Information Processing Program, Information Processing Method, and Information Processing Apparatus

Abstract

To identify a material suitable for a user.SOLUTION: An information processing program causes a computer to execute processing as follows: storing history information including at least any one of a user's range and speed of reading a first material, and material information obtained by associating information on the material with information indicating a difficulty level; identifying a difficulty level corresponding to the user on the basis of the history information; and identifying information on a second material corresponding to the identified difficulty level on the basis of the material information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 14

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing program, an information processing method, and an information processing apparatus.

Background Art

[0002] As one of the services provided by a library, a Web service is known that enables non-visitors to search for books (which may also be referred to as "materials") as if they were in the library without actually visiting the library.

[0003] For example, the Web service accumulates electronic data of books and allows a user to view the electronic data of a book selected (lent request made) by the user, thereby lending the book to the user.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] When presenting (recommending) recommended books to a user in the above-described Web service in a library, the Web service identifies the user's preferences based on information such as the user's book search history information or book viewing history information in the Web service, and recommends books in the same field as the identified preferences to the user.

[0006] However, it is difficult for the Web service to determine whether the books searched or viewed and selected by the user meet the user's expectations.

[0007] For example, there may be a case where a book in the same field as the book previously selected by the user and with a similar level of difficulty is recommended to the user. However, such a recommendation does not necessarily meet the user's expectations.

[0008] That is, for example, if the book read by the user is highly specialized compared to the user's knowledge and the user cannot understand it, the user may look for a book at a basic level to supplement their knowledge as the next book to read. Also, if the book read by the user is at an appropriate level for the user, the user may look for a more specialized book with the aim of improving proficiency. In such cases, even if a book with a similar level of difficulty to the previous book is recommended as described above, the book does not meet the user's expectations and the recommendation is not useful.

[0009] In addition, in order to identify the user's preferences, abilities, and knowledge, for example, it may be considered that the web service confirms with the user whether the book borrowed by the user is suitable for the user's preferences and level (for example, by conducting a questionnaire), but this is not realistic from the perspective of the burden on the library and the user.

[0010] From the above, in the web service described above, there may be cases where books suitable for the user are not recommended.

[0011] In one aspect, an object of the present invention is to identify materials suitable for the user while suppressing the burden on the user.

Means for Solving the Problem

[0012] In one aspect, the information processing program may cause a computer to execute the following processing. The processing is For each predetermined range obtained by dividing the content of the first material by the user reading browsing history and by the user for each of the predetermined ranges browsing speed and including historical information, and a plurality of materials For each of the predetermined ranges obtained by dividing the content of the material, for each keyword included in the predetermined range and of the predetermined rangeIt may store the material information associated with the information indicating the difficulty level. Further, based on the history information, the processing may identify the difficulty level corresponding to the user. identify the keyword of interest that the user is interested in, and according to the browsing speed of the predetermined range including the keyword of interest, the keyword of interest corresponding to attach the user. Furthermore, based on the material information, the processing may identify information regarding a second material corresponding to the identified difficulty level. including the identified keyword of interest in a predetermined range, and corresponding to the identified the difficulty level of the predetermined range is difficulty level.

Advantages of the Invention

[0013] In one aspect, the present invention can identify materials suitable for the user while suppressing the load on the user.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0014]

Figure 1

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Figure 15

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0015] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiments described below are merely examples, and there is no intention of excluding various modifications or applications of technologies not explicitly described below. For example, the present embodiment can be implemented with various modifications without departing from its gist. In the drawings used in the following description, parts denoted by the same reference numerals represent the same or similar parts unless otherwise specified.

[0016] 〔1〕One Embodiment 〔1-1〕Example of System Configuration FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a system 1 according to one embodiment. The system 1 is an example of an information processing system, and may include, for example, a server 2 that provides a service for lending books to users, and one or more (a plurality in the example of FIG. 1) terminals 3 used by users.

[0017] The server 2 is an example of a computer or an information processing device, and may be, for example, a server used by an enterprise or an organization, in addition to a library including a public library. By executing the server program 20, the server 2 provides a Web service that enables users using the terminal 3 to search for a plurality of books arranged on a virtual bookshelf (which may be referred to as a "virtual bookshelf" or an "electronic bookshelf"), present recommended books, lend them, and view them.

[0018] In addition, when the viewing of books is realized by an application (viewing application) installed on the terminal 3, the server 2 may obtain viewing information in cooperation with the viewing application. Further, when the terminal 3 executes an application (library application) for searching for a plurality of books, presenting recommended books, lending, and viewing, etc., the server 2 may transmit and receive information used for executing the library application to and from the terminal 3 (terminal program 30).

[0019] In the Web service provided by the server 2, books may be arranged on a virtual bookshelf according to predetermined conditions, for example, in the same manner as the arrangement of books in a library or the like. In one embodiment, the predetermined conditions (for example, the order) may include presenting books suitable for the user (for example, books that match the user's preferences) as "recommended books", for example, arranging them on a virtual bookshelf. Thereby, the user using the terminal 3 can search (browse) for books as if he / she were in a library, and can easily find books suitable for the user. Note that the books may be books that have been electronically converted into a data format that can be viewed on the Web service. Hereinafter, the books that have been electronically converted may be referred to as "electronic books" in some cases.

[0020] The terminal 3 is an example of a computer or an information processing device, and may be various information processing terminals such as a PC (Personal Computer) used by a user, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or an e-book reader. The terminal 3 may be able to use the Web service provided by the server 2 by executing the terminal program 30.

[0021] The terminal program 30 may be an application such as a Web browser that can display a screen provided by the server 2. Alternatively, the terminal program 30 may be a library application that executes searching for a plurality of books, presenting recommended books, lending, and viewing, etc., and may execute these processes based on information transmitted and received to and from the server program 20, for example.

[0022] The server 2 and each of the plurality of terminals 3 may be communicably connected to each other via a network 4. The network 4 may include one or both of the Internet and a LAN (Local Area Network).

[0023] 〔1-2〕Hardware Configuration Example The server 2 according to one embodiment may be a virtual server (VM; Virtual Machine) or a physical server. Further, the functions of the server 2 may be realized by one computer or may be realized by two or more computers. Furthermore, at least a part of the functions of the server 2 may be realized using HW (Hardware) resources and NW (Network) resources provided by a cloud environment.

[0024] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware (HW) configuration example of a computer 10 that realizes the functions of the server 2. When a plurality of computers are used as the HW resources for realizing the functions of the server 2, each computer may have the HW configuration illustrated in FIG. 2.

[0025] As shown in FIG. 2, the computer 10 may illustratively include, as its HW configuration, a processor 10a, a memory 10b, a storage unit 10c, an IF (Interface) unit 10d, an IO (Input / Output) unit 10e, and a reading unit 10f.

[0026] The processor 10a is an example of an arithmetic processing device that performs various controls and calculations. The processor 10a may be communicably connected to each block in the computer 10 via a bus 10i. Note that the processor 10a may be a multiprocessor including a plurality of processors, may be a multi-core processor having a plurality of processor cores, or may have a configuration including a plurality of multi-core processors.

[0027] Examples of the processor 10a include integrated circuits (ICs) such as a CPU, MPU, GPU, APU, DSP, ASIC, and FPGA. Note that, as the processor 10a, a combination of two or more of these integrated circuits may be used. The CPU is an abbreviation for Central Processing Unit, the MPU is an abbreviation for Micro Processing Unit. The GPU is an abbreviation for Graphics Processing Unit, the APU is an abbreviation for Accelerated Processing Unit. The DSP is an abbreviation for Digital Signal Processor, the ASIC is an abbreviation for Application Specific IC, and the FPGA is an abbreviation for Field-Programmable Gate Array.

