Knowledge Archival and Recollection Systems and Methods

Abstract

A method of extracting knowledge comprising: initiating a search application; displaying a user search interface; receiving input parameters via the search interface; identifying a query type based on received input parameters; formulating a database query based on the received input parameters; transmitting the database query to a database, the database being in communication with a file archive indexer for indexing a file archive for storing files and data regarding the files; obtaining database query results from the database, the database storing the user activity data and actual content accessed by the user; providing database query results to a result analyzer module; and displaying search result analyzer module results to a user.

1 . A method of timing and recording user activity in a knowledge archival and recollection system, said method comprising:
 configuring an activity tracking module;   logging into said knowledge archival and recollection system;   prompting said user with a task identifier input interface upon opening an application user interface;   requiring said user to enter a task identifier into said task identifier input interface;   initiating a timer upon input into said input interface;   gathering and storing user activity data, the user activity data including actual content accessed by the user;   storing the actual content accessed by the user as stored material;   stopping said timer upon inactive application interface;   storing timer data into a database server;
 indexing the stored material using a front-end indexer and a background indexer to provide indexed material, wherein the front-end indexer processes queries and the background indexer generates and updates indexes; and 
   generating a user activity report, in response to a query processed by the front-end indexer, based on the user activity data and the timer data.   
     
     
         2 . The method as in  claim 1 , further comprising the step of stopping said timer upon user logout from said knowledge archival and recollection system. 
     
     
         3 . The method as in  claim 1 , further comprising the step of stopping said timer upon user deactivation of said timer. 
     
     
         4 . The method as in  claim 1 , further comprising the step of collecting file enhancement data, associating the file enhancement data with a file being currently accessed by the user, and transmitting the file enhancement for being stored, wherein the file enhancement data includes annotations and file insertions. 
     
     
         5 . The method as in  claim 4 , further comprising the step of: storing the file enhancement data as stored material. 
     
     
         6 . The method as in  claim 1 , further comprising the step of:
 receiving a command, including input parameters, for conducting a search of stored material, the input parameters including keyword, date range, the user activity, the file enhancement data, criteria and graph options from the user.   
     
     
         7 . The method as in  claim 6 , further comprising the steps of:
 generating a customizable user activity report based on the input parameters; and   presenting the report to the user.   
     
     
         8 . The method as in  claim 6 , wherein the user activity data includes data of activity of the user on the computer including online data, being provided to the computer from a network, and offline data, being locally available on the computer. 
     
     
         9 . The method as in  claim 8 , wherein the offline data includes files stored locally on the computer, and wherein the user activity data includes operations performed on the offline data. 
     
     
         10 . A computer implemented knowledge archival and recollection system accessible by at least one user for gathering, saving and presenting user activity data, said system comprising:
 a computer being used by said at least one user;   a database server in communication with said computer;   a file archive in communication with said database server for storing files and data regarding said files;   a file archive indexer in communication with said database server for indexing said file archive, said file archive indexer includes a front-end indexer and a background indexer;   a reporting module in communication with said computer for preparing reports regarding user activity;   a searching module in communication with said computer for conducting a search of data available on at least one of said computer, said database server and said file archive;   a data acquisition module in communication with said database server and said file archive, wherein said data acquisition module gathers said user activity data and stores said user activity data on said database server and gathers actual content accessed by said at least one user and transmits said files to said file archive for retrieval by each said at least one user;   wherein said file archive is in communication with said database server, said file archive indexer, and said data acquisition module; and   a data presentation module in communication with said report module and said search module;   wherein said data presentation module displays at least one of file modifications, report results and search results to said at least one user;   wherein said reporting module is in communication with at least one of said database server, said data presentation module, said searching module and said file archive,   wherein said searching module is in communication with at least one of said database server, said file archive indexer, said data presentation module, said reporting module and said file archive,   wherein said file archive indexer is in communication with said file archive, said database server, said reporting module and said searching module,   wherein said data presentation module presents at least one of said user activity data and at least one file enhancement associated with a network address and a file received from said database server and said file archive to said at least one user,   wherein said user activity data includes data of activity of said user on said computer including said user is accessing online data, being provided to said computer from a network, and offline data, being locally available on said computer,   wherein said offline data includes files stored locally on said computer, and   wherein said user activity data includes operations performed on said offline data;   wherein said file enhancement is an annotation;   wherein said searching module searches the file archive for any said file enhancement associated with a network address and a file and displays the file enhancement, which is an annotation, transparently over the at least one file in a network browser window;   wherein said reporting module receives at least one input parameter including at least one of keyword, date range, said user activity, said file enhancement associated with a network address and a file, criteria and graph options from said at least one user at an input interface of said computer, and generates a customizable user activity report based on at least one of said input parameter and said user activity data; and   presents said report to said at least one user on said computer.   
     
