3 includes a CPU, a memory, a search information acquisition program on the memory, a communication device for communication with the outside, and the like. The internal information storage means 4 comprises a memory.

In FIG. 2, the input / output unit 1 is a search condition input unit 11, an internal information management unit 12, and an information display unit 13.
Consists of The search condition input means 11 is used by the user to input data for obtaining a search request and search information, and is composed of a pointing device such as a mouse.

The data for obtaining the search information includes data designating the information search server 101 and data designating the search information. On the WWW on the Internet, the user displays the home page of the information search server 101 on the information display means 13 and clicks the desired information with a mouse or the like. As a result, a part of the information displayed and output on the information display unit 13 (the part clicked with the mouse) is copied. Thereby, the data for acquiring the search information is input to the search condition input means 11. As is well known, the data for obtaining the search information is not displayed on the screen of the information display means 13, but only the information corresponding to the data is displayed. The search condition input means 11 sends the input search request and the data concerned to the search information acquisition means 3.

The search condition input means 11 may be a text input device such as a keyboard. in this case,
The user inputs the data to the search condition input means 11 by directly inputting the data in text using a keyboard or the like.

The internal information management means 12 is used by the user to input data for managing internal information, and is composed of a pointing device such as a mouse. The internal information management means 12 is the same as the search condition input means 11 in terms of hardware, and thus may be a text input device such as a keyboard. The data for managing the internal information will be described later.

The information display means 13 is the information retrieval server 1
The homepage of 01, the acquired search information, the dictionary information of the dictionary server 102, etc. are displayed and output to the user, and are composed of a display device such as CRT. The information display means 13 mainly receives the information to be displayed from the information conversion means 2.

The search information acquisition means 3 comprises an information search server designation means 31, a search information designation means 32, an information search server communication means 33, and a search information storage means 34. When the search information acquisition unit 3 receives the search request from the search condition input unit 11 of the input / output unit 1, the information search server designation unit 31 stores the data designating the information search server 101. The information search server designation means 31 designates the information search server 101 to the information search server communication means 33 according to the data stored therein. After the communication by the information search server communication means 33 according to this designation, the content of the information search server designation means 31 is reset.

When the search information acquisition means 3 receives the search request from the search condition input means 11 of the input / output means 1, the search information designation means 32 stores the data designating the search information.
The search information designation means 32 is the information search server communication means 3
For 3, the information to be searched is specified according to the stored data. After communication by the information search server communication means 33 according to this designation, the content of the search information designation means 32 is reset.

When the storage of the two data is completed, under the control of the retrieval information acquisition means 3, the information retrieval server communication means 33 communicates with the information retrieval server 101 according to the designation of the information retrieval server designation means 31. Communicate. Then, the information search server communication unit 33 requests the information search server 101 to search for the information according to the designation of the search information designation unit 32, and acquires the search information. The information search server communication means 33 stores the acquired search information in the search information storage means 34. The search information storage means 34 comprises a memory.

The internal information storage means 4 stores internal information which is data for changing the search information. Inside information is
As described above, this is for changing the first search information so that the dictionary lookup information is incorporated into the first search information. In particular, in this embodiment, the first search information is displayed and output in English, and in response to this, the dictionary information is translated into Japanese for the English word in the first search information. Therefore, the dictionary lookup information is data for obtaining dictionary information about English words from the dictionary server 102 as the second search information, and the internal information is for incorporating dictionary lookup information about English words into the search information. To be done.

Therefore, the internal information in this embodiment includes, for example, an English word name, the total number of appearances, the number of searches, and the estimated difficulty level. An example of the internal information is shown in FIG. It should be noted that the internal information is the above-mentioned information about a certain one English word or a set of these information about a plurality of English words.

In FIG. 4, the internal information is stored in the internal information storage means 4 for each English word name, the total number of appearances of the word, the number of searches, and the degree of difficulty of guessing. The word name is each English word itself that appears in the search information acquired up to that point. The total number of appearances is the total number of times the word appears in the search information acquired up to that point. The number of searches is the total number of times that the dictionary information of the English word has been acquired from the dictionary server 102 up to that point.
The degree of difficulty of estimation is a value obtained by the information conversion unit 2 by a predetermined calculation using the total number of appearances and the number of searches for the English word stored in the internal information storage unit 4. The guessing difficulty is a value for the information conversion means 2 to determine whether or not to incorporate dictionary lookup information into English words in search information,
It is a guide for the decision.

The internal information storage means 4 is created and managed in a predetermined area on the memory by the information conversion means 2 in order to store the internal information. That is, the information converting means 2 creates internal information, uses this to change the search information, and updates the internal information.