[0028] The memory 10b is an example of HW that stores information such as various data and programs. Examples of the memory 10b include one or both of a volatile memory such as a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) and a non-volatile memory such as a PM (Persistent Memory).

[0029] The storage unit 10c is an example of HW that stores information such as various data and programs. Examples of the storage unit 10c include various storage devices such as a magnetic disk device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a semiconductor drive device such as an SSD (Solid State Drive), and a non-volatile memory. Examples of the non-volatile memory include a flash memory, an SCM (Storage Class Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and the like.

[0030] The storage unit 10c may store a program 10g that realizes all or part of various functions of the computer 10, for example, a server program 20 (information processing program).

[0031] For example, the processor 10a of the server 2 can realize the functions as the server 2 described later by expanding and executing the program 10g stored in the storage unit 10c in the memory 10b.

[0032] The IF unit 10d is an example of a communication IF that controls connections and communications with various networks including the network 4. For example, the IF unit 10d may include an adapter compliant with a LAN such as Ethernet (registered trademark), or an optical communication such as FC (Fibre Channel). The adapter may support one or both of wireless and wired communication methods.

[0033] For example, the server 2 may be communicably connected to each of the plurality of terminals 3 via the IF unit 10d and the network 4. Note that the program 10g may be downloaded from the network 4 or another network to the computer 10 via the communication IF and stored in the storage unit 10c.

[0034] The IO unit 10e may include one or both of an input device and an output device. Examples of the input device include a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch panel. Examples of the output device include a monitor, a projector, and a printer. The IO unit 10e may also include a touch panel in which an input device and a display device are integrated.

[0035] The reading unit 10f is an example of a reader that reads data and program information recorded on the recording medium 10h. The reading unit 10f may include a connection terminal or device to which the recording medium 10h can be connected or inserted. Examples of the reading unit 10f include an adapter compliant with USB (Universal Serial Bus) or the like, a drive device for accessing a recording disk, and a card reader for accessing a flash memory such as an SD card. Note that the program 10g may be stored in the recording medium 10h, and the reading unit 10f may read the program 10g from the recording medium 10h and store it in the storage unit 10c.

[0036] As the recording medium 10h, exemplary non-transitory computer-readable recording media such as magnetic / optical disks and flash memories can be mentioned. As the magnetic / optical disk, for example, a flexible disk, a CD (Compact Disc), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a Blu-ray Disc, an HVD (Holographic Versatile Disc), etc. can be mentioned. As the flash memory, for example, semiconductor memories such as a USB memory and an SD card can be mentioned.

[0037] The terminal 3 may have the same hardware configuration as the computer 10 described above. The terminal program 30 may be downloaded from the network 4 or another network via the IF unit 10d of the terminal 3, or may be stored in the recording medium 10h and provided, and read by the reading unit 10f of the terminal 3.

[0038] Note that the HW configuration of the computer 10 described above is an example. Therefore, an increase or decrease in HW (for example, addition or deletion of any block), division, integration in any combination, or addition or deletion of a bus, etc. within the computer 10 may be appropriately performed.

[0039] [1-3] Example of functional configuration FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the system 1 according to an embodiment. Note that in FIG. 3, the illustration of the network 4 between the server 2 and the terminal 3 is omitted.

[0040] As shown in FIG. 3, the server 2 in the system 1 may, for example, include a memory unit 21, an input control unit 22, an output control unit 23, a user registration unit 24, a lending / return management unit 25, a status acquisition unit 26, an identification unit 27, and a recommendation unit 28. These functional blocks 22 to 28 are an example of the control unit 29. Note that the control unit 29 may be, for example, at least part of the functions of the server program 20 shown in FIG. 1.

[0041] The memory unit 21 is an example of a storage area or a storage device, and stores various data used by the server 2. As shown in FIG. 3, the memory unit 21 may illustratively store a user table 21a, a lending record table 21b, a bibliographic and table of contents table 21c, a reading record table 21d, a user characteristic table 21e, and a recommendation table 21f. Hereinafter, for convenience, each of these pieces of information 21a to 21f is represented in a table format, but it is not limited thereto, and at least one of the information 21a to 21f may be stored in the memory unit 21 in various formats such as a DB (Database) format or an array.

[0042] The input control unit 22 performs control related to the input of various information to the server 2. As an example, the input control unit 22 may receive the input of input information from the terminal 3. The “receiving” of the input of the input information may include, for example, outputting the acquired input information to at least one of the functional blocks 23 to 28 and the memory unit 21. The output to the memory unit 21 may include, for example, storing the input information in at least one of the information 21a to 21f in cooperation with the user registration unit 24, the lending / return management unit 25, or the status acquisition unit 26.

[0043] The input control unit 22 may receive input information, for example, via the IF unit 10d shown in FIG. 2. Note that the reception of the input information via the IF unit 10d may include, for example, the reception of a request or a response from the browser of the terminal 3. Also, in one embodiment, the input control unit 22 may acquire information related to the browsing of e-books from a Web service or the terminal 3.

[0044] The output control unit 23 controls various outputs to the terminal 3. As an example, the output control unit 23 may perform output control based on information or instructions input from at least one of the functional blocks 22, 24 to 28. Output control may include generation and transmission of display information to the terminal 3. The display information may be, for example, screen information such as a web page. As an example, the output control unit 23 may transmit the display information to the terminal 3 via the network 4. Transmission of the display information may include, for example, transmission of a response in accordance with a request from the web browser of the terminal 3.

[0045] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an e-book information screen 110. As shown in FIG. 4, the output control unit 23 may generate, as screen information, an e-book information screen 110 that is displayed on the browser 100 (terminal program 30) on the display device of the terminal 3 (for example, the IO unit 10e in FIG. 2). The e-book information screen 110 is a screen for displaying information on individual e-books. For example, the e-book information screen 110 may be a screen that is displayed as a result of an operation for viewing detailed information on the e-book on a screen such as a search result of e-books on a web service, a recommended book introduction page, or a special feature page (all not shown), and is a transition destination screen from these screens.

[0046] The e-book information screen 110 may include display areas 111 to 115. The display area 111 is an area where at least a part of the bibliographic information of the e-book (for example, title and author), a cover image, etc. are displayed. The display area 112 is an area where the loan availability of the e-book is indicated. The display area 113 is an area where a button for transitioning to a screen (not shown) for performing a loan procedure of the e-book is displayed, and is displayed when the e-book is available for loan. Note that in the display area 113, when the e-book is not available for loan, or when reservation of the physical book of the e-book is possible, a button for transitioning to a screen (not shown) for performing a reservation procedure of the e-book or the book may be displayed.

[0047] The display area 114 is an area where the storage information of the physical book corresponding to the e-book is displayed in a library or the like. The display area 115 is an area where a button for transitioning to a virtual bookshelf that stores (where the e-book is placed) the e-book is displayed.

[0048] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the virtual bookshelf screen 120. As shown in FIG. 5, the output control unit 23 may generate, as screen information, for example, a virtual bookshelf screen 120 displayed on the display device of the terminal 3 in the browser 100 in response to the pressing of a button in the display area 115 of the e-book information screen 110. The virtual bookshelf screen 120 is a screen for displaying a plurality of display areas 121 of e-books arranged in a virtual bookshelf shown as a dashed-line frame in FIG. 5, for example. The display area 121 may include, for example, a display area 122 for a cover image and a display area 123 where a "Details" button for transitioning to the e-book information screen 110 is displayed. Instead of the cover image, for example, in response to the pressing of a switching button (not shown) on the virtual bookshelf screen 120, a back cover image of the e-book or text of the title of the e-book may be displayed in the display area 122.

