The problem of finding accurate, relevant, and appropriate information on the Web

The following quoted text (beginning at the bullet) is taken from the statement of prior art in US patent application entitled Knowledge Web filed in 2003 by Daniel W. Hillis and Bran Ferren. Knowledge Web is the IP being implemented by Metaweb Technologies in support of its product, Freebase. I previously blogged about Metaweb in The Funding of the Emerging Semantic Web. I've also blogged about the Knowledge Web patent application in US Patent App 20050086188: Knowledge Web (Hillis, Daniel W. et al) Φ.

• 1. Technical Field
  
  The invention relates to knowledge. More particularly, the invention relates to a system for organizing knowledge in such a way that users can find it, learn from it, and add to it as needed.
  
  2. Description of the Prior Art
  
  There is widespread agreement that the amount of knowledge in the world is growing so fast that even experts have trouble keeping up. Today not even the most highly trained professionals--in areas as diverse as science, medicine, law, and engineering--can hope to have more than a general overview of what is known. They spend a large percentage of their time keeping up on the latest information, and often specialize in highly narrow sub-fields because they find it impossible to keep track of broader developments.
  
  Education traditionally meant the acquisition of the knowledge people needed for their working lives. Today, however, a college education can only provide an overview of knowledge in a specialized area, and a set of skills for learning new things as the need arises. Professionals need new tools that allow them to access new knowledge as they need it.

   
  The World Wide Web

  In spite of this explosion of knowledge, mechanisms for distributing it have remained pretty much the same for centuries: personal communication, schools, journals, and books. The World Wide Web is the one major new element in the landscape. It has fundamentally changed how knowledge is shared, and has given us a hint of what is possible. Its most important attribute is that it is accessible--it has made it possible for people to not only learn from materials that have now been made available to them, but also to easily contribute to the knowledge of the world in their turn. As a result, the Web's chief feature now is people exuberantly sharing their knowledge.
  
  The Web also affords a new form of communication. Those who grew up with hypertext, or have otherwise become accustomed to it, find the linear arrangement of textbooks and articles confining and inconvenient. In this respect, the Web is clearly better than conventional text.
  
  The Web, however, is lacking in many respects.
  
  It has no mechanism for the vetting of knowledge. There is a lot of information on the Web, but very little guidance as to what is useful or even correct.
  
  There are no good mechanisms for organizing the knowledge in a manner that helps users find the right information for them at any time. Access to the (often inconsistent or incorrect) knowledge on the Web thus is often through search engines, which are all fundamentally based on key word or vocabulary techniques. The documents found by a search engine are likely to be irrelevant, redundant, and often just plain wrong.
  
  The Web knows very little about the user (except maybe a credit card number). It has no model of how the user learns, or what he does and does not know--or, for that matter, what it does and does not know.
  
  A Comparison of Knowledge Sources
  
  There are several aspects to how learners obtain knowledge--they might look at how authoritative the source is, for example, or how recent the information is, or they might want the ability to ask the author a question or to post a comment. Those with knowledge to share might prefer a simple way to publish that knowledge, or they might seek out a well-known publisher to maintain their authority.
  
  While books and journals offer the authority that comes with editors and reviewers, as well as the permanence of a durable product, the Web and newsgroups provide immediacy and currency, as well as the ability to publish without the bother of an editorial process. Table "A" is a summary of the affordances of various forms of publishing.

  Corporate and Government Needs

  For institutions, corporations, and governments, failure to keep track of knowledge has consequences that are quite different from those for an individual. Often, institutions make a bad decision due to lack of knowledge on the part of those at the right place and at the right time, even though someone else within the institution may actually hold the relevant knowledge.
  
  Similarly, within a corporation, the process of filtering and abstracting knowledge as it moves through the hierarchy often leaves the decision-maker (whether the CEO, the design engineer, or the corporate lawyer) in a position of deciding without the benefit of the best information. The institutional problem is made worse by the problem of higher employee turnover in the more fluid job market, so that the traditional depository of knowledge--long-standing employees--is beginning to evaporate, just as the amount of knowledge that needs to be kept track of is exploding.
  
  The consequences of not having the right knowledge at the right place and time can be very severe: doctors prescribing treatments that are sub-optimal, engineers designing products without the benefit of the latest technical ideas, business executives making incorrect strategic decisions, lawyers making decisions without knowledge of relevant precedents or laws, and scientists working diligently to rediscover things that are already known--all these carry tremendous costs to society.
  
  The invention addresses the problem of providing a system that has a very large, e.g. multi-petabyte, database of knowledge to a very large number of diverse users, which include both human beings and automated processes. There are many aspects of this problem that are significant challenges. Managing a very large database is one of them. Connecting related data objects is another. Providing a mechanism for creating and retrieving metadata about a data object is a third.
  
  In the past, various approaches have been used to solve different parts of this problem. The World Wide Web, for example, is an attempt to provide a very large database to a very large number of users. However, it fails to provide reliability or data security, and provides only a limited amount of metadata, and only in some cases. Large relational database systems tackle the problem of reliability and security very well, but are lacking in the ability to support diverse data and diverse users, as well as in metadata support.
  