The internal information can be created and updated from the internal information management means 12. The user inputs data for managing internal information from the internal information management means 12. Thereby, the internal information is created and updated. Input of data for managing internal information is performed at any time (at any time by the user).

The information converting means 2 acquires an area of a predetermined size in a predetermined area on the memory and acquires the internal information storage means 4 shown in FIG. 4 prior to the acquisition of the search information. If the area becomes insufficient during the repeated acquisition of the search information, the information converting means 2 repeatedly acquires the area having a certain size. As a result, the internal information for all the English words appearing in the plurality of search information can be created and stored in the internal information storage means 4.

The information conversion means 2 may be provided with the internal information storage means 4 after the search information is stored in the search information storage means 34. Further, the internal information storage means 4 may be provided prior to the acquisition of the search information by the input from the internal information management means 12 by the user.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the information conversion means 2 refers to the internal information storage means 4 by using the acquired search information and selectively acquires the corresponding internal information, and uses the acquired internal information. The process of changing the search information (obtaining the changed output),
A process of updating the internal information based on the search information is performed.

In the process of changing the search information, the information conversion means 2 searches the internal information storage means 4 using the English words appearing in the search information stored in the search information storage means 34, and the same English words are searched. If there is, the internal information about the English word is read from the internal information storage means 4. Next, the information converting means 2 determines whether or not to incorporate the dictionary lookup information for the English word into the search information based on the read internal information. This determination process will be described later.
Based on this determination, the information converting means 2 incorporates the dictionary lookup information at a predetermined position in the search information.

For this reason, the information converting means 2 holds the dictionary lookup information in advance. As described above, the dictionary lookup information is data for obtaining dictionary information about English words as search information, and therefore includes the server name of the dictionary server 102 and the description of search information contents (search indicator). .

Specifically, after the search information is stored in the search information storage means 34, the information converting means 2 first reads the English words from the beginning of the search information and stores them in a predetermined memory. Next, the internal information storage unit 4 is searched using the English word to read the internal information about the English word, and it is determined whether or not to incorporate the dictionary lookup information based on the difficulty of guessing in the internal information. . When incorporating, the dictionary lookup information corresponding to the English word is created by incorporating the English word into the description (search indicator) portion of the content of the search information in the dictionary lookup information. Next, this is stored in the area next to the English word on the predetermined memory. The above process is performed for each English word. This allows
The dictionary lookup information is incorporated at a predetermined position in the search information.

The information converting means 2 sends the information after the assembling processing (this is referred to as the changed information) to the information displaying means 13 as a response to the input of the search request from the search condition inputting means 11. The information display means 13, which has received the changed information from the information conversion means 2, stores it in its own display memory and outputs it as a response to the user's search request. As a result, the user obtains the search information, which is the information originally desired to be referred, and the dictionary lookup information.

As described above, the function of automatically adding the dictionary lookup information to the search information and outputting it when the search request of the search information is made mainly by the internal information storage means 4 and the information conversion means 2 ( The dictionary lookup function 104) is realized.

Here, the process of determining whether or not to incorporate the dictionary lookup information will be described. The estimation difficulty of the internal information is used for this determination process. Since the knowledge of English words varies from user to user, it is necessary to change the English words that incorporate the dictionary lookup information according to the user. Therefore, the estimation difficulty is set to a value suitable for the user by dynamically changing the behavior of the user, that is, by accumulating the actual search information in the internal information update process described later.

First, as a result of the search of the internal information storage means 4, the information conversion means 2 does not have internal information for an English word that does not exist in the internal information storage means 4, that is, the first appearing English word. The difficulty of guessing is determined from the shape.
For example, if the English word is long, the difficulty of guessing is increased. That is, long English words are often “difficult words”. In addition, the difficulty of guessing is increased even when there are many consonants. In other words, English words with many consonants are often "difficult words." The difficulty of guessing English words with long consonants is the highest. The information converting means 2 determines whether or not to incorporate the dictionary lookup information according to the difficulty of estimation thus obtained. The dictionary lookup information is incorporated when the degree of difficulty of estimation is equal to or higher than a certain threshold.

The estimation difficulty in this case is determined by the length and the number of consonants, and is determined irrespective of the user's knowledge. That is, you may think that it corresponds to the initial value of the difficulty of guessing,
In the updating process of internal information, the value gradually converges to a value suitable for the user.