[0049] For example, in FIG. 5, when the display area 122a or 123a of the e-book "Book 3" is pressed, the output control unit 23 may generate screen information of the e-book information screen 110 that displays information of the e-book "Book 3".

[0050] Note that the virtual bookshelf screen 120 may include a display area 124 for the "Previous" button and a display area 125 for the "Next" button for switching the electronic books displayed on the virtual bookshelf screen 120. The "Previous" button and the "Next" button are each buttons for causing the virtual bookshelf screen 120 to display the display areas 121 of a plurality of electronic books located before or after (left or right in the example of FIG. 5) in the arrangement order of the electronic books on the virtual bookshelf. In other words, they are buttons for shifting the display content of the display area 121. As illustrated in FIG. 5, when the "Next" button is pressed, the output control unit 23 may display electronic books "Book 15" to "Book 18" on the virtual bookshelf screen 120 instead of at least a part of the electronic books "Book 1" to "Book 14" currently displayed in the display area 121.

[0051] The user registration unit 24 acquires the input content of user registration by the user for the user registration screen (not shown) of the web service from the input control unit 22 and registers the input content in the user table 21a. The user registration screen may be generated by the output control unit 23.

[0052] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the user table 21a. As shown in FIG. 6, the user table 21a may illustratively include items such as "ID" (Identifier), "Name", "Reading record acquisition flag", and "Other user information".

[0053] "ID" is an example of identification information for identifying a user, and "Name" is the name of the user. The "Reading record acquisition flag" is information indicating whether to acquire the reading record of the user on the web service. For example, in the user registration screen, "ON" may be set when the user agrees to acquire the reading record, and "OFF" may be set when the user does not agree. Other information about the user, such as age, address, contact information, etc., may be set in the "Other user information".

[0054] The lending / return management unit 25 acquires, from the input control unit 22, the input contents of the lending procedure of the e-book by the user for the lending screen (not shown) of the Web service, and registers the input contents in the lending / return management unit 25. Also, the lending / return management unit 25 acquires, from the input control unit 22, the input contents of the return procedure of the e-book by the user for the return screen (not shown) of the Web service, and registers the input contents in the lending / return management unit 25.

[0055] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the lending record table 21b. The lending record table 21b is information for recording the presence or absence of lending and return of the first material lent to the user, and may include items of "ID", "name", "material ID", "title", "lending date", and "return date" as exemplified in FIG. 7.

[0056] "ID" and "name" are information for identifying the user who performed the lending procedure of the e-book, and are the same as the user table 21a shown in FIG. 6. "Material ID" is an example of identification information for identifying the e-book, and "title" is the title of the e-book. "Lending date" is the date (or date and time) when the lending procedure of the e-book was performed. "Return date" is the date (or date and time) when the return procedure of the e-book was performed. For the "return date" of the unreturned e-book, "Null" or information indicating unreturned may be set.

[0057] The status acquisition unit 26 acquires, from the input control unit 22, the reading status of the user who lent the e-book, and updates the reading record table 21d based on the reading status and the bibliographic / table of contents table 21c. The status acquisition unit 26 may limit the users who enable the acquisition of the reading record to the users in the user table 21a in which "ON" is set in the "reading record acquisition flag".

[0058] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a bibliographic and table of contents table 21c. The bibliographic and table of contents table 21c is an example of material information that associates information about a material with information indicating the difficulty level, and is information that defines at least a part of the bibliographic information of an e-book, a predetermined range that serves as a separator for the content of the e-book, and the difficulty level of the predetermined range. The bibliographic and table of contents table 21c may be generated by an administrator of a web service before the web service is provided and updated when an e-book is added to the web service.

[0059] As shown in FIG. 8, the bibliographic and table of contents table 21c may, by way of example, include items such as "ID", "material ID", "title", "table of contents ID", "content keyword", and "difficulty level".

[0060] "ID" is an example of identification information for identifying an entry in the bibliographic and table of contents table 21c, and "material ID" is an example of identification information for identifying an e-book. "Title" is the title of the e-book.

[0061] "Table of contents ID" is an example of identification information for specifying a predetermined range that serves as a separator for the content of the e-book. The "predetermined range" is a range obtained by dividing the content of the e-book, and for example, is a range that can be identified from the table of contents of the e-book, and as an example, may be a "chapter". In the example of FIG. 8, the "table of contents ID" is information obtained by connecting the "material ID", which is the identification information of the e-book, and the identification information of the predetermined range (for example, a chapter) with a hyphen "-".

[0062] Note that the predetermined range extracted as the "table of contents ID" from the e-book may be limited to the part where the substantial content of the e-book is described, excluding parts such as the foreword, table of contents, afterword, and index in the content of the e-book. The "table of contents ID" may be obtained, for example, by natural language processing such as inputting the e-book to a machine learning model trained to classify (divide) the e-book into predetermined ranges based on at least a part of the content of the input text (for example, the table of contents, each chapter, index, etc. of the e-book).

[0063] The "content keyword" is a keyword related to the content within a predetermined range specified by the "table of contents ID". As the "content keyword", for example, in the case of an e-book related to "management", "management", "game theory", "simultaneous game", "strategy", "management science", "business plan", etc. may be mentioned.

[0064] The "content keyword" may be extracted from the e-book for each predetermined range by various methods by an administrator of a web service or the like. For example, the "content keyword" may be extracted from at least one of a character string that matches a pre-specified keyword among the character strings included in the predetermined range, a character string that appears a predetermined number of times or more, a highlighted character string, etc. Alternatively, the "content keyword" may be obtained by natural language processing such as inputting the e-book to a machine learning model trained to extract keywords from at least part of the input text.

[0065] Note that the "content keyword" is not limited to the above, and may be various attribute information for each predetermined range. As an example, when the e-book is a book with a different author for each "chapter" such as an omnibus novel, the "content keyword" may be information such as the "author" for each "table of contents ID".

[0066] The "difficulty level" is the difficulty level of the content defined in advance for each e-book or for each predetermined range. The "difficulty level" may be defined step by step according to the proficiency according to the learning curve for each field of the e-book, for example. For example, any stage in a predetermined number of stages (in the example of FIG. 8, "5" stages) may be specified for the "difficulty level", or a percentage (ratio) may be specified. In one embodiment, for the "difficulty level", a higher stage number or percentage may be set as the content is more difficult, and a lower stage number or percentage may be set as the content is easier. The "difficulty level" may be obtained by inputting the e-book to a machine learning model trained to output the difficulty level for each e-book or for each chapter from the statistics of past reading (browsing) records for each of a plurality of e-books, for example.

[0067] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a reading record table 21d. The reading record table 21d is an example of browsing history information for books lent to a user, and is an example of reading trend information indicating a trend of the user's reading preferences. The reading record table 21d may include at least one of a browsing range and a browsing speed of an e-book by the user for each predetermined range. As an example, as shown in FIG. 9, the reading record table 21d may include items of "ID", "name", "average reading speed", "read table of contents ID", "characteristic acquisition date", and "difficulty level". For example, the reading record table 21d as an example of the history information may include at least one of a browsing range and a browsing speed of a first document by the user.

[0068] "ID" and "name" are information for identifying the user for whom the reading record is to be registered, and are the same as the lending record table 21b shown in FIG. 7. The "average reading speed" is the average speed of reading an e-book by the user, and is an example of the browsing speed. The "average reading speed" may be obtained, for example, by calculating the number of pages read by the user per unit time (for example, "1" minute). In one embodiment, the "average reading speed" may be calculated for each predetermined range, for example, for each "chapter". The average reading speed may be shown, for example, as a numerical value of "number of pages / unit time", or may be shown by classifying for each stage of the average reading speed such as "slow", "fast", "normal" (see FIG. 9).

