Marking and annotating electronic documents

Abstract

A user can highlight text and provide accompanying annotations. Highlighted text, accompanying annotations, and time-stamp information are stored in a user profile that is maintained locally with a web browser, at the client side. A retrieved web page is presented to a user with annotations of some form, based upon the user profile. The retrieved web page may typically be annotated through marked or highlighted portions of text, so that the user can readily locate this information in the web page, and assess the relevance of the retrieved page.

1 . A method for marking and annotating an electronic document, said method comprising: 
 at a client side, a user highlighting text, and providing comments accompanying the highlighted text in order to provide a user context of said highlighted text, relating to user interests in a first electronic document;    said user annotating said text relating to said user interests, wherein said annotating comprises using said user context of said highlighted text to distinguish between different possible meanings of said highlighted text;    storing the annotations, the highlighted text, and the accompanying comments at said client side as a user profile based upon said annotations;    said user receiving a second electronic document;    comparing said annotations and said highlighted text with text given in said second electronic document;    deleting said annotations and said highlighted text from memory on said client side upon an expiry of a predetermined amount of time; and    automatically displaying said text relating to said user interests and that are relevant to said user context in said second electronic document based upon said user profile.    
   
   
       2 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining user interface events that indicate said annotations.  
   
   
       3 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising determining text that relates to said annotations.  
   
   
       4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising inserting a computerized tag on said annotations.  
   
   
       5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein said computerized tag is viewable to said user.  
   
   
       6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein said computerized tag is viewable to said user upon a computer mouse rolling over said annotations.  
   
   
       7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising: 
 assigning a unique combination of colors for each annotation appearing in said first electronic document; and    corresponding said unique combination of colors with said text in said second electronic document.    
   
   
       8 . A computer program product for annotating an electronic document comprising computer software recorded on a computer-readable medium for performing a method for marking and annotating an electronic document, said method comprising: 
 at a client side, a user highlighting text, and providing comments accompanying the highlighted text in order to provide a user context of said highlighted text, relating to user interests in a first electronic document;    said user annotating said text relating to said user interests, wherein said annotating comprises using said user context of said highlighted text to distinguish between different possible meanings of said highlighted text;    storing the annotations, the highlighted text, and the accompanying comments at said client side as a user profile based upon said annotations;    said user receiving a second electronic document;    comparing said annotations and said highlighted text with text given in said second electronic document;    deleting said annotations and said highlighted text from memory on said client side upon an expiry of a predetermined amount of time; and    automatically displaying said text relating to said user interests and that are relevant to said user context in said second electronic document based upon said user profile.    
   
   
       9 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein said method further comprises determining user interface events that indicate said annotations.  
   
   
       10 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein said method further comprises determining text that relates to said annotations.  
   
   
       11 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein said method further comprises inserting a computerized tag on said annotations.  
   
   
       12 . The computer program product of  claim 11 , wherein said computerized tag is viewable to said user.  
   
   
       13 . The computer program product of  claim 12 , wherein said computerized tag is viewable to said user upon a computer mouse rolling over said annotations.  
   
   
       14 . The computer program product of  claim 8 , wherein said method further comprises: 
 assigning a unique combination of colors for each annotation appearing in said first electronic document; and    corresponding said unique combination of colors with said text in said second electronic document.    
   
   
       15 . The computer system of  claim 8 , wherein said computerized tag is viewable to said user.  
   
   
       16 . The computer system of  claim 15 , wherein said computerized tag is viewable to said user upon a computer mouse rolling over said annotations.  
   
   
       17 . A computer system for annotating electronic documents comprising computer software recorded on a computer-readable medium, said computer system comprising: 
 a client side computer adapted to allow a user to highlight text, and provide comments accompanying the highlighted text in order to provide a user context of said highlighted text, relating to user interests in a first electronic document;    an annotator adapted to allow said user to (i) annotate said text relating to said user interests, and (ii) use said user context of said highlighted text to distinguish between different possible meanings of said highlighted text;    a profile manager adapted to store the annotations, the highlighted text, and the accompanying comments at said client side as a user profile based upon said annotations, wherein said profile manager is further adapted to delete said annotations and said highlighted text from memory on said client side computer upon an expiry of a predetermined amount of time;    a second electronic document received by said user;    a pattern locator adapted to compare said annotations and said highlighted text with text given in said second electronic document;    a text marker adapted to automatically display said text relating to said user interests and that are relevant to said user context in said second electronic document based upon said user profile.    
   
   
       18 . The computer system of  claim 17 , further comprising a user interface window adapted to determine user interface events that indicate said annotations.  
   
   
       19 . The computer system of  claim 17 , further comprising a page composer adapted to insert a computerized tag on said annotations.  
   
   
       20 . The computer system of  claim 17 , further comprising a page composer adapted to: 
 assign a unique combination of colors for each annotation appearing in said first electronic document; and    correspond said unique combination of colors with said text in said second electronic document.