On the other hand, as a result of the search by the internal information storage means 4, internal information exists for the English words existing in the internal information storage means 4. The degree of difficulty of guessing the internal information is updated each time the search information is acquired, and has a value suitable for the knowledge or memory of the user's English word at that time. Therefore, the information converting means 2 determines whether or not to incorporate the dictionary lookup information according to the difficulty of guessing in the internal information.

In the process of updating the internal information, the information converting means 2 updates the word name, the total number of appearances, the number of searches, and the estimation difficulty of the internal information based on the acquired search information. Since the knowledge of English words varies from user to user, it is necessary to change the English words that incorporate the dictionary lookup information according to the user. Therefore, the internal information update process is performed. In particular, the difficulty level of guessing is a value that is dynamically changed by the action of the user and adapted to the user. This update process is a learning process based on acquisition of search information and use of dictionary lookup information (that is, acquisition of dictionary information). Therefore,
The internal information is the knowledge learned by the information converting means 2 about the knowledge of the English word of the user, and the decision to incorporate the dictionary lookup information is the knowledge process using this knowledge.

Specifically, first, the information converting means 2 reads the English words in order from the beginning of the search information stored in the search information storage means 34, and whether or not the same English word exists by using this. The internal information storage means 4 is searched for.

Next, the information converting means 2 updates the word name and the total appearance count of the internal information. That is, when the internal information storage unit 4 does not store the internal information about the same English word, the information conversion unit 2 stores the English word as the internal information storage unit 4.
Store it in the empty entry of. That is, the word name column of the internal information is updated. At the same time, the information converting means 2 updates the total number of appearances corresponding to the English word so as to be +1. On the other hand, when the internal information storage unit 4 stores internal information about the same English word, the information conversion unit 2 updates the total number of appearances corresponding to the English word so as to be +1.

Even if the internal information storage unit 4 does not store internal information about the same English word, if the English word is clearly known like "he" or "is". In addition, the information conversion means 2 omits the processing of storing the English word in the empty entry of the internal information storage means 4. Such English words have no inconvenience even if the degree of difficulty of guessing is low, and in the end, dictionary lookup information is not required. However, regarding an English word having a special meaning or usage, the processing is not omitted even if it is a simple English word.

Next, the information converting means 2 updates the estimation difficulty of the internal information based on the updated total number of appearances. Therefore, the total number of appearances is reflected in the estimation difficulty level. This update process is performed according to a predetermined calculation.

For example, an English word with a large total number of appearances, that is,
It is considered that the user often knows English words that appear frequently. Therefore, the difficulty of guessing an English word having a large total number of appearances is lowered. On the other hand, it is considered that the user easily forgets the meaning of the “difficult word” having a small number of appearances. Therefore, the difficulty of guessing a "difficult word" having a small number of appearances is increased to such an extent that the dictionary lookup information is incorporated in the search information. The “difficult word” is defined by the length of the word and the number of consonants, as described above.

Next, the information converting means 2 updates the number of times the internal information is searched. For this purpose, the information conversion means 2 checks whether or not the input from the search information input means 11 uses the dictionary lookup information. In the case of the input using the dictionary lookup information, the information conversion unit 2 updates the internal information corresponding to the English word so that the number of searches is +1. If the input is not using the dictionary lookup information, the number of searches is not updated.

In order to update the number of searches, the information converting means 2 holds the dictionary lookup information for a predetermined period when the dictionary lookup information is incorporated in the search information. The information conversion means 2 also takes in the input from the search information input means 11. Then, the information conversion means 2 compares the incorporated dictionary lookup information with the fetched input, and when both match, determines that the input uses the dictionary lookup information. The dictionary lookup information held by the information converting means 2 is similarly discarded when the search information in which the dictionary lookup information is incorporated is discarded.

Next, the information converting means 2 updates the estimation difficulty of the internal information based on the updated number of searches. Therefore, the number of searches is reflected in the estimation difficulty. This update process is performed according to a predetermined calculation.

For example, it is considered that a user often does not know the meaning of an English word that is searched a lot and forgets it regardless of the difficulty level. Therefore, in this case, the difficulty of guessing the English word is increased. The number of searches is +1
Regarding the written English words (for which the dictionary information has been acquired), the user has a strong tendency to remember them at that time, but to forget them immediately. Therefore, the degree of difficulty of guessing an English word for which the number of searches is +1 is increased to such an extent that the dictionary lookup information is incorporated into the search information for a predetermined period. In this case, in the "other" column corresponding to the English word of the internal information storage means 4 shown in FIG.
The time at which the estimation difficulty level is updated and the value of the estimation difficulty level before the update are recorded. Then, after a lapse of a predetermined time from this time, the estimation difficulty level is returned to the value of the estimation difficulty level before the update.