[0069] The "read table of contents ID" is the "table of contents ID" read by the user (see FIG. 8), and is an example of the browsing range of the user. The "characteristic acquisition date" is the date (or date and time) when the characteristic (reading record) is added to the reading record table 21d, and may be the addition date of the entry. The "difficulty level" is the "difficulty level" corresponding to the "read table of contents ID" (see FIG. 8).

[0070] For example, the status acquisition unit 26 may acquire the table of contents ID and the average reading speed viewed by the terminal 3 from the input control unit 22, acquire the difficulty level corresponding to the table of contents ID from the bibliographic and table of contents table 21c, and register this information together with the date in the reading record table 21d. Note that, instead of the average reading speed, the status acquisition unit 26 may acquire from the input control unit 22 the time from the start to the end of the viewing of the chapter corresponding to the table of contents ID and the total number of pages or the number of characters of the chapter corresponding to the table of contents ID, and calculate the average reading speed based on the acquired information.

[0071] The specifying unit 27 may execute a process of specifying the difficulty level corresponding to the user based on the reading record table 21d and a process of specifying information on a second material corresponding to the specified difficulty level based on the bibliographic and table of contents table 21c.

[0072] For example, when the specifying unit 27 detects that an e-book has been returned, it determines the characteristics of the user from the information on the viewing of the e-book (reading tendency information), and specifies information on the attributes of the e-book to be recommended (title, author, classification, etc.). For example, the specifying unit 27 may determine that the e-book has been returned when it detects that the "return date" has been set in the lending record table 21b or that the lending period has elapsed since the "lending date".

[0073] For example, the specifying unit 27 may generate or update the user characteristics table 21e and the recommendation table 21f based on the information obtained from the lending record table 21b and the reading record table 21d, including the completion status of reading the e-book, the average reading speed, the table of contents ID read, and the number of times of reading for each table of contents ID.

[0074] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the user characteristics table 21e. The user characteristics table 21e is an example of information indicating the characteristics of the user, and may include items such as "ID", "name", "keyword of interest", "characteristic acquisition date", and "difficulty level" as illustrated in FIG. 10.

[0075] "ID" and "Name" are the same as the reading record table 21d shown in FIG. 9. "Interest keyword" is a keyword that the user is highly interested in, and may be registered or deleted based on whether the e-book has been read, the average reading speed, the read table of contents ID, the number of times of reading for each table of contents ID, etc. The "interest keyword" may match any of the "content keywords" in the bibliographic and table of contents table 21c. Note that an entry may be created for each "interest keyword" in the user characteristics table 21e. In other words, for the same user ("ID" and "Name"), entries may be created for each of a plurality of "interest keywords".

[0076] "Characteristic acquisition date" is the date (or date and time) when the user's characteristics are added to the user characteristics table 21e, and may be the addition date of the entry. "Difficulty level" is the difficulty level set by the specific part 27 for the combination of the user and the "interest keyword".

[0077] The specific part 27 may, for example, register in the user characteristics table 21e, in association with the user, the "interest keyword" corresponding to the table of contents ID that is presumed to be of great interest to the user. On the other hand, the specific part 27 may, for example, delete the entry in the user characteristics table 21e if it is presumed that the user has little interest in the "interest keyword" of the entry. For example, the specific part 27 may presume that the user has little interest in the "interest keyword" when it detects that the user has returned the lent e-book without reading it.

[0078] In addition, for the entry in the user characteristics table 21e, if it is presumed that the user has a high proficiency level regarding the "interest keyword", the specific part 27 may update the "difficulty level" to a value greater than the current "difficulty level", for example, a value one or two levels higher. For example, if the reading speed of the book by the user is equal to or higher than the first speed (for example, the lower limit of the "normal" category), in other words, if the average reading speed is "normal", the specific part 27 may presume that the user has a high proficiency level regarding the "interest keyword" of the book.

[0079] Further, when the reading speed of the book by the user is greater than the second speed (for example, the upper limit of the "normal" category), in other words, when the average reading speed is "fast", the specific unit 27 may estimate that the proficiency regarding the "keyword of interest" of the book is higher. In this case, the specific unit 27 may update the "difficulty level" to a value greater than when the reading speed is equal to or greater than the first speed and less than the second speed, for example, a value "2" or "3" levels greater.

[0080] On the other hand, when it is estimated that the proficiency regarding the "keyword of interest" of the user is low for the entry in the user characteristic table 21e, the specific unit 27 may update the "difficulty level" to a value equal to or lower than the current "difficulty level", for example, maintain (the same value) or a value "1" level lower. For example, when the reading speed of the book by the user is less than the first speed, in other words, when the average reading speed is "slow", the specific unit 27 may estimate that the proficiency regarding the "keyword of interest" of the book is low.

[0081] The generation of the user characteristic table 21e by the specific unit 27 is an example of a process for specifying the difficulty level corresponding to the user based on the reading record table 21d.

[0082] Then, the specific unit 27 may generate or update the recommendation table 21f based on the user characteristic table 21e.

[0083] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the recommendation table 21f. The recommendation table 21f is an example of information regarding the attributes of the second book presented to the user, and as illustrated in FIG. 11, may include items such as "ID", "name", "material ID", and "title". Note that the recommendation table 21f may include, as attributes of the e-book, at least a part of the bibliographic information, for example, information such as "author", "classification", etc.

[0084] "ID" and "Name" are the same as those in the user characteristic table 21e shown in FIG. 10. "Material ID" and "Title" are the identification information and title of the e-book identified by the specific part 27 as the recommendation target for the user based on the user characteristic table 21e and the bibliographic / table of contents table 21c, and are the same as those in the bibliographic / table of contents table 21c shown in FIG. 8.

[0085] Note that the specific part 27 may delete the entry of the e-book that no longer meets the recommendation target from the recommendation table 21f in response to the update of the user characteristic table 21e.

[0086] The generation of the recommendation table 21f by the specific part 27 is an example of the process of specifying information on the second material corresponding to the specified difficulty level based on the bibliographic / table of contents table 21c.

[0087] The recommendation part 28 may execute a process of outputting information on the specified second material.

[0088] For example, the recommendation part 28 recommends e-books to the user based on the recommendation table 21f. As the recommendation method, various methods can be mentioned. As an example, the display (presentation) of the e-books to be recommended on the virtual bookshelf screen 120 shown in FIG. 5 can be mentioned. Note that the e-books to be recommended may be displayed in any of the plurality of display areas 121 on the virtual bookshelf screen 120, or may be displayed in a manner distinguishable from the e-books displayed in the display area 121. Also, the e-books to be recommended may be displayed on a screen other than the virtual bookshelf screen 120, for example, a user dedicated page, a special feature page, or various other pages, or may be displayed in a pop-up or other manner on any page.

[0089] For example, when an e - book recommended to the user based on the recommendation table 21f is selected by the user, the recommendation unit 28 may delete the entry of the e - book from the recommendation table 21f. The selection of the e - book by the user may include, for example, the display of the e - book information screen 110 of the e - book and the execution of the lending procedure of the e - book.

[0090] Note that the processing by the above - mentioned lending / return management unit 25, status acquisition unit 26, and identification unit 27 may be executed for each e - book lent to the user. For example, when the terminal 3 executes the lending procedures for a plurality of e - books, the lending / return management unit 25, status acquisition unit 26, and identification unit 27 may execute the above - mentioned processing for each of the plurality of e - books and update the tables 21b, 21d, 21e, and 21f.