  The ideal system should permit the diverse databases that exist today to continue to function, while supporting the development of new data. It should permit a large, diverse set of users to access this data, and to annotate it and otherwise add to it through various types of metadata. Users should be able to obtain a view of the data that is complete, comprehensive, valid, and enhanced based on the metadata.
  
  The system should support data integrity, redundancy, availability, scalability, ease of use, personalization, feedback, controlled access, and multiple data formats. The system must accommodate diverse data and diverse metadata, in addition to diverse user types. The access control system must be sufficiently flexible to give different users access to different portions of the database, with distributed management of the access control. Flexible administration must allow portions of the database to be maintained independently, and must allow for new features to added to the system as it grows.
  
  It would be advantageous to provide a system to organize knowledge in such a way that users can find it, learn from it, and add to it as needed. ....
  While the invention herein is directed to solving various problems with regard to using, managing, and accessing information, three specific problems are identified in FIG. 1.
  
  
  [Original image modified for size and/or readability] In FIG. 1a, a user 10 needs information to make a decision, for example with regard to a medical condition. The user accesses the universe of available information 11 which, in this case, could be the World Wide Web or other sources of information. A process 12 is required in this regard that would allow the user to find accurate, relevant, and appropriate information.
  
  In FIG. 1b, the universe of available information 11 exists and a process is required for searching the information to identify patterns of information that are useful, for example a government agency trying to identify a pattern of information that might predict a security threat.
  
  In FIG. 1c, a user 10 needs to acquire particular pieces of knowledge to fill gaps in the user's personal knowledge. When accessing the universe of available information 11, a process is required that allows the user to identify what needs to be learned and what information is extraneous and therefore need not be considered. The process 14 must also present the information in a format that most closely matches the user's preferred learning style and/or intellectual interests." 
  

US Patent App 20050086188: Knowledge Web (Hillis, Daniel W. et al)

Title: Knowledge Web
Patent App Number: US Patent Application 20050086188
Filed: October 1, 2003
PCT filed: April 10, 2002
WIPO priority dates: April 11, 2001 & Dec. 21, 2001 (see parent case)
Parent case: (WO/2002/084590) Knowledge Web
Inventor(s): Daniel W. Hillis & Bran Ferren
Assignee: Not identified in USPTO application but Applied Minds, Inc. is identified as an applicant in parent case.
Prior art description: The problem of finding accurate, relevant, and appropriate information on the Web Φ
Abstract:

"A system and method for organizing knowledge in such a way that humans can find knowledge, learn from it, and add to it as needed is disclosed. The exemplary system has four components: a knowledge base, a learning model and an associated tutor, a set or user tools, and a backend system. The invention also preferably comprises a set of application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow these components to work together, so that other people can create their own versions of each of the components. In the knowledge web a community of people with knowledge to share put knowledge in the database using the user tools. The knowledge may be in the form of documents or other media, or it may be a descriptor of a book or other physical source. Each piece of knowledge is associated with various types of meta-knowledge about what the knowledge is for, what form it is in, and so on."

Blogger comment(s):

The inventors began globally filing patents in 2001 with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). But, with the lone exception of the subject patent application, they did not keep up the patent application fees. That is, only the subject USPTO patent application for “Knowledge web” remains. The USPTO patent fees for the subject patent application were paid on January 18, 2008. This heralds that the USPTO will issue a patent out of the application though it will not be enforceable beyond U.S. borders. See The Funding of the Emerging Semantic Web posted elsewhere on this blog site.

Independent claims (as numbered):

1. A system for organizing knowledge in such a way that users can find knowledge, learn from it, and add to it as needed, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a set of user tools comprising one or more tools for entering said knowledge, said meta-knowledge, and said one or more annotations into said knowledge base; and a user learning model comprising any of information on a user's needs, capabilities, knowledge, and preferences, said meta-knowledge stored in said knowledge base, and generalized knowledge about how people learn.

3. A method for organizing knowledge in such a way that users can find it, learn from it, and add to it as needed, comprising any of the steps of: finding chains of explanations that connect concepts a user needs to learn to what said user already knows; showing said user a map of what said user needs to learn; choosing explanatory paths that match said user's preferred style of learning, optionally including any of enough side paths, interesting examples, multimedia documents, and related curiosities to match said user's level of interest; whenever possible, following explanatory paths laid down by great teachers; if an explanation does not work, and consistently raises a particular type of question, then recording this information in a database where it can be used in planning paths of other students; once said user has learned said concepts, updating said database to indicate that said user has recently learned said concepts; reinforcing said user's learning by finding connections that tie said concepts together; keeping track of changes in said user's preferred style of learning and pre-existing knowledge; when an explanation does not work, trying another approach; said user performing any of probing further, requesting examples, and living said database explicit feedback; and said database using feedback to adjust a lesson, and thereby learning more about said user.

4. A system for organizing knowledge in such a way that users can find knowledge, learn from it, and add to it as needed, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a viewing tool for accessing said knowledge; a tutor for maintaining a model of a user, and for finding useful knowledge to present to said user; an authoring tool for adding knowledge into said knowledge base; and a backend system comprising a database that stores and manages said knowledge base.