The information converting means 2 reduces the difficulty of guessing the English word when the dictionary lookup information is not used by the time it is discarded even though the dictionary lookup information is incorporated. In this case, when the dictionary information is not acquired, that is, when the search information is not updated, it is considered that the user knows the meaning of the English word regardless of the difficulty level of the English word. To be

As described above, the learning based on the acquisition of the search information is performed, and the internal information suitable for the knowledge or the memory of the user's English word is accumulated in the internal information storage means 4. Therefore,
Through the knowledge processing based on such internal information, the dictionary lookup information suitable for the user can be incorporated in the search information.

The internal information in the internal information storage means 4 can be created and updated by inputting an internal information change request from the internal information management means 12. For example, when the users of the same information retrieval apparatus 100 are changed, the knowledge of English words naturally differs. Therefore, for example, a new user resets all the internal information accumulated in the internal information storage means 4 from the internal information management means 12. As a result, the internal information suitable for the new user is accumulated by learning. In addition, if the user has a good knowledge of English words in a specific field, it may not be necessary to incorporate dictionary lookup information even for “difficult words”.
Therefore, the user inputs the information from the internal information management means 12 to the internal information storage means 4 for the English words in the field.
A flag is set in the "other" column of the above item to instruct the information converting means 2 that incorporation of the dictionary lookup information is unnecessary.
As a result, incorporation of dictionary lookup information for English words in the field is omitted, and the display screen is easier to see. Furthermore,
By inputting from the internal information management means 12, the user can reset the individual values of the total number of appearances of the internal information storage means 4, the number of searches, and / or the guessing difficulty for a certain specific English word, or set a desired value. To do.

Acquisition of search information in the information search apparatus 100 will be further described. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of the embodiment,
The flow of acquisition of search information is shown. The information retrieval device 100 is
WWW having a dictionary lookup function 104 as shown in FIG.
Although it is a browser, as shown in FIG.
It can be said that it is a processing device provided with 4 and WWW browser function 105. The dictionary lookup function 104 mainly includes an input / output unit 1 (in particular, an internal information management unit 12 and an information display unit 13), an internal information storage unit 4 and an information conversion unit 2. The WWW browser function 105 is mainly composed of the input / output unit 1 (particularly, the search condition input unit 11 and the information display unit 13) and the search information acquisition unit 3. Prior to the acquisition of certain search information, as described above, the information search device 1
In the dictionary lookup function 104 of 00, the internal information, which is the knowledge for the decision processing of incorporating the dictionary lookup information, is accumulated in the internal information storage means 4 by learning.

As described above, the WWW browser function 105 of the information search device 100 makes a search request for the specified search information to the information search server 101 specified in the search request.

In response to this, the information retrieval server 101, which is a WWW server, retrieves the information it has and retrieves the retrieval information 106 designated by the information retrieval device 100 from the HT.
It is sent to the information retrieval device 100 in the form of an ML document. The information search device 100 takes in the search information 106 in the format of the sent HTML document by the information search server communication means 33 and stores it in the search information storage means 34.

Next, the dictionary lookup function 104 of the information retrieval apparatus 100 refers to the internal information of the internal information storage means 4 and, as described above, searches the retrieval information 106 so as to incorporate the dictionary lookup information 108 into the retrieval information 106. Is changed to create the changed document 107. At this time, the dictionary lookup function 104
The format of the search information 106, which was the format of the HTML document,
The information is converted into a document format in the information search apparatus 100. Therefore, the changed document 107 is the information retrieval device 10
0 is the document format.

Further, the dictionary lookup function 104 updates the internal information with reference to the search information 106 as described above. That is, learning is performed based on the search information 106. The WWW browser function 105 of the information search device 100 receives the changed document 107 from the dictionary lookup function 104 and outputs it for display. As a result, the user obtains an output with dictionary lookup information.

Here, when the user inputs a search condition using the built-in dictionary lookup information 108, the WWW browser function 105 causes the dictionary server 102 to search for the English word specified in the dictionary lookup information. Make a request. The dictionary server 102 creates and manages an English word dictionary that allows external reference, and provides the information search apparatus 100 with English word dictionary information.

Dictionary server 102 which is a WWW server
Is an information search device 1 that searches his own English dictionary
The dictionary information 109 for the English words designated from 00 is sent to the information search device 100 in the form of an HTML document. The information search device 100 takes in the dictionary information 109 in the format of the sent HTML document by the information search server communication means 33 and stores it in the search information storage means 34.