[0091] [1 - 4] Operation Example Next, with reference to FIGS. 12 to 15, an operation example of the system 1 (server 2) according to an embodiment will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the use start process, and FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining an operation example of the lending / return process. FIGS. 14 and 15 are flowcharts for explaining an operation example of the recommendation table update process.

[0092] [1 - 4 - 1] Use Start Process First, with reference to FIG. 12, an operation example of the use start process when a user (hereinafter, for convenience, referred to as "User A") starts using the Web service of the server 2 will be described.

[0093] As illustrated in FIG. 12, the user registration unit 24 of the server 2 acquires the user information input by the terminal 3 (User A) on the Web service from the input control unit 22 and stores it in the user table 21a (step S1).

[0094] When the reading record setting indicating whether user A permits to obtain the reading record among the user information is "ON" (YES in step S2), the status acquisition unit 26 validates (recognizes as valid) the acquisition of the reading record (step S3), and the process ends. When the reading record setting is "OFF" (NO in step S2), the process ends.

[0095] [1-4-2] Lending and Returning Process Next, with reference to FIG. 13, an operation example of the lending and returning process related to the lending and returning of e-books from the server 2 to the terminal 3 (user A) will be described. In the lending and returning process, the server 2 may record the user characteristics of user A and present e-books to be recommended to user A.

[0096] As illustrated in FIG. 13, the recommendation unit 28 notifies the output control unit 23 of the information of the entry in the recommendation table 21f corresponding to user A. The output control unit 23 generates the screen information of the virtual bookshelf screen 120 for displaying one or more e-books including the e-books in the recommendation table 21f, and transmits it to the terminal 3 (step S11). The terminal 3 displays the virtual bookshelf screen 120 on the browser 100 and executes the e-book lending procedure.

[0097] The lending and returning management unit 25 executes the e-book lending process according to the lending procedure by the terminal 3, and updates the lending record table 21b based on the lent e-books and the information of user A (step S12).

[0098] The status acquisition unit 26 determines whether the acquisition of the reading record in the user table 21a is valid ("ON" or not) (step S13).

[0099] When the reading record acquisition is invalid ("OFF") (NO in step S13), the lending / return management unit 25 waits for the return procedure of the e-book by the terminal 3 (NO in step S14). When the return procedure of the e-book is performed (YES in step S14), the lending / return management unit 25 executes the return process of the e-book, updates the lending record table 21b (step S15), and the process ends.

[0100] In step S13, when the reading record acquisition is valid ("ON") (YES in step S13), the status acquisition unit 26 acquires reading information (reading status) regarding the reading behavior of the e-book by the terminal 3 (user A) via the input control unit 22. The status acquisition unit 26 updates the reading record table 21d of user A based on the reading information (step S16).

[0101] The lending / return management unit 25 determines whether the return procedure of the e-book by the terminal 3 has been performed (step S17). If the return procedure has not been performed (NO in step S17), the process proceeds to step S16.

[0102] When the return procedure has been performed (YES in step S17), the lending / return management unit 25 executes the return process of the e-book and updates the lending record table 21b (step S18). The status acquisition unit 26 acquires reading information (reading status) regarding the reading behavior of the e-book by the terminal 3 (user A) via the input control unit 22, updates the reading record table 21d of user A based on the reading information (step S19), and the process ends.

[0103] As described above, the status acquisition unit 26 acquires the reading record from when the e-book is lent out to when it is returned for users with valid reading record acquisition, accumulates it in the reading record table 21d for each user and each e-book.

[0104] 〔1-4-3〕Recommendation Table Update Process Next, with reference to FIGS. 14 and 15, an operation example of the update process of the recommendation table 21f by the specific unit 27 will be described together with the following reading pattern examples (1) to (5). The update process of the recommendation table 21f may be performed for each e-book at a predetermined timing such as when the return process of the e-book is performed based on the lending record table 21b (after completion of the process in FIG. 13). In the following description, an example is given in which an e-book of "Business Administration (Basic)" with a material ID of "11" and a difficulty level of "2 / 5" is lent to user A.

[0105] As illustrated in FIG. 14, the specific unit 27 refers to the reading record table 21d and determines whether user A has finished reading the lent e-book (step S21). For example, the specific unit 27 may specify all the table of contents IDs of the lent e-book from the bibliographic / table of contents table 21c, and determine that user A has finished reading the e-book when the entries of all the table of contents IDs are registered in the reading record table 21d in association with user A.

[0106] When user A has finished reading the e-book (YES in step S21), the specific unit 27 determines whether the number of times read is "1" (step S22). For example, the specific unit 27 may determine that the number of times read is "1" when the entries of all the table of contents IDs are registered one by one in the reading record table 21d in association with user A. When there are multiple entries registered in the reading record table 21d for some of the table of contents IDs among all the table of contents IDs, the specific unit 27 may also determine whether the number of times read for the entire e-book is "1" based on the number of the some table of contents IDs for which multiple entries are registered.

[0107] When the number of times read is "1" (YES in step S22), it corresponds to the first reading pattern.

[0108] (1) The first reading pattern The first reading pattern is the case where User A reads an e - book from beginning to end only "once". In this case, it is presumed that User A is interested in the field of the lent e - book and is in a state of trying to improve the proficiency in that field.

[0109] The specifying unit 27 changes the difficulty level in the user characteristic table 21e according to the average reading speed in the reading record table 21d (steps S23 to S27).

[0110] For example, when the average reading speed in the reading record table 21d is "slow" (step S23, YES in step S23), it is assumed that the difficulty level of the lent e - book is too high for User A. In this case, the specifying unit 27 acquires the interest keyword indicating the field (classification) of the lent e - book from the bibliographic and table of contents table 21c. Then, the specifying unit 27 lowers the difficulty level corresponding to the interest keyword in the user characteristic table 21e by, for example, "one" level (rank) (step S24), and the process proceeds to step S28.

[0111] Note that the specifying unit 27 may use, as the interest keyword indicating the field (classification) of the lent e - book, for example, the content keyword common to (as an example, with the highest appearance frequency) a plurality of table of contents IDs of the e - book. Also, the specifying unit 27 may use, as the difficulty level of the lent e - book, for example, the average of the difficulty levels of a plurality of table of contents IDs of the e - book in the bibliographic and table of contents table 21c, or the difficulty level corresponding to the interest keyword.

[0112] Also, for example, when the average reading speed in the reading record table 21d is "normal" (NO in step S23, step S25, YES in step S25), it is assumed that the difficulty level of the lent e - book is appropriate and User A has a higher willingness to challenge learning with a higher difficulty level after reading the e - book. In this case, the specifying unit 27 raises the difficulty level corresponding to the interest keyword of the lent e - book in the user characteristic table 21e by, for example, "one" level (step S26), and the process proceeds to step S28.

[0113] Furthermore, for example, when the average reading speed in the reading record table 21d is "fast" (NO in step S25), it is assumed that the difficulty level of the lent e-book is too low for user A. In this case, the specifying unit 27 raises the difficulty level corresponding to the keyword of interest of the lent e-book by, for example, "2" levels in the user characteristic table 21e (step S27), and the process proceeds to step S28.

[0114] As an example of the first reading pattern, when the average reading speed is "normal", the specifying unit 27 may register the keyword of interest "management" indicating the field of the lent e-book and the difficulty level "3 / 5" ("2 / 5" → "3 / 5") in the user characteristic table 21e in association with user A. Note that when the combination of user A and the keyword of interest "management" exists in the user characteristic table 21e, the specifying unit 27 may omit the registration of the entry and update the difficulty level.

[0115] Note that the method for updating the difficulty level in the user characteristic table 21e according to the average reading speed is not limited to the above-described example, and may be modified and implemented according to various conditions such as the expression methods of the average reading speed and the difficulty level, the field of the e-book, and the settings for each user. The same applies to the second to fifth reading patterns described hereinafter.