     
         11 . The system as in  claim 10 , wherein said network browser may be an intranet browser, internet browser. 
     
     
         12 . The system as in  claim 10 , wherein said data acquisition module includes a toolbar plug-in embedded in a network browser of said computer;
 wherein said toolbar plug-in collects at least one file enhancement, associates said file enhancement with a file being currently accessed by said at least one user in said network browser and transmits said at least one file enhancement to said database server, wherein said at least one file enhancement includes at least one of an annotation and a file insertion;   wherein said toolbar plug-in is selected from the group consisting of visible plug-in and invisible plug-in.   
     
     
         13 . The system as in  claim 10 , wherein said system has a configuration and said configuration is selected from the group consisting of standalone, distributed over a network, and distributed over the world-wide-web. 
     
     
         14 . The system as in  claim 10 , wherein said data presentation module is selected from the group consisting of standalone application, embedded in said network browser window. 
     
     
         15 . The system as in  claim 10 , further comprising a timing module, wherein said timing module records the start time and stop time for an activity within an application. 
     
     
         16 . The system as in  claim 10 , further comprising an automatic billing module in communication with said reporting module, and database server. 
     
     
         17 . The system as in  claim 16 , further comprising a timing module, wherein said automatic billing module is in communication with said database server, and creates bills according to information stored on said database server from said timing module. 
     
     
         18 . The system as in  claim 10 , wherein said data acquisition module is a standalone module residing on said at least one user's computer. 
     
     
         19 . The system as in  claim 10 , wherein said network browser plug-in is selected from the group consisting of visible plug-in, invisible plug-in and in built plug-in. 
     
     
         20 . The system as in  claim 10 , wherein said network browser plug-in transmits files accessed by said at least one users network browser to said file archive using a file transfer connection and said file transfer connection is selected from the group consisting of network drive map, secure FTP, HTTP and IP-based connection. 
     
     
         21 . The system as in  claim 10 , wherein said network browser plug-in transmits user activity data gathered from said at least one users network browser to said database server using a database connection protocol, and said database connection protocol is selected from the group consisting of ODBC, JDBC, HTTP/PHP. 
     
     
         22 . The system as in  claim 10 , wherein said network browser plug-in transmits data gathered from said at least one users network browser to said database server via a database connectivity module using a database connection protocol, wherein said database connection protocol is selected from the group consisting of ODBC, JDBC and HTTP/PHP. 
     
     
         23 . The system as in  claim 10 , wherein said user activity data is selected from the group consisting of user activity information, system information and environment information. 
     
     
         24 . The system as in  claim 10 , further comprising a messenger monitoring module in communication with said database server using a database connection protocol, and said file archive, wherein said messenger monitoring module tracks user activity in a messenger application. 
     
     
         25 . The system as in  claim 10 , further comprising a database connectivity module in communication with said data acquisition module, said file archive, said database server, said reporting module, and said searching module, wherein said database connectivity module acts as communication gateway to the database server, wherein said database connectivity module is in communication with at least one of a timing module, a billing module and a messenger monitor module. 
     
     
         26 . The system as in  claim 10 , wherein said front-end indexer is in communication with said searching module and said reporting module, and said background indexer is in communication with said file archive and said front-end indexer. 
     
     
         27 . The system as in  claim 10 , wherein said searching module is comprised of a user search interface, a search engine, a result analyzer and a click-stream visualization module. 
     
     
         28 . The system as in  claim 10 , wherein said front-end indexer processes queries and said background indexer generates and updates indexes. 
     
     
         29 . The system as in  claim 16 , wherein said billing module is in communication with said database server via a database connectivity module. 
     