15. A system for organizing knowledge in such a way that users can find knowledge, learn from it, and add to it as needed, comprising: a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge; a viewing tool for accessing said knowledge, wherein said viewing tool supports choosing topics that a user wants to learn about, viewing explanations provided to said user as a sequence of presentations, and annotating; a tutor for maintaining a user learning model, and for finding useful knowledge to present to said user; an authoring tool for enabling an author to add knowledge into said knowledge base; and a backend system comprising a database system that stores and manages said knowledge base.

35. An apparatus for storing, organizing, and sharing a very large amount of loosely structured data among a large and diverse group of users, comprising: a database that can be accessed and modified by thousands of users concurrently; a distributed registry for keeping track of where and how said data and associated metadata are stored; wherein data objects are represented as nodes of a labeled graph, and said associated metadata are represented by labeled links connecting said nodes; wherein said nodes represent data of different types and in different formats, including text, image, sound, video, and structured data.

47. A user interface for use with a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge, said user interface comprising: a viewing tool for accessing said knowledge, wherein said viewing tool supports choosing topics that said user wants to learn about, viewing explanations provided to said user as a sequence of presentations, and annotating; said viewing tool further comprising: a module for allowing said user to navigate through links, see patterns in connections, and reorganize information according to multiple navigational schemes; a module for allowing user to see the detailed local information, and also see how that information fits into a broader global context; and a topic search engine for selecting one or more topics that a user wants to learn about.

59. A method for use with a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said knowledge, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary by users, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge, said method comprising the steps of: when a data object is registered, using its type and content to generate a fast, unique hash value, which is used as an index into a registry; wherein said hash value is used to identify and register a data object into said registry and is used as an index in said registry's hash table.

60. A data object registry method for use with a knowledge base comprising knowledge, meta-knowledge that was created at a time of entry of said core content, and meta-knowledge in the form of one or more annotations that accumulate over time, said annotations including any of, but not limited to, usefulness of said knowledge, additional user opinions, certifications of veracity of said knowledge, commentary, and connections between said knowledge and other units of knowledge, said method comprising the steps of: representing a plurality of registered data objects as a hash table entry; wherein hash table entries identify a data object's location, representation, and any associated metadata; each hash table entry comprising an index hash, an optional cryptographically strong signature for verification and security, a data identifier, and a metadata identifier.

Key Drawing(s):

"The Knowledge Web--an Overview

Several of the key concepts underlying the knowledge web's approach to addressing the identified problems are detailed below.

A Broad Knowledge Base

A community of people with knowledge to share put knowledge into a knowledge base using a set of user tools. The knowledge may be in the form of documents or other media, or it may be a descriptor of a book or other physical source.

A central feature of the knowledge web is that each piece of knowledge is associated with various types of meta-knowledge about what the knowledge is for, what form it is in, and so on. Conceptually, the knowledge base is a centralized resource with possible private compartments, much like the Internet. Also like the Internet, it is intended to be implemented in a distributed manner.

The knowledge in the knowledge base may be created specifically for the knowledge base, but it may also consist of information converted from other sources, such as scientific documents, books, journals, Web pages, film, video, audio files, and course notes. As Marshall McLuhan observed, "The content of the new medium is the old medium."

The initial knowledge within the knowledge web comprises existing curriculum materials, books and journals, and those explanatory pages that are already on the World Wide Web. These existing materials already contain enough examples, problems, illustrations, and even lesson plans to provide utility to an early incarnation of the knowledge web.

The knowledge base thus represents:

Knowledge (online content or references to online or offline content), and

Meta-knowledge, created at the time of entry, accumulating over time, and indicating, for example, the usefulness of the knowledge, reflecting user opinions of the knowledge, certifying the veracity of the knowledge, providing commentary on the knowledge, or indicating connections between the knowledge and other units of knowledge.

Collaboration and Community Involvement

One aspect of the knowledge web is peer-to-peer publishing. The task of recording and sharing the world's knowledge is so monumental that peer-to-peer publishing by a very large number of people is the preferred manner in which to accomplish it. One of the reasons why the Web and Internet news groups have enjoyed such runaway success is that they allow people to communicate with each other directly, without intermediaries. This basic human desire to share knowledge is also what drives the creation of the knowledge web.

Many people have specialized knowledge about certain topics, and know how to teach them especially well, but there are few easy ways for them to share that information effectively with a large audience, short of teaching a course, writing a textbook, or developing a television special. With the knowledge web's authoring tools, anyone with knowledge to share can publish short pieces, such as a single explanation of a concept--an effort comparable to creating a Web page. These explanations are the basic building blocks of the knowledge web.

While the knowledge web builds on systems such as the World Wide Web, Internet news groups, libraries, professional societies, books, and refereed journals, it allows an even more generalized form of linking than the World Wide Web. In the knowledge web, the author as well as readers can create annotations. These annotations can then be used for advanced features such as author credits, usage tracking, and commenting, that the Web lacks.

Users are also able to add annotations to explanations connecting them to other content, suggesting improvements, and rating their accuracy, usefulness, and appropriateness. Such feedback enhances the value of the knowledge web, keeps it current and useful, and eventually makes its way back to the original authors, so that they can use it to improve their explanations.

