Intelligent Bookmarks for Searchable Web Information Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for capturing and managing internet-based information, such as screenshots, cut and paste, and bookmarks, are inefficient due to limitations in searchability, storage, portability, and updating, leading to cumbersome data management and loss of relevant information.
Innovation Solution
The development of intelligent bookmarks, which collect and store a document's URL along with extracted identifier information, including text, images, metaheaders, and user annotations, allowing for searchable, shareable, and rateable digital records that can be accessed and managed within a database.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If screenshots are used to capture web page information, then the visual appearance is preserved, but the information becomes non-searchable and difficult to manage
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the captured information into distinct components: a screenshot component for visual preservation and a separate data component containing extracted text, metadata, and identifiers. This segmentation allows the search engine to process the data component for full-text search while the screenshot component maintains visual fidelity, resolving the contradiction between preserving appearance and enabling searchability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary processing layer that extracts structured data from web pages during the bookmarking process. This intermediary layer captures text content, metadata, and identifiers separately from the visual screenshot, creating a bridge between the visual representation and machine-readable data, thereby enabling both visual preservation and searchability.
2Loss of information
If text and pictures are cut and pasted into word processing documents, then information is stored locally, but formatting is destroyed and computer resources are consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential information elements (text content, metadata, identifiers) from the web page while leaving behind the resource-intensive formatting and structural elements. This selective extraction stores only the necessary data in a compact format, preserving the semantic content without consuming excessive computer resources or destroying original formatting.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a digital copy of the web page information in a structured data format rather than embedding actual image or text files. This copying approach stores references and extracted data rather than duplicating the full visual representation, significantly reducing resource consumption while maintaining information accessibility.
3Ease of manufacture
If the browser's Save functionality is used, then webpages are saved easily, but hard-drive resources are consumed and organization becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and stores only the essential data elements (URL, title, text content, metadata) from the saved webpage, rather than saving the complete webpage including all images, scripts, and formatting. This extraction approach maintains the ease of saving while dramatically reducing the storage space required, as only critical information is preserved in a compact structured format.
4Loss of information
If traditional bookmarks are used, then web page links are stored, but information is not searchable and updates are not detected
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the system periodically checks bookmarked web pages for updates by comparing current content with stored identifier information. When changes are detected, the bookmark data is automatically updated. This feedback loop ensures information accuracy and reliability while maintaining full searchability through the extracted text and metadata components.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the mechanical bookmarking system (which only stores URLs and titles) with an intelligent system that automatically extracts and indexes text content, metadata, and identifiers. This substitution transforms the bookmark from a simple link reference into a searchable information object, enabling both searchability and automatic update detection through content comparison.
Data Source
AI summary
An intelligent bookmark is a collection of information, including an address (e.g., a URL) for a document (e.g., web page) or other hyper-media enabled item bundled together with selected other information. The selected other information may be manually or automatically obtained from the document, the browser history leading up to the display of the document, user entered annotations, etc. A collection of intelligent bookmarks may be sorted and searched using the selected other information. Intelligent bookmarks may be exchanged between users, and users may edit the bookmark content or in layers above the bookmark. Users may rate the bookmarks. A complete system provides for creating, storing, accessing, editing, grouping, exchanging, and searching intelligent bookmarks locally and/or remotely via a server.