[0116] In step S28, the specifying unit 27 specifies information on the e-book corresponding to the updated difficulty level and keyword of interest in the user characteristic table 21e from the bibliographic / table of contents table 21c, registers the e-book in the recommendation table 21f, and the process ends.

[0117] As an example, the specifying unit 27 extracts the e-book "Intermediate Management" with the material ID "22" corresponding to the keyword of interest "management" and the difficulty level "3 / 5" from the bibliographic / table of contents table 21c and registers it in the recommendation table 21f (see FIG. 11).

[0118] As a result, the specific part 27 can add to the recommendation table 21f relevant books of the same classification as the e-book (the lent e-book) that user A is interested in, and with a difficulty level corresponding to the proficiency of user A regarding the keyword of interest.

[0119] In step S22, when the number of reading completions is "2" or more (NO in step S22), it corresponds to the second reading pattern.

[0120] (2) Second reading pattern The second reading pattern is the case where user A repeatedly reads an e-book from the beginning to the end over a plurality of times. In this case, it is presumed that user A is more interested in the field of the lent e-book than in the case of the first reading pattern, and is in a state of trying to improve the proficiency in that field.

[0121] For example, the specific part 27 may determine that the number of reading completions is "2" or more when all the entry IDs of the table of contents of the lent e-book are registered in the reading record table 21d in multiple entries associated with user A.

[0122] In this case, the specific part 27 may update the user characteristic table 21e and the recommendation table 21f in the same manner as in the first reading pattern. At this time, in the difficulty level update process, the specific part 27 may increase the difficulty level more than in the first reading pattern. For example, the specific part 27 may determine to raise it by "1" level at the time of updating the difficulty level (step S29), and the process may shift to step S23.

[0123] As a result, the specific part 27 may, for example, apply a difficulty level increase of "1" in each of steps S24, S26, and S27 in FIG. 14, maintain the difficulty level when the average reading speed is "slow", raise the difficulty level by "2" ranks when it is "normal", and raise the difficulty level by "3" ranks when it is "fast".

[0124] As an example, in the second reading pattern, assume that the specific part 27 raises the difficulty level in the user characteristic table 21e by two levels. In this case, the specific part 27 extracts the e-book "Applied Business Administration" with the material ID "33" corresponding to the interest keyword "business" and the difficulty level "4 / 5" ("2 / 5" → "4 / 5") from the bibliographic and table of contents table 21c, and registers it in the recommendation table 21f in step S28.

[0125] In step S21, when user A has not finished reading the e-book (NO in step S21), the specific part 27 determines whether user A has read a predetermined range of "1" or more, for example, "1" or more "chapters" (step S31 in FIG. 15).

[0126] For example, the specific part 27 may refer to the reading record table 21d and determine that user A has read "1" or more "chapters" when user A has read some of the table of contents IDs among all the table of contents IDs of the e-book.

[0127] When user A has read "1" or more "chapters" (YES in step S31), the specific part 27 determines whether the number of times the "chapter" has been read is "1" (step S32). For example, the specific part 27 may determine that the number of times read is "1" when the entries of some of the table of contents IDs are registered one by one in the reading record table 21d in association with user A. When multiple entries are registered in the reading record table 21d for at least one table of contents ID, the specific part 27 may also determine whether the number of times read for all of the some table of contents IDs is "1" based on the number or the like of the at least one table of contents ID.

[0128] When the number of times read is "1" (YES in step S32), it corresponds to the third reading pattern.

[0129] (3) The third reading pattern The third reading pattern is the case where user A reads a part of the e-book (for example, from the beginning to the middle) only "once" and then returns it. As the third reading pattern, for example, it is assumed that user A returns the e-book halfway without being able to finish reading it for some reason.

[0130] The specifying unit 27 changes the difficulty level in the user characteristic table 21e according to the average reading speed in the reading record table 21d (steps S33 to S37).

[0131] For example, when the average reading speed in the reading record table 21d is "slow" (step S33, YES in step S33), it is assumed that the difficulty level of the lent e-book was too high for user A, so user A could not finish reading the e-book and returned it halfway. In this case, the specifying unit 27 acquires the interest keyword related to the table of contents ID read by user A from the bibliographic and table of contents table 21c. Then, the specifying unit 27 lowers the difficulty level corresponding to the interest keyword in the user characteristic table 21e by, for example, "one" level (rank) (step S34), and the process proceeds to step S38.

[0132] Note that the specifying unit 27 may use, as the interest keyword related to the table of contents ID read by user A, for example, the interest keyword that is common to the table of contents ID read by user A (as an example, the one with the highest appearance frequency). Also, the specifying unit 27 may use, as the difficulty level of the table of contents ID read by user A, for example, the average of the difficulty levels of the said table of contents ID in the bibliographic and table of contents table 21c, or the difficulty level corresponding to the interest keyword.

[0133] Also, for example, when the average reading speed in the reading record table 21d is "normal" (NO in step S33, YES in step S35, YES in step S35), although the difficulty level of the lent e-book is appropriate, it is assumed that user A returned the e-book halfway without being able to finish reading it due to reasons such as lack of time. In this case, the specifying unit 27 raises the difficulty level corresponding to the keyword of interest of the table of contents ID (chapter) read by user A in the user characteristic table 21e by, for example, "1" level (step S36), and the process proceeds to step S38.

[0134] Furthermore, for example, when the average reading speed in the reading record table 21d is "fast" (NO in step S35), it is assumed that user A returned the e-book halfway without finishing reading it because the difficulty level of the lent e-book was too low for user A. In this case, the specifying unit 27 raises the difficulty level corresponding to the keyword of interest of the table of contents ID (chapter) read by user A in the user characteristic table 21e by, for example, "2" levels (step S37), and the process proceeds to step S38.

[0135] As an example of the third reading pattern, when the average reading speed is "slow", the specifying unit 27 may register the keyword of interest "management" of the table of contents ID (chapter) read by user A and the difficulty level "1 / 5" ("2 / 5" → "1 / 5") in the user characteristic table 21e in association with user A. Note that when the combination of user A and the keyword of interest "management" exists in the user characteristic table 21e, the specifying unit 27 may omit the registration of the entry and update the difficulty level.

[0136] In step S38, the specifying unit 27 may register the lent e-book in the recommendation table 21f. Further, the specifying unit 27 may acquire, from the bibliographic / table of contents table 21c, the content keyword related to the table of contents ID read by user A and the difficulty level of the table of contents ID, and register them in the user characteristic table 21e, and register the e-books based on the registered content in the recommendation table 21f. Thereby, user A can receive recommendations for one or both of the e-books that could not be read and the e-books related to the content of the read part and having the same level of difficulty.

[0137] Then, the specifying unit 27 specifies information on e-books corresponding to the difficulty level and the keyword of interest in the updated user characteristic table 21e from the bibliographic / table of contents table 21c, registers the e-books in the recommendation table 21f (step S39), and the process ends.

[0138] As an example, the specifying unit 27 extracts from the bibliographic / table of contents table 21c the e-book "Business Administration (Foundation)" with the material ID "11" corresponding to the keyword of interest "Business Administration" and the difficulty level "2 / 5", and registers it in the recommendation table 21f (step S38). Also, in the case of the third reading pattern, the specifying unit 27 extracts from the bibliographic / table of contents table 21c the e-book "Business Administration for Everyone" with the material ID "88" corresponding to the keyword of interest "Business Administration" and the difficulty level "1 / 5", and registers it in the recommendation table 21f (step S39).