This ability of users to comment, filter, and review the content of the knowledge web solves one of the serious problems with peer-to-peer publishing--that of quality control. While publishers of textbooks and journals provide editing and selection services, the information on the World Wide Web is often irrelevant, badly presented, or just plain wrong (and that's not including the pornography and the propaganda). The knowledge web's peer review infrastructure also leads the way for third-party certification of content, further enhancing the knowledge.

Individualized Learning

The knowledge web allows for learning tailored to an individual learner. This is accomplished through the use of a tutor that customizes a user's learning experience based on a user learning model. The tutor handles the key problem of presenting the right information to the user at the right time. The knowledge web's tutor does not create or transform the knowledge itself, but merely maps a path from what a user already knows to what he needs to learn.

The learning model for an individual user combines a user profile, reflecting information on the current knowledge, needs, capabilities, and preferences of the user, with generalized knowledge about how people learn. The tutor draws upon the learning model and the meta-knowledge stored in the knowledge base to allow learning in a manner most fit for the user. In its simplest form, the tutor follows the explicit instructions of a human teacher on how to teach a certain body of knowledge to a certain type of person.

For example, the tutor may show that a given user has a firm understanding of calculus, a general understanding of Newtonian physics, and is completely mystified by quantum mechanics. The model may also include a much more detailed model of certain topics that are of particular importance to the user. For instance, in the case of a medical practitioner, it knows not only the physician's specialty, but it also knows with which recent discoveries, within that specialty, the physician is already familiar.

Most significantly, the user profile of a user is continually updated, allowing the tutor to become better acquainted with the user over time. It knows what the user already understands and what he is ready to learn. It knows the user's learning style: whether he prefers pictures or stories, examples or abstractions ...."

[Original image modified for size and/or readability]"FIG. 2 shows a database represented as a labeled graph, where data objects 24 are connected by labeled links 22 to each other and to concept nodes 20. For example, a concept node for a particular category 21, contains two subcategories 21a, 21b that are linked via labeled links "belongs-to" and "related-to" with text 25 and picture 27. An entity 23 comprises another concept that is linked via labeled links "refers-to," "picture-of," "associated-with," and "describes" with Web page 26, picture 27, audio clip 28, and data 29."

The knowledge base thus represents:

1. Knowledge (online content or references to online or offline content), and
2. Meta-knowledge, created at the time of entry, accumulating over time, and indicating, for example, the usefulness of the knowledge, reflecting user opinions of the knowledge, certifying the veracity of the knowledge, providing commentary on the knowledge, or indicating connections between the knowledge and other units of knowledge."

 [emphasis added, including bullets]

US Patent 6,671,696: Informational object authoring and distribution system (Pardalis Inc.)

Title: Informational object authoring and distribution system
Patent Number: US Patent 6,671,696
Issued: December 30, 2003
Filed: August 20, 2001
Parent case: n/a
Inventor(s): Steven L. Holcombe & Marvin L. Stone
Assignee: Pardalis, Inc.
Referenced at issuance: US Patent 5,511,197 (Microsoft Corporation) Φ, US Patent 5,724,588 (Microsoft Corporation) Φ, US Patent 6,438,560 (IBM Corporation) Φ, and US Patent 6,493,719 (Microsoft Corporation) Φ.
Referenced after issuance: US Patent 7,225,302 (SAP AG)
Blogger comment:

There were 7 references to prior patents at issuance, including US Patent 5,511,197 (Microsoft Corporation), US Patent 5,724,588 (Microsoft Corporation), US Patent 6,438,560 (IBM Corporation), and US Patent 6,493,719 (Microsoft Corporation). The remaining 3 references are unremarkable for the scope and purposes of this blog.

An advanced search at USPTO online on June 30, 2008 for distinguishing references to this patent after its issuance using ref/6,671,696 reveals 1 reference: US Patent 7,225,302 (SAP AG).

Furthermore, US Patent 6,671,696 has been subsequently distinguished from US Patent 5,220,657 (Xerox Corporation) Φ by the Australian patent examiners in Australian Patent 2002323103, a foreign filing of US Patent 6,671,696.

[EDITOR'S UPDATE 14 Feb 2013: For more information on US Patent 6,671,696, see The Roots of Common Point Authoring (CPA) published elsewhere at this blog site.] 

Abstract:

A typical immutable informational object and its contents that are authored, distributed and maintained by the present informational object authoring and distribution system comprise a unique identifier that designates the informational object, as well as one or more immutable data elements, each of which itself is identified by a corresponding unique identifier. The informational object may also contain other data, such as formatting data, permissions data, security data and the like. The data elements that are associated with a particular informational object are typically stored in a separate file system from the informational object, and are linked via the use of pointers, which comprise the data element unique identifiers.

Independent claims (as numbered):

1. An information authoring and distribution system for generating information objects, each of which contains a set of immutable data, comprising: first means for maintaining in a read-only mode, a plurality of immutable data elements, each of which is identified by a unique identifier; second means for maintaining in a read-only mode, a set of data that defines an informational object, said set of data comprising a plurality of said unique identifiers that correspond to a selected set of said plurality of data elements; means for enabling an authorized authoring member to create data comprising at least one of a draft data element and a draft informational object; means for authenticating said at least one of a draft data element and a draft informational object created by said authorized authoring member; means for converting said authenticated at least one of a draft data element and a draft informational object created by said authorized authoring member to a corresponding immutable at least one of a data element and an informational object; means for writing said created immutable at least one of a data element and an informational object into a memory for use by said first and said second means for maintaining.