The dictionary lookup function 104 converts the format of the dictionary information 109, which was the HTML document format, into the document format in the information retrieval apparatus 100. At this time, the dictionary lookup function 104 adds the dictionary lookup information 108 to the dictionary information 109.
May or may not be incorporated.

FIGS. 6 to 8 are explanatory views of the embodiment, and show specific examples of the changed document 107 displayed and output on the information display means 13. The search information 106 acquired from the information search server 101 is, for example, an H content having the content shown in FIG.
It is a TML document. This is written in English. When the HTML document which is the search information 106 is displayed and output on the information display unit 13, the screen becomes the original page 106A as shown in FIG. This is conventional display output.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, the search information 10
When the HTML document of No. 6 is modified so as to incorporate the dictionary lookup information, the modified document 107 becomes an HTML document having the content as shown in FIG. 7, for example. This includes the dictionary lookup information "<after the English word" windmill ".
http: // dictinary-server / c
onsult? windmill> ”is incorporated (inserted). When the changed document 107 is output for display, the screen becomes like a changed page (changed document) 107A as shown in FIG. As can be seen from FIG. 7, this dictionary lookup information is not displayed on the information display means 13, and instead, an underline is added to the English word “windmill”.

Further, the changed page (the changed document)
When the dictionary information 109 is acquired from the dictionary server 102 using the dictionary lookup information 108 from 107A, the screen becomes a search page 109A having the meaning shown in FIG. On the meaning search page 109A, the English word "wi
The fact that "ndmill" is a noun ("n") and its meaning (windmill, pinwheel) are displayed. These are dictionary information about the English word "windmill".

Here, as shown in FIG. 6, the search information 10
In FIG. 6, the anchor “<http: // savel / item>” is embedded (inserted) after the word “here” in the sentence. "Saverl" is
Indicates the server name. “Item” is a search indicator and indicates the content of search information. As can be seen from FIG. 6, this anchor is H acquired from the information search server 101.
It is already incorporated in the search information 106 in the TML document.

The anchor is information for allowing the user who views the search information 106 to directly access more detailed information from the search information screen. When this anchor is specified on the screen of the information display means 13,
The anchor "<http: // saverl / ite"
ml> ”is sent to the search condition input means 11 as a search condition. Then, from the search condition input means 11, "s
“Averl” is stored in the information search server designating means 31, and “item” is stored in the search information designating means 32. Therefore, the information search device 100 accesses the information search server “saver” to search information “item”.
I "is acquired.

The anchor is not displayed in the display output of the information display means 13 as shown in the original page 106A. That is, it is invisible to the user. Instead of this anchor, an underline (anchor tag) is added to the bottom of the word "here" related to the anchor.

When the user positions the mouse and clicks on the word “here” associated with the anchor and underlined, the anchor is designated on the screen of the information display means 13. Information display means 13
Retrieves the anchor located immediately after the word "here" from its own display memory and inputs (copies) it to the search condition input means 11. As a result, a search request for the information specified by the anchor is made to the server specified by the anchor.

An anchor similar to such an anchor is
As shown in FIG. 7, the information conversion means 2 newly incorporates the dictionary lookup information 108 into the changed document 107. In the changed document 107, as shown in FIG. 7, between "windmill" and "clik" in the text,
The new anchor "<http: // dictinary
-Server / consult? windmill
> ”Is embedded (inserted). "Dicti
“Nary-server” indicates a server name and indicates the dictionary server 102. In addition, "consul
t? “Windmill” is a search indicator and indicates the contents of the dictionary information 109. That is, the word "windmill"
It indicates that it is the dictionary information 109 for.

Now, for simplicity, the search information 1 shown in FIG.
Among the English words appearing in 06, it is assumed that the estimation difficulty level of "windmill" is higher than the threshold value and the estimation difficulty level of English words other than "windmill" is lower than the threshold value. In this case, the information converting means 2 decides to incorporate the dictionary lookup information 108 for "windmill". Then, the information converting means 2 holds the dictionary lookup information “<
http: // dictinary-server / c
onsult? The word "windmill" is incorporated into the blank part of "(blank)>" to create the dictionary lookup information 108. Next, the information conversion means 2 changes the search information 106 so that the dictionary lookup information 108 is incorporated in the search information 106 at the position next (immediately after) the English word "windmill".