[0139] Thereby, the specifying unit 27 can add to the recommendation table 21f the e-books (lent e-books) that user A is interested in but could not read, or the related books with a difficulty level corresponding to user A's proficiency level related to the part in which user A is interested.

[0140] In step S32, when the number of times read is 2 or more (NO in step S32), it corresponds to the fourth reading pattern.

[0141] (4) Fourth reading pattern The fourth reading pattern is the case where User A repeatedly reads a part of an e-book (for example, from the beginning to the middle) multiple times. In this case, it is presumed that User A is particularly interested in the content of the read part and is in a state of trying to improve the proficiency in the field of that part.

[0142] For example, when entries of some of the table of contents IDs of all the lent e-books are registered in the reading record table 21d in multiple entries in association with User A, the specific part 27 may determine that the number of readings is "2" or more.

[0143] In this case, the specific part 27 may update the user characteristic table 21e and the recommendation table 21f in the same manner as in the third reading pattern. At this time, in the difficulty update process, the specific part 27 may increase the difficulty more than in the third reading pattern. For example, the specific part 27 may determine to raise the difficulty by one level ("+1") at the time of difficulty update (step S40), and the process may proceed to step S33.

[0144] Thereby, the specific part 27 may apply a difficulty increase of "+1" in steps S34, S36, and S37 of FIG. 15, respectively, maintain the difficulty when the average reading speed is "slow", raise the difficulty by two ranks when it is "normal", and raise the difficulty by three ranks when it is "fast".

[0145] As an example, in the fourth reading pattern, assume that User A repeatedly reads the section (table of contents ID) related to "Game Theory" in an e-book on business administration at an average reading speed of "normal". In this case, the specifying unit 27 may register, for example, the interest keyword "Game Theory" and the difficulty level "3 / 5" ("2 / 5" → "3 / 5") or "4 / 5" ("2 / 5" → "4 / 5") with respect to User A in the user characteristic table 21e. In this case, the specifying unit 27 extracts the e-books corresponding to the interest keyword "Game Theory" and the difficulty level "3 / 5" or "4 / 5" from the bibliographic / table of contents table 21c, and registers them in the recommendation table 21f in step S39. The e-books extracted from the bibliographic / table of contents table 21c may be, for example, "Game Theory" with material ID "44" in the case of a difficulty level of "3 / 5", or "Practical Game Theory" with material ID "55" in the case of a difficulty level of "4 / 5".

[0146] In step S31, if User A has not read "1" or more chapters (NO in step S31), it corresponds to the fifth reading pattern.

[0147] (5) The fifth reading pattern The fifth reading pattern is the case where User A returns the e-book without reading it. In this case, it is assumed that User A has no interest in the field of the lent e-book, or that the difficulty level of the lent e-book is too high for User A, so User A did not read the e-book.

[0148] In this case, the specifying unit 27 lowers, for example, the difficulty level of the interest keyword (for example, "business administration") corresponding to the lent e-book by, for example, "1" level in the user characteristic table 21e (step S41).

[0149] Also, the specifying unit 27 deletes the entry of the recommended e-book corresponding to the interest keyword (for example, "business administration") of the lent e-book, for example, the entry of "Business Administration (Foundation)" with material ID "11" from the recommendation table 21f (step S42).

[0150] Then, based on the user characteristic table 21e updated in step S41, the specific unit 27 adds an entry of "Business Administration for Everyone" with the material ID "88" to the recommendation table 21f (step S39), and the process ends.

[0151] As a result, user A can receive recommendations for e-books that are related to the content of the unread e-books and have an easier difficulty level.

[0152] As described above, according to the system 1 according to one embodiment, the server 2 can analyze not only the reading behavior inferred from the lending information of the user's e-books but also the user's more detailed interests from the reading behavior of the e-books, and present recommendation information. For example, the server 2 can generate a recommendation table 21f based on a reading record table 21d showing the reading tendency of the user delving into the content of the e-books and a user characteristic table 21e showing the degree of the user's interest and familiarity with the content.

[0153] As a result, the server 2 can recommend e-books optimized for the user's preferences to the user, and can provide information on a virtual bookshelf including e-books that satisfy the user's potential needs while suppressing the load on the user.

[0154] Note that a book is an example of a material, and the material may include video materials and magazines in addition to books.

[0155] In this way, according to the server 2, since it is possible to present e-books suitable for the user to the terminal 3 while suppressing the load on the user, it is possible to reduce the number or frequency of times the user searches or browses e-books on the e-bookshelf. As a result, it is possible to reduce the processing load and communication load in at least one of the server 2, the terminal 3, and the network 4.

[0156] 〔2〕Others The technology according to the above-described one embodiment can be implemented with the following modifications and changes.

[0157] For example, the functional blocks 22 to 28 provided in the server 2 shown in FIG. 3 may be merged in any combination or may be divided respectively.

[0158] Also, the tables 21a to 21f shown in FIG. 3 may be information obtained by merging the items they have in any combination, or may be divided information respectively.

[0159] Furthermore, the server 2 shown in FIG. 3 may be a configuration (system) in which a plurality of devices cooperate with each other via a network to realize each processing function. As an example, the memory unit 21 may be a DB server, the input control unit 22 and the output control unit 23 may be a Web server or an application server, and the functional blocks 25 to 28 may be an application server or the like. In this case, the DB server, the application server, and the web server may cooperate with each other via a network to realize each processing function as the server 2.

[0160] 〔3〕Supplementary Note Regarding the above embodiments, the following supplementary notes are further disclosed.

[0161] (Supplementary Note 1) A computer-readable storage medium storing material information in which history information including at least one of a viewing range and a viewing speed of a first material by a user, information about the material, and information indicating difficulty are associated with each other, a process of specifying the difficulty corresponding to the user based on the history information, a process of specifying information about a second material corresponding to the specified difficulty based on the material information, and causing a computer to execute the above processes.

[0162] (Supplementary Note 2) A process of outputting information about the specified second material, and causing the computer to execute the process, for the information processing program according to Supplementary Note 1.

[0163] (Appendix 3) The history information includes the history of viewing of the predetermined range by the user obtained by dividing the content of the first material, The process of identifying the information related to the second material includes a process of setting, in the information related to the second material, keywords included in any one or more of the one or more predetermined ranges of the first material based on the history information. The information processing program described in Appendix 1 or Appendix 2.

[0164] (Appendix 4) The process of identifying the information related to the second material is a process of setting, in the information related to the second material, a difficulty level corresponding to the viewing speed of the first material by the user in association with the keyword, and a process of identifying information related to the second material that includes the keyword included in the material information and has a difficulty level that matches the difficulty level. The information processing program described in Appendix 3.

[0165] (Appendix 5) The process of identifying the difficulty level includes a process of setting, when the viewing speed of the first material by the user is less than the first speed, the difficulty level set in the attribute information to a difficulty level lower than the difficulty level of the first material. The information processing program described in Appendix 4.

[0166] (Appendix 6) The process of identifying the difficulty level includes a process of setting, when the viewing speed of the first material by the user is greater than or equal to the first speed, the difficulty level set in the attribute information to a difficulty level higher than the difficulty level of the first material. The information processing program described in Appendix 4 or Appendix 5.

[0167] (Appendix 7) When the browsing speed of the first material by the user is equal to or higher than a second speed that is higher than the first speed, the specific process includes setting the difficulty level set in the attribute information to a higher level than the difficulty level set when the browsing speed is less than the second speed. The information processing program according to Supplementary Note 6.

[0168] (Supplementary Note 8) The history information includes at least any one of the presence or absence of browsing, the number of browsing times, and the browsing speed within the predetermined range by the user. The information processing program according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 7.