12. A method for generating information objects, each of which contains a set of immutable data, comprising the steps of: maintaining in a read-only mode, a plurality of immutable data elements, each of which is identified by a unique identifier; maintaining in a read-only mode, a set of data that defines an informational object, said set of data comprising a plurality of said unique identifiers that correspond to a selected set of said plurality of data elements; enabling an authorized authoring member to create data comprising at least one of a draft data element and a draft informational object; authenticating said at least one of a draft data element and a draft informational object created by said authorized authoring member; converting said authenticated at least one of a draft data element and a draft informational object created by said authorized authoring member to a corresponding immutable at least one of a data element and an informational object; writing said created immutable at least one of a data element and an informational object into a memory for use by said first and said second means for maintaining.

23. An information authoring and distribution system for generating information objects, each of which contains a set of immutable data, comprising: data element database means for maintaining in a read-only mode, a plurality of immutable data elements, each of which is identified by a unique identifier; informational object database means for maintaining in a read-only mode, a set of data that defines an informational object, said set of data comprising a plurality of said unique identifiers that correspond to a selected set of said plurality of data elements; authoring client server means for enabling an authorized authoring member to create data comprising at least one of a draft data element and a draft informational object; authoring server means for converting said at least one of a draft data element and a draft informational object created by said authorized authoring member to a corresponding at least one of a data element and an informational object; database management means for writing said created at least one of a data element and an informational object into a corresponding one of said data element database means and said informational object database means.

Key Drawing(s):

Terminal Equipment and Communications Environment

FIGS. 1A & 1B illustrate in block diagram form the overall architecture of the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 and a typical environment in which it is operational. The members are typically equipped with one or more of a personal computer T1, T2, hand held computing device (not shown), cellular communication device T3, wireless computer device T4, or other data interface device, collectively termed "terminal equipment" herein. The data communication connection between the member's terminal equipment T1 and the present informational object authoring and distribution system 10 can be via the Internet 103, using the well known personal computer modem and Internet browser technology available at the member's terminal equipment T1. The member's terminal equipment is generally served by the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) which consists of a plurality of Local Exchange Systems 101, 102 interconnected via an Inter-Exchange Carrier Network 100. The physical connection that supports this data communication connection is typically effected from member's terminal equipment T1 through the Local Exchange System 102 of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) via a data communication medium (such as the Internet), termed IP Network 103 herein, to an Internet Service Provider 112 which is also connected thereto. The Internet 103 is also connected to a Local Exchange System 101 via Internet Service Provider 111 that serves the gateway 122 of the informational object authoring and distribution system 10. Alternatively, the member's terminal equipment, in the case of cellular communication device T3, or wireless computer device T4, is connected via the Mobile Telecommunications Switching Office (MTSO) 104 to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).


Figs. 1 & 2 [original image modified
for size and/or readability] The informational object authoring and distribution system 10 is connected to at least one data communication medium 103 (such as the Internet) to thereby enable members to obtain data communication connections with the informational object authoring and distribution system 10, as described in more detail below.

In addition, other computer systems, such as Advertiser WEB Site Server 130 can be served by the informational object authoring and distribution system 10. The advertiser WEB site server system typically comprises a firewall gateway 132, a server 131, terminal device(s) 133 and a mass storage device represented here as an advertising database 134. Such a system can be used to create advertisement materials for use in conjunction with the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 and to be provided to members who are linked to the advertiser WEB site system by the operation of the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 as described below.

The resources illustrated herein are selected for the purpose of illustrating the concept of the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 and are not intended to limit the applicability of this concept to other network implementations or system configurations.

Architecture of the Informational Object Authoring and Distribution System

Informational object authoring and distribution system 10 consists of a server 121 which is connected to the Internet 103 via a gateway 122 that comprises the firewall which protects the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 from unauthorized access and also implements the functionality to communicate with Internet Service Provider 111. The informational object authoring and distribution system 10 includes a plurality of databases, as described below. These databases include, but are not limited to: member database 123, registered data element database 124, registered informational object database 125, registered advertisement database 126, tracking/billing database 127, advertising association database 128, and software database 129. The databases noted herein are delimited by function for the purpose of simplifying the description of the informational object authoring and distribution system 10, but these databases can be implemented in a single physical database or a lesser or greater number of databases than is shown herein. Such selections are simply a matter of engineering choice and do not relate to the concepts disclosed herein. Similarly, a single server 121 is illustrated herein, executing a plurality of software modules: authentication server 141, tracking/billing server 142, authoring server 143, member accessing server 144, advertising server 145, but multiple servers can be used to perform this task. Thus, the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 disclosed herein represents one of many possible implementations to provide the described functionality to the designated recipients.