When an anchor is designated on the screen of the information display means 13, the anchor "<http: ///
Dictinary-server / consult?
"windmill>" is sent to the search condition input means 11 as a search condition. Then, from the search condition input means 11, "dictinary-server" is stored in the information search server designating means 31, respectively, and "consu
lt? “Windmill” is stored in the search information designating means 32. Therefore, the information search device 100 uses the server “dictinary-ser” which is the dictionary server 102.
access "ver" and then the English word "windmill"
The dictionary information 109 about is acquired.

However, the anchor which is the dictionary lookup information 108 is not displayed in the display output of the information display means 13 as shown in the changed page 107A. That is, it is invisible to the user. Instead of this anchor, an underline (anchor tag) is added to the lower part of the English word “windmill” related to the anchor.

For the English word "windmill" which is a keyword associated with an anchor and underlined,
When the user positions the mouse and clicks it, a request for retrieval of information specified by the anchor is made to the server specified by the anchor in the same manner as described above.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 8, in the changed page 107A, the dictionary lookup information 108 "w" is used.
When the anchor added to "indmill" is clicked with the mouse, the dictionary information 109 about the English word "windmill" is acquired. When the HTML document, which is the dictionary information 109, is displayed and output on the information display means 13, the screen becomes a search page 109A having the meaning shown in FIG.

At this time, the information display means 13 completely switches the display screen from the changed page 107A to the meaning search page 109A, but the changed page 1
You may display so that search page 109A of a meaning may overlap on 07A. Further, the meaning search page 109A may be displayed so as to be overlapped with a part of the changed page 107A.

Here, before the input using the dictionary lookup information 108 is made, an HTML document which is the dictionary information 109 is acquired in advance so that a part of the changed page 107A does not overlap the display of the search information. Meaning search page 109A
May be overlapped and displayed. That is, the dictionary is automatically drawn and the dictionary information 109 is displayed. For example, when there is only one dictionary lookup information 108 to be incorporated, or when the difficulty of guessing the English word is extremely high, the changed page 107A and the meaning search page are displayed for the convenience of the user. 109A is displayed at the same time. This allows
The user can save the trouble of selecting the dictionary lookup information 108.

In this case, the information converting means 2 first checks, for example, whether there is only one dictionary lookup information 108 to be incorporated, or whether the English word has an extremely high difficulty of guessing. When such a condition is satisfied, the information conversion means 2 inputs the dictionary lookup information 108 into the search condition input means 11 without (or while incorporating) the dictionary lookup information 108, and accordingly the search information acquisition means. Three
Acquires the dictionary information 109. Therefore, the information conversion means 2 converts the search information 106 and the dictionary information 109 into the document format of the information search device 100, and then sends them to the information display means 13. The information display means 13 edits the display screen and outputs the display as described above. At this time, in the internal information of the English word, the number of searches may or may not be updated to +1.

When a plurality of dictionary lookup information 108 are incorporated, the changed page 107A and the meaning search page 109A are simultaneously displayed for the first 1 or 2 dictionary lookup information 108 in the same manner as described above. You may In this case, the remaining dictionary lookup information 108 is incorporated in the search information 106.

When a plurality of dictionary lookup information 108 are incorporated, among these, the dictionary lookup information 108 of 1 or 2 in descending order of difficulty of estimation is changed to page 1
You may make it display 07A and the meaning search page 109A simultaneously.

Next, an information search processing flow by the information search device 100 of FIG. 2 will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10. FIG. 9 shows an information search process that constitutes the information search process flow and is executed by the information search device 100 of FIG. FIG.
Shows the details of the retrieval information acquisition processing in FIG.

In FIG. 9, the input / output unit 1 uses the search condition input unit 11 to make a search request to the information search server 10.
It is checked whether or not 1 and the description of the search content (search information) are designated (S1).

When the above two data are specified,
The search information acquisition unit 3 causes the information search server 101 to be requested to perform a search to acquire the search information 106 of the described search contents, and the search information storage unit 3
Store in 4 (S2). This processing will be described later with reference to FIG.

The information conversion means 2 acquires the internal information from the internal information storage means 4, rewrites the search information 106 stored in the search information storage means 34 with reference to the internal information,
The information display means 13 displays and outputs this, and the information conversion means 2 refers to the search information 106 to update the internal information in the internal information storage means 4 (S3). Then, S4 is executed.

When the above two data are not designated in S1, the input / output means 1 determines the internal information management means 12
It is checked whether there is an internal information change request from S (S
4). When there is an internal information change request, the internal information storage means 4 changes the internal information according to the request. (S
5).

After execution of S5, and when there is no internal information change request in S4, execution of S1 and subsequent steps is repeated. FIG. 10 is a search information acquisition processing flow, and S of FIG.
A process of acquiring search information in 2 will be described.