[0169] (Supplementary Note 9) Store material information in which history information including at least any one of the browsing range and browsing speed of the first material by the user is associated with information about the material and information indicating the difficulty level. Based on the history information, a process of specifying the difficulty level corresponding to the user. Based on the material information, a process of specifying information about a second material corresponding to the specified difficulty level. An information processing method executed by a computer.

[0170] (Supplementary Note 10) A process of outputting information about the specified second material. The information processing method according to Supplementary Note 9, executed by the computer.

[0171] (Supplementary Note 11) The history information includes the browsing history of the predetermined range by the user for each predetermined range obtained by dividing the content of the first material. The process of specifying information about the second material includes, based on the history information, setting keywords included in any one or more of the one or more predetermined ranges of the first material in the information about the second material. The information processing method according to Supplementary Note 9 or 10.

[0172] (Appendix 12) The process of identifying information related to the second material includes a process of setting a difficulty level corresponding to the keyword according to the viewing speed of the first material by the user in the information related to the second material, and a process of identifying information related to the second material that includes the keyword included in the material information and has a difficulty level that matches the difficulty level, and the information processing method described in Appendix 11.

[0173] (Appendix 13) The process of identifying the difficulty level includes a process of setting the difficulty level set in the attribute information to a lower difficulty level than the difficulty level of the first material when the viewing speed of the first material by the user is less than the first speed. the information processing method described in Appendix 12.

[0174] (Appendix 14) The process of identifying the difficulty level includes a process of setting the difficulty level set in the attribute information to a higher difficulty level than the difficulty level of the first material when the viewing speed of the first material by the user is greater than or equal to the first speed. the information processing method described in Appendix 12 or Appendix 13.

[0175] (Appendix 15) The process of identifying the difficulty level includes a process of setting the difficulty level set in the attribute information to a higher difficulty level than the difficulty level set when the viewing speed is less than the second speed when the viewing speed of the first material by the user is greater than or equal to the second speed, which is greater than the first speed. the information processing method described in Appendix 14.

[0176] (Appendix 16) The history information includes at least any one of the presence or absence of viewing, the number of viewing times, and the viewing speed within the predetermined range by the user. the information processing method described in any one of Appendices 9 to 15.

[0177] (Appendix 17) A storage device that stores material information in which history information including at least one of the viewing range and viewing speed of a first material by a user is associated with information about the material and information indicating the difficulty level, Based on the history information, identify the difficulty level corresponding to the user, Based on the material information, identify information about a second material corresponding to the identified difficulty level, A control unit, and an information processing apparatus comprising the same.

[0178] (Appendix 18) The control unit outputs the identified information about the second material. The information processing apparatus according to Appendix 17.

[0179] (Appendix 19) The history information includes the history of viewing of the predetermined range by the user for each predetermined range obtained by dividing the content of the first material, In the process of identifying the information about the second material, the control unit sets, based on the history information, a keyword included in any one or more of the one or more predetermined ranges of the first material in the information about the second material. The information processing apparatus according to Appendix 17 or Appendix 18.

[0180] (Appendix 20) In the process of identifying the information about the second material, the control unit Associates the difficulty level corresponding to the viewing speed of the first material by the user with the keyword and sets it in the information about the second material, Identifies information about the second material that includes the keyword included in the material information and has a difficulty level that matches the difficulty level. The information processing apparatus according to Appendix 19.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0181] 1 System 2 Server 20 Server Program 21 Memory section 21a User table 21b Loan record table 21c Bibliographic / table of contents table 21d Reading record table 21e User characteristic table 21f Recommendation table 22 Input control section 23 Output control section 24 User registration section 25 Loan / return management section 26 Status acquisition section 27 Identification section 28 Recommendation section 29 Control section 3 Terminal 30 Terminal program 4 Network

Claims

1. A process of storing history information including the browsing history of each user for each predetermined range obtained by dividing the content of the first material and the browsing speed of each user for each such predetermined range, and material information in which, for each of a plurality of materials, for each predetermined range obtained by dividing the content of the material, a keyword included in the predetermined range and information indicating the difficulty level of the predetermined range are associated with each other, a process of identifying a keyword of interest to the user based on the history information and identifying the difficulty level associated with the keyword of interest according to the browsing speed of a predetermined range including the keyword of interest, a process of identifying information regarding a second material that includes the identified keyword of interest in a predetermined range and for which the difficulty level of the predetermined range corresponds to the identified difficulty level, based on the material information, An information processing program for causing a computer to execute the above.

2. A process of outputting information regarding the identified second material, The information processing program according to Claim 1, for causing the computer to execute the above.

3. The process of identifying the keyword of interest and the difficulty level includes a process of setting, in the information regarding the second material, the difficulty level corresponding to the browsing speed of the first material by the user, in association with the keyword of interest, The process of identifying the information regarding the second material includes a process of identifying, from among the plurality of materials included in the material information, information regarding the second material that includes the keyword of interest and has a difficulty level that matches the difficulty level associated with the keyword of interest, The information processing program according to Claim 1 or Claim 2.

4. The process of identifying the keyword of interest and the difficulty level includes a process of setting, when the browsing speed of the first material by the user is less than a first speed, the difficulty level associated with the keyword of interest to a difficulty level lower than the difficulty level of the first material. The information processing program according to Claim 3.

5. The process of identifying the keyword of interest and the difficulty level includes a process of setting, when the browsing speed of the first material by the user is equal to or higher than the first speed, the difficulty level associated with the keyword of interest to a difficulty level higher than the difficulty level of the first material. The information processing program according to Claim 3 or Claim 4. **Claim 6**: The process of specifying the interest keyword and the difficulty level includes, when the viewing speed of the first document by the user is equal to or greater than a second speed that is greater than the first speed, setting the difficulty level associated with the interest keyword to a higher difficulty level than the difficulty level set when the viewing speed is less than the second speed. The information processing program according to claim 5. **Claim 7**: The history information includes whether the user has read the first document and the number of times the user has read the first document for each predetermined range. The process of specifying the interest keyword and the difficulty level includes, when the first document has not been read, specifying, as the interest keyword, a keyword included in a first predetermined range in which the number of reading times in the first document is 1 or more, and specifying the difficulty level associated with the interest keyword according to the reading speed of the first predetermined range. The information processing program according to any one of claims 1 to 6. **Claim 8**: A process of storing history information including the viewing history of the user for each predetermined range obtained by dividing the content of the first document and the viewing speed of the user for each predetermined range, and document information in which, for each predetermined range obtained by dividing the content of each of a plurality of documents, a keyword included in the predetermined range and information indicating the difficulty level of the predetermined range are associated with each other, a process of specifying, based on the history information, an interest keyword of interest to the user and specifying the difficulty level associated with the interest keyword according to the viewing speed of a predetermined range including the interest keyword, a process of specifying, based on the document information, information about a second document that includes the specified interest keyword in a predetermined range and in which the difficulty level of the predetermined range corresponds to the specified difficulty level, An information processing method executed by a computer. **Claim 9**: A storage device that stores history information including the viewing history of the user for each predetermined range obtained by dividing the content of the first document and the viewing speed of the user for each predetermined range, and document information in which, for each predetermined range obtained by dividing the content of each of a plurality of documents, a keyword included in the predetermined range and information indicating the difficulty level of the predetermined range are associated with each other, Based on the history information, identify the keyword of interest of the user, and identify the difficulty level associated with the keyword of interest according to the browsing speed within a predetermined range including the keyword of interest. Based on the material information, identify information regarding a second material that includes the identified keyword of interest within a predetermined range and to which the difficulty level of the predetermined range corresponds to the identified difficulty level. An information processing apparatus comprising a control unit.

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