Informational Object and Data Elements 

Fig. 2 [original image modified
for size and/or readability]FIG. 2 illustrates a typical informational object and its contents that can be authored, distributed and maintained by the present informational object authoring and distribution system. In particular, the informational object 200 comprises a unique identifier 201 that designates the informational object 200, as well as a plurality of data elements 211-216, each of which itself is identified by a corresponding unique identifier 221-226. The informational object 200 can also contain other data 202, such as formatting data, permissions data, and the like as described herein. The data elements 211-216 that are associated with a particular informational object 200 are typically stored in a separate file system from the informational object 200, and are linked via the use of pointers, which comprise the data element unique identifiers 221-226.

Member Enrollment Process


Fig. 3 [original image modified
for size and/or readability] FIG. 3 illustrates in flow diagram form the operation of the member enrollment process of the present informational object authoring and distribution system 10 ....

At step 304, the prospective member provides the requested information by completing the data entry fields of the enrollment and agreement form and transmitting the completed form to the informational object authoring and distribution system 10. At step 305, the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 generates a unique enrollment number to identify and distinguish this prospective member from all other members, including members with duplicative or identical names, and checks at step 306 whether the enrollment and agreement form has been properly completed. If not, the processing branches to step 307 where an appropriate error message is returned to the prospective member indicating the improper form completion and noting that any enrollment fees will be returned if the enrollment process is terminated at this juncture, since enrollment has not been effected. If the enrollment form is correctly completed, processing advances to step 308 where, using the processes illustrated in FIG. 4, the prospective member's name and unique enrollment number are entered into the membership database 123 ....

If the processes illustrated in FIG. 4 reject the prospective member's name, processing returns to step 307 where an appropriate error message is returned to the prospective member indicating the violation of a quality standard and noting that any enrollment fees will be returned if the enrollment process is terminated at this juncture, since enrollment has not been effected. If the prospective member's name is acceptable, at step 309 the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 approves the enrollment and agreement form and assigns a user name and password to this new member to enable future access of the informational object authoring and distribution system 10. At step 310, the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 deposits all of the enrollment data that was entered by the member on the enrollment and agreement form, and makes an initial entry of good standing, into the membership database 123. An invoice is generated for the tracking/billing database 127 to debit the member for the enrollment fee. Failure of a member to timely pay for invoices, debits, usage fees, membership dues and other charges associated with membership in the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 results in the striking of the entry of good standing in the membership database 123.

At step 311, the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 transmits a notification of good standing to the member of a successful enrollment and delivers the user name and password, generated at step 309, to the member. In addition, the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 downloads the software modules from the software database 129 to the member terminal device T1 that are necessary to enable the member to perform the tasks for which they have subscribed. As described below, there are a number of software modules, including but not limited to: member client software, authoring client software, advertiser client software. Each of these modules corresponds to a basic function for which the member is enabled. The enrollment process then exits at step 312.

Data Element Creation Process

FIG. 4 illustrates in flow diagram form the operation of the data element creation process of the present informational object authoring and distribution system 10 ....

Fig. 4 [original image modified
for size and/or readability]At step 402, a member, in the process of creating a data element at step 512, uses the authoring client software module executing on the terminal device T1 to identify and choose the category of data element and submits the proposed content for this data element. At step 402, a prospective member, in the process of creating a member's name as a pre-defined data element at step 308, is permitted by the authentication server 141 only to identify and chose a specific category for that of a member name. In either case, the category information indicates which of the various data entry fields shown in FIG. 2 is selected for placement of this particular draft data element. There are typically differences among these data entry fields and the review and certification process executed by the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 relates the proposed draft data element to all other data elements of this category stored in the system database.

Therefore, at step 403, the authoring server 143 of the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 reviews the draft data element to determine whether the language contained therein is in approved format and content, using a content parsing review process to compare the language of the draft data element with a dictionary of approved terms. In addition, where the selected category accepts image data, the image data is reviewed for content and coding where appropriate. The format is similarly checked to ensure that adequate and thorough information is provided. If the content check discerns any flaws in the draft data element, at step 406 a message is returned to the member rejecting the draft data element, with appropriate notation relating to the reason for rejection. At step 404, if the draft data element is approved, the content is reviewed to determine whether the data element content corresponds to a member name. If so, processing branches to step 410 where the member name data element creation process subroutine is activated. This subroutine creates a standard immutable data element that comprises the member name for use in creating one or more informational objects, since the member's name appears on each informational object that the author creates. At step 411, the prospective member enters the unique enrollment number assigned at step 305, and at step 412 the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 assigns the unique enrollment number as an identifier to the prospective member's name data element. At step 413, the prospective member's name and registered data element identifier are permanently added to the membership database 123, the subroutine ends and processing exits at Step 414.

At step 404, if the draft data element is not a member name, processing advances to step 405 where the draft data element is compared by the authoring server 143 with all previously registered data elements of this category to ensure that the draft data element is not duplicative of a prior data element. If duplication is determined, at step 406 a message is returned to the member rejecting the draft data element, with appropriate notation relating to the reason for rejection. Otherwise, at step 407 the authoring server 143 of the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 generates a unique registered data element identifier and assigns this to the draft data element and at step 408, the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 translates the data element into other languages and appends a language identifier to each translation of the data element. Processing then advances to step 409 where this newly created data element is permanently added to the registered data element database 124, along with its corresponding unique identifier. This process then exits at step 414.

Informational Object Creation Process

FIG. 5 illustrates in flow diagram form the operation of the informational object creation process of the present informational object authoring and distribution system 10 ....

Fig. 5 [original image modified
for size and/or readability]If the member is in good standing, the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 certifies the member as an "author" for this process and advances to step 505 where the authoring client software module executing on the member's terminal device T1 is checked to identify the version of the software so that the authoring session executing of the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 can be compatible with the member's software. At step 506 the member initiates the authoring process for an informational object by creating an unregistered or draft informational object. At step 507, the authoring server 143 of the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 inserts various basic information into the unregistered informational object, such as a name freelanced by the member and an identifier of the software version used to create the informational object. The member at step 508 identifies the various formats available for use with this informational object, so various members who retrieve the informational object receive it formatted for their use, which formats are referred to as Document Versions ....  At step 509, the member must select their name by selecting a data element from the membership database 123 that corresponds to a previously stored data element whose content is the member's name. The authoring server 143 at step 510 enables the member to set permissions for access to the informational object as well as for ancillary services associated with the informational object. At step 511, these data elements selected in steps 509-510 are written into the informational object, at step 512 the member may create additional data elements using the process of FIG. 4, and at steps 513-514, the member must use previously created data elements found in the Registered Data Element Database 124 for insertion into the informational object.

At step 515, the tracking/billing server 142 of the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 calculates any fees that are due and enters this information into the tracking/billing database 127. The member determines at step 516 whether all of the necessary data elements have been inserted into the informational object. If not, processing returns to step 512 for such insertion. If all the necessary data elements have been provided, processing advances to step 517 where the member sets the permissions for this unregistered informational object and then transmits the unregistered informational object at step 518 for registration so this unregistered informational object can be processed to become a registered informational object, and the process exits at step 519.

Informational Object Registration Process


Fig. 6 [original image modified
for size and/or readability]FIG. 6 illustrates in flow diagram form the operation of the informational object registration process of the present informational object authoring and distribution system 10. At step 601, the unregistered informational object created using the process described with respect to FIG. 5, is submitted to the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 for registration. At step 602, the authoring server 143 checks the unregistered informational object for proper content, format and permissions. If the content and format are proper, at step 603 the authoring server 143 of the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 generates a unique informational object identification and substitutes this for the filename created by the member. At step 604, the authoring server 143 of the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 date and time stamps the informational object to complete the registration process and stores the registered informational object in immutable form in the informational object database 125 at step 605. At step 606, the informational object authoring and distribution system 10 updates the tracking/billing database 127 to debit the member's account for the cost of registering this informational object. This process exits at step 607.

BeefTalk: Do We Exist Only If Someone Else Knows We Exist?

The following excerpt is from a Beef Talk article recently authored by Dr. Kris Ringwall, Director of the Dickinson Research Extension Center for North Dakota State University. He is a regular and well-followed commentator within the beef industry.

"The concept of data collection is knocking on the door of the beef industry, but the concept is not registering. In fact, there actually is a fairly large disconnect.

This is ironic because most, if not all, beef producers pride themselves on their understanding of the skills needed to master the production of beef. Today, there is another player simply called “data.”

The information associated with individual cattle is critical. Producers need to understand how livestock production is viewed ....

That distinction is not being made and the ramifications are lost revenue in the actual value of the calf and lost future opportunity. This is critical for the future of the beef business ...."

For the full article, go to the BeefTalk article, Do We Exist Only If Someone Else Knows We Exist?

As Dr. Ringwall is also the Director of CalfAID, a USDA PVP Program for livestock source and birthdate information, you may also want to compare the Pardalis news release from November, 2007 entitled CalfAID Director Testifies To International Trade Commission. And you might also want to check out a March 2008 news release from North Dakota State University entitled N.D.’s CalfAID Program to Continue.

US Patent App 20040158455: Methods and systems for managing entities in a computing device using semantic objects (Radar Networks)

Title: Methods and systems for managing entities in a computing device using semantic objects
Patent App Number: US Patent Application 20040158455
Filed: November 20, 2003
Parent case: n/a
Inventor(s): Nova Spivack & Kristinn R. Thorisson
Assignee: Radar Network, Inc.
Prior art description: Categorizing the Internet's Serious Problems Φ
Abstract:

"A data construct referred to as a semcard is described. A semcard is a semantic (meaning-based) software object comprised of semantic meta-tags and meta-data that describes a target object or thing. A target object can be any type of digital or physical entity or identifier, or it can be tacit knowledge, such as ideas, concepts, processes or other data existing in a user's mind, provided that the user represents this knowledge in the semcard. A semcard also embodies information about its own structure--rules, history, state, policies and goals regarding automation, display, access permissions, sharing and other operations of the semcard and any optional target object, which may be contained within the semcard or be external to it. It can also represent a semantic link between two semcards, or between a semcard and its referent target. A collection of semcards represents a knowledge network; single semcards, as well as knowledge networks, can be browsed, shared, searched, disseminated, manipulated, displayed, organized, and stored as desired by the individual users of the semcard or knowledge network having a semcard management application or browsing software on their computational devices. Semcards can also represent relationships between users or, more generally, people and entities. A relationship semcard stores information relevant to a relationship and an invitation semcard is used to initiate a relationship. Semcards hold metadata, policies, and automation instructions about a relationship and, combined with a comparison mechanism, enable the enforcing application to control numerous aspects of the relationship thus represented, including which users can send the intended recipient data and what type of data the intended recipient has agreed to accept."