The search information acquisition means 3 stores the information search server name to be searched specified by the search condition input means 11 in the information search server specification means 31 (S11). The search information acquisition means 3 stores the description of the content to be searched specified by the search condition input means 11 in the search information specifying means 32 (S12).

The search information acquisition means 3 uses the information search server communication means 33 and the information search server designation means 31.
To the information search server 101 specified in
A search for the search information specified by the search information specifying means 32 is requested (S13).

The search information acquisition means 3 checks whether or not the processing of the information search server 101 has been completed (S1).
4). If the process is not completed, S14 is repeated. When the processing is completed, the search information acquisition unit 3 causes the information search server communication unit 33 to execute the information search server 101.
The search information is acquired from the above and recorded in the search information storage means 34 (S15).

From the above, when the user obtains the search information (the changed document 108) in the information search apparatus 100, it is as follows. First, an internal information change request is input to the information search device 100 to reset the internal information in the internal information storage means 4.

Next, the information retrieving apparatus 10 according to a well-known procedure.
The information search server 101 is accessed from 0 to acquire the search information 106. At this time, the information search apparatus 100 has no internal information in the internal information storage unit 4, so the search information 10
For each of the English words appearing in No. 6, the inference difficulty is obtained from the length, the number of consonants, etc., and it is determined whether or not to incorporate the dictionary lookup information 108 for each of the English words using this. Then, the information search device 100 incorporates the dictionary lookup information 108 in the search information 106 and outputs the changed page 107A for display.

On the other hand, the information search device 100 updates the internal information of the internal information storage means 4 based on the search information 106. That is, learning is performed based on the search information 106. The user who sees the changed page 107A is the dictionary lookup information 1
When the acquisition of the dictionary information 109 is requested from 08, the information search device 100 accesses the new dictionary server 102 designated by copying the dictionary lookup information 108 and acquires the dictionary information 109. Then, the information search device 100 displays and outputs the meaning search page 109A based on the dictionary information 109.

While the acquisition of the search information 106 is repeated, the information search apparatus 100 performs learning based on the acquisition of the search information 106 and the like, and accumulates internal information suitable for the user. As a result, the dictionary lookup information 108 can be automatically incorporated in the search information 106, and this incorporation processing can be performed under the conditions according to the user.

The present invention has been described with reference to the embodiments.
The present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, but can be variously modified within the scope of the gist thereof. For example, standard internal information about about 100,000 English words may be stored in the internal information storage means 4 in advance and updated based on acquisition of the search information 106 or the like.

The number of dictionary servers 102 is not limited to one, and a plurality of dictionary servers 102 may exist. Also an English server,
Dictionary server for each language, like French server 1
02 may be provided. In this case, the information converting means 2 identifies in which language the search information 106 is written, and the appropriate dictionary server 102 sends the dictionary information 10 to the dictionary information 10.
Get 9. Further, one dictionary server 102 may handle not only English but a plurality of languages in a unified manner. In this case, the load of the process of identifying the language of the information converting means 2 is reduced.

Further, one dictionary server 102 may handle various kinds of information other than language. For example, the dictionary information 109 may be referred to as constants or calculation formulas in scientific and technological calculations and financial statements.

Further, whether or not the dictionary lookup information 108 can be incorporated is determined by whether or not the inference difficulty is higher than a predetermined threshold value, but it may be determined by a scale other than this. For example, a predetermined number of dictionary lookup information 108 may be incorporated in descending order of difficulty of estimation. Further, the threshold value itself may be raised or lowered according to the level of knowledge of the user's English words. Further, although the decision to incorporate the dictionary lookup information is made based on the estimation difficulty level, it may be determined using a scale different from the estimation difficulty level. Items other than the total number of appearances and the number of searches may be used as the internal information. For example, a value obtained by dividing the total number of appearances by the number of searches may be used.

[0114]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In an information search device that acquires search information from an information search server that is a WWW server on the Internet and an information search system that uses the same, refer to internal information that is information for changing search information when acquiring search information. By doing so, the dictionary lookup information for obtaining the dictionary information from the dictionary server, which is the WWW server, can be automatically incorporated into the obtained search information, and thus the dictionary information can be easily obtained using the dictionary lookup information. On the other hand, by updating the internal information based on the acquired search information, etc., the internal information suitable for the user can be stored. Therefore, using the internal information, the dictionary can be searched according to the knowledge of the user. Information can be incorporated into search information.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of an example.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory view of an embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an example.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an example.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of an example.