     
         30 . A computer implemented method of recording user activity of a user on a computer in a knowledge archival and recollection system, said method comprising:
 providing a file to said user from a network;   transmitting and storing said file to a file archive;   gathering user activity data for each said file accessed by said user;   associating said user activity data with each said file accessed;   transmitting and storing said user activity data;   categorizing said user activity data according to a category accepted in a computer as the category input by the user;   ranking said user activity data according to a numeric user designated ranking;   compressing/decompressing said user activity data;   removing redundant data from said file archive;   collecting file enhancement data, associating the file enhancement data with a file being currently accessed by the user, and transmitting the file enhancement data for being stored;   storing actual content accessed by the user and the file enhancement data as stored material;   indexing the stored material, wherein a query is processed and an index is generated and updated;   receiving a command, including input parameters, for conducting a search of the stored material, the input parameters including keyword and file enhancement data;   generating a customizable user activity report based on the input parameters and user activity data;   wherein said user activity data includes data of activity of said user on said computer including said user accessing online data, being provided to said computer from said network, and offline data, being locally available on said computer, and   wherein said offline data includes files stored locally on said computer, and wherein said user activity data includes operations performed on said offline data.   
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein said file is selected from the group consisting of text file, web-based file, video file, audio file. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising the step of transmitting said file to said file archive according to a protocol selected from the group consisting of network drive map, secure FTP, HTTP and IP-based connection. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the step of transmitting and storing said user activity data is a database connection module; and further comprising the step of: creating preview thumbnails of said files. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising the steps of:
 reading a configuration file;   creating a file transfer connection from said user's local machine to said file archive; and   establishing communication between a database server and a network browser plug-in.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising the step of establishing communication between a database server and a network browser plug-in via a database connectivity module. 
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising receiving a unique user identifier from said user. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising receiving a client identifier from said user. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising recording a unique system identification in a database server. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein said user activity data is selected from the group consisting of user activity information, system information and environment information. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein said file is selected from the group consisting of web-based document, word processing document, spreadsheet document, portable document format file, text file and XML file. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising:
 acknowledging an actuation action;   initiating a file enhancement application in said web browser;   selecting a file enhancement form;   initiating a file enhancement input interface according to said file enhancement form;   receiving a file enhancement;   recording said file enhancement;   associating said file enhancement to each related said at least one file;   transmitting said file enhancement to a network browser plug-in;   transmitting said file enhancement to a database server; and   storing said file enhancement on said database server.   
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising the step of transmitting said file enhancements from a network browser plug-in to a database server through a database connectivity module. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 41 , wherein said actuation action is selected from the group consisting of: toolbar selection, hot key activation, and context menu selection. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 30 , controlling said file enhancements such that the file enhancements are toggled between visible and invisible with respect to a user display. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising controlling access to said file enhancements by any of a number of users. 
     
     
         46 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising:
 creating a transparent layer over a file enhancement document to provide retrieved file enhancements transparently over a file;   temporarily recording at least one file modification properties; and   transmitting and storing said file modification properties to a database server.   
     
     
         47 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein a form of said file enhancement is selected from the group consisting of highlighting, note-taking, annotation, comment addition, footnote appending, endnote appending and file insertion. 
     
     
         48 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising the steps of:
 providing a user with an associated user identifier;   receiving said user identifier;   opening a network browser;   initiating a network browser plug-in upon opening said network browser;   accessing at least one file over a network;   searching said file archive for stored files related to the network address of said at least one file accessed;   retrieving from said file archive file enhancements associated with said network address associated with said at least one file; and   displaying said retrieved file enhancements.   
     
     
         49 . The method of  claim 30 , said method further comprising:
 obtaining a web address associated with said at least one file's network address;   searching a database server for data related to said at least one file's network address;   retrieving stored file enhancements associated with said network address from said database server to obtain retrieved file enhancements; and   comparing stored file enhancements associated with said file's network address with said file.   
     
     
         50 . The method of  claim 46 , further comprising displaying at least one of said retrieved file enhancements transparently over a file and displaying a list of said retrieved file enhancement transparently over a file. 
     
     
         51 . The method of  claim 30 , further comprising the steps of:
 reading a configuration file;   creating a file transfer connection from a network browser plug-in and a database server; and   establishing communication between said network browser plug-in and said database server.   
     
     
         52 . A knowledge archival and recollection system accessible by at least one user, said system comprising:
 a computing device being used by said at least one user and in communication with a database server;   a file archive in communication with said database server for storing files and data regarding said files;   a data acquisition module in communication with the database server and said file archive and a database connectivity module,
 wherein said data acquisition module includes a network browser plug-in and a toolbar plug-in embedded in a network browser of the computing device being used by said at least one user, 
 wherein said network browser plug-in transmits data gathered from said network browser to said database server through said database connectivity module, and 
 wherein said file archive is in communication with said database server, a file archive indexer, and said data acquisition module; 
   a data presentation module in communication with a report module and a search module,
 wherein said report module is in communication with said database server, said data presentation module, said search module, said file archive and said database connectivity module, 
 wherein said search module is in communication with said database server, said file archive indexer, said data presentation module, said report module, said file archive and said database connectivity module, and 
 wherein said file archive indexer is in communication with said file archive, said database server, said report module and said search module; 
   a timing module in communication with said database server, wherein said timing module records the start time and stop time for an activity within any computing device based application;   wherein said database connectivity module is in communication with said data acquisition module, said file archive, said database server, said report module, said search module and said timing module; wherein said database connectivity module acts as a communication gateway to said database server,   wherein said system gathers user activity data and files accessed by each said at least one user through said data acquisition module and archives said user activity data and files on said database server and said file archive for retrieval by each said at least one user,   wherein said user activity data includes data of activity of said user on said computing device including online data, being provided to said computing device from a network, and offline data, being locally available on said computing device,   wherein said offline data includes files stored locally on said computing device, and wherein said user activity data includes operations performed on said offline data,   wherein said search module conducts a search of data on said computing device, said database server and said file archive,   wherein said data acquisition module gathers actual content accessed by said at least one user and transmits said files to said file archive for retrieval by each said at least one user,   wherein said data presentation module displays at least one of file modifications, report results and search results to said at least one user,   wherein said report module is comprising a user report interface, a report engine, a report generator, and a report viewer and generates a customizable user activity report and presents said report to said at least one user on said computing device,   wherein said toolbar plug-in collects at least one file enhancement, wherein said at least one file enhancement is associated with a network address, and wherein said toolbar plug-in further associates said file enhancement with a file being currently accessed by said at least one user in said network browser and transmits said file enhancement to said database server, said file enhancement including annotation and file insertion, wherein the file enhancements are displayed transparently over the at least one file in a network browser window.   
     
     
         53 . The system as in  claim 52 , wherein said data presentation module further presents at least one of said user activity data and associated enhancement data received from said database server and said file archive to said at least one user. 
     
     
         54 . The system as in  claim 52 , wherein said system configuration is selected from the group consisting of standalone, distributed over a network, and distributed over the world-wide-web. 
     
     
         55 . The system as in  claim 52 , wherein at least one of said data presentation module, report user interface and user search interface are embedded in said at least one user's network browser window. 
     
     
         56 . The system as in  claim 52 , further comprising a messenger monitor module, wherein at least one of said timing module, said data presentation module, said data acquisition module, and said messenger monitor module, report user interface, user search interface and report user interface are standalone on said at least one user's computing device. 
     
     
         57 . The system as in  claim 52 , further comprising a messenger monitor module, wherein said at least one of said timing module, said search module, said file archive indexer, said report module, said messenger monitor module, said indexer, and a messenger plug-in is in communication with said database server using a database connection protocol. 
     
     
         58 . The system as in  claim 52 , further comprising an automatic billing module in communication with said report module and said database server;
 wherein said automatic billing module generates invoices or user activity.   
     
     
         59 . The system as in  claim 58 , wherein said automatic billing module is in communication with said database server using a database connection protocol and creates bills according to information stored in said database server from said timing module 
     
     
         60 . The system as in  claim 52 , wherein said network browser plug-in transmits files accessed by said at least one user's network browser to said file archive using a file transfer connection and said network browser plug-in transmits said user activity data gathered from said at least one user's network browser to said database server using a database connection protocol. 
     
     
         61 . The system as in  claim 52 , wherein indicia of said at least one user's activity is selected from the group consisting of file enhancements, inserted or made by a user. 
     
     
         62 . The system as in  claim 52 , further comprising a messenger monitor module, wherein said messenger monitor module includes a messenger plug-