Blogger comments:

The present application claims priority under 35 USC Section 119 to Provisional Patent 60/427,550 filed on Nov. 20, 2002, titled Semantic Network Platform, Framework and Application as do the following two U.S. patent applications US Patent Application 20040220893 (Radar Networks), US Patent Application 20040230676 (Radar Networks). See also US Patent Application 20060004703.

For additional information, Nova Spivack very well tracks the claims and specifications set forth in the subject application in Nova Spivack: Making Sense of the Semantic Web, found elsewhere at this blog site. See also The Funding of the Emerging Semantic Web also found elsewhere at this blog site.

Independent claims (as numbered):

1. A semantic object representing an entity or tacit information, the semantic object comprising: semantic tags describing attributes of the entity or tacit information, including relationships to other semantic objects, to physical or software objects, or to information existing in the mind of a human being; and rules embodying goals, automation and other policies regarding how the semantic object interacts with, is manipulated by, and is displayed to human beings and automatic processes; wherein a semantic object can be searched using semantic tags and meta-data contained in the semantic object, the meta-data being paired with the semantic tags and wherein the semantic tags can be extended by an owner of the semantic object and shared over a network.

2. A method of managing a relationship between a first semantic object and a second semantic object, wherein the relationship is represented by a third semantic object, the method comprising: posting an invitation semantic object; accepting the invitation semantic object; providing the second semantic object with a first set of policies of the first semantic object and providing the first semantic object with a second set of policies of the second semantic object, wherein the policies can prevent data from being received at a semantic object by preventing data from originating at a source; encapsulating data about the relationship in the third semantic object; and enabling modification of either set of policies during the relationship.

Key Drawing(s):

"A semcard can be thought of as a form with fields or slots, and has two incarnations, template and instance, which correspond roughly to the object-oriented programming concepts of object template and object instance.

As shown in further detail in FIGS. 1 and 2, [below,] each semcard has numerous semantic dimensions, also referred to as meta-tags in the semcard template. For example, for a semcard representing a material object, a semantic dimension (meta-tag) can be "color", which contains a particular value (meta-data), and restrictions on what kind that value may be. (Semcards are also used to represent the semcard templates themselves.) To fill out a semcard, an instance is made of a semcard's template, and selected slots of the instance are filled with values. Each semcard instance, its semantic dimensions, and their values for each semcard, can be stored on a computer readable medium as an XML (eXtensible Markup Language) object, using the RDF (Resource Description Framework) format, any binary storage format, or other chosen format. Semcard templates can be created by designers, who hand-pick the meta-tags that define the semcard's referent target. Semcards can also be created dynamically and automatically through automated selection and organization of meta-tags from a pool of metatags; the selection of meta-tags and their organization in the semcard being driven by heuristic rules, e.g. by the meta-tags' popularity with a group of semcard users and authors.


[Original image modified for size and/or readability] Referring to FIG. 1, a semcard 1 contains rows, called slots, 2 for storing metatag-metadata pairs, tags on the left side 3, metadata on the right-hand side 4. A semcard 2 with example tags 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16 and example values for each tag 7, 9, 11, 13, 15. Slot 17 would hold a reference to a link semcard, as explained further below and in FIG. 6. In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, semcards are defined in XML that can be easily transformed to/from other data formats, including other XML formats, HTML, RSS, RDF, SHOE, DAML+OIL and OWL, as well as other application specific data formats. For the purposes of the present invention, the size and complexity of a semcard can vary. A collection of semcards linked together is referred to as a knowledge network. In a preferred embodiment, people can access and manipulate individual semcards, and knowledge networks, via desktop tools, as well as with standard Web browsers.

Referring to FIG. 2, a semcard 1 contains data 2 which references 3 to an external entity 4, stored on a computer-readable medium 5 .... The semcard's 1 tags 6 are defined 11 in an external ontology 7, which has standard nodes 8 and relationships between them 9. The semcard 1 contains data 12 which references a display specification 14, said display specification containing data 15 referencing 16 an application 17, stored in a computer-readable medium 18, said application being used to view and manipulate the entity 4 referenced by the semcard 1. The display specification 14 containing tags 19 which are also defined 20 in ontology 7. This ontology can be the same or a different ontology that defines the tags for the semcard 1 ....

[Original image modified for size and/or readability]

Although the amount of metadata in a single semcard can be very small or extremely large, a semcard is intended to be of a convenient size from a cognitive standpoint, so as not to overload its user with too much information. For example, a semcard describing an automobile would have the typical "common sense" data about its color, type, seating, engine power, etc.; if more information was desired to be represented about the car's engine, a separate semcard could be created for this purpose, and linked to from the automobile semcard. This way the relationship between single semcards and collections of semcards--or knowledge networks--is kept at a cognitively manageble ratio.