FIG. 9 is an information search processing flow.

FIG. 10 is a search information acquisition processing flow.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Input / Output Means 2 Information Conversion Means 3 Search Information Acquisition Means 4 Internal Information Storage Means 11 Search Condition Input Means 12 Internal Information Management Means 13 Information Display Means 31 Information Search Server Designation Means 32 Search Information Designation Means 33 Information Search Server Communication Means 34 Search information storage means 100 Information search device 101 Information search server 102 Dictionary server 103 Internet 104 Dictionary lookup function 105 WWW browser function

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. Input / output means for inputting data for acquiring search information and data for managing internal information, and displaying and outputting the acquired search information; and input / output means for inputting from the input / output means. A search information acquisition unit that communicates with an information search server external to the information search apparatus and acquires the search information from the information search server according to the data for acquiring the search information; An internal information storage unit that stores internal information that is information for changing the search information acquired by the search information acquisition unit, and an information conversion unit that changes the search information acquired by the search information acquisition unit. When the data for acquiring the information is input, the search information acquiring unit acquires the information according to the data for acquiring the search information. The search information is acquired from the search server, the information conversion unit changes the search information acquired by referring to the internal information of the internal information storage unit, and the input / output unit displays and outputs the changed search information. An information retrieval device characterized by the above. 2. The information conversion means comprises means for updating internal information based on search information, and when data for managing internal information is input to the input / output means, the input / output means outputs the internal information. Internal information is updated according to the data for managing, and when the search information acquisition unit acquires the search information, the information conversion unit updates the internal information based on the acquired search information. The information search device according to claim 1. 3. The input / output means manages internal information, and search condition input means for inputting data specifying an information search server, which is data for obtaining search information, and data specifying search information. Internal information management means for inputting data for performing search, and information display means for displaying and outputting the acquired search information, wherein the search information acquisition means is the information search input from the search condition input means. An information search server designating means for storing data designating a server and designating an information search server in accordance therewith; and data designating search information inputted from the search condition inputting means and designating information to be searched accordingly Between the search information designating means and the information search server according to the designation of the information search server designating means and the search information designating means. And a search information storage unit for storing the search information acquired by the information search server communication unit, wherein the information conversion unit is the search information storage unit. 3. The information search device according to claim 1, wherein the search information stored in is changed. 4. The information search server is a WWW server, and is connected to the information search device as a WWW browser via the Internet. Information retrieval device. 5. The information search device is connected to first and second information search servers, the search information acquisition means acquires the first search information from the first information search server, and the information conversion means. However, by referring to the internal information, data for obtaining dictionary information about a predetermined word / phrase included in the first search information from the second information search server as second search information is stored in the first search information. 5. The information search device according to claim 4, wherein the first search information is changed so as to be incorporated in the search information. 6. The data to be incorporated into the first search information by the information converting means, when the first search information is displayed and output in a foreign language, is a Japanese word about a predetermined word included in the first search information. The dictionary information, which is a translation in words, is
6. The information search device according to claim 5, wherein the information is data to be acquired as the search information. 7. A first information search server that refers to predetermined information as first search information, a second information search server that refers to second search information, and these are connected via a network. When the data for acquiring the first search information is input to the information search device, the information search device,
According to the data for obtaining the first search information, the first search information is obtained from the first information search server, and the internal data is referred to thereby obtain the first data for referring to the second search information. First to be incorporated in the search information of
The information retrieval system characterized in that the retrieval information is changed and the altered retrieval information is displayed and output by the input / output means. 8. The network is the Internet, the first information search server is a WWW server that refers to predetermined information as first search information, and the second information search server is a second search. The information retrieval system according to claim 7, which is a WWW server that sends dictionary information as information. 9. An information search server, which is a WWW server for referring to predetermined information as search information, a dictionary server, which is a WWW server for sending dictionary information, and a WWW browser connected to these via the Internet. An information search device, wherein the information search device obtains the search information from the information search server in accordance with data for obtaining the search information, and a WWW browser function for obtaining the search information, and a dictionary from the dictionary server by referring to internal information. And a dictionary lookup function for changing and displaying and outputting the search information so that the data for acquiring the information is incorporated into the search information, and the data for acquiring the search information is input to the information search device. In response to this input, the information retrieval device uses the WWW browser function to retrieve the information. The search information is acquired from the search server, and the search information is changed and displayed and output so as to incorporate the data for acquiring the dictionary information from the dictionary server by referring to the internal information by the dictionary lookup function. An information retrieval system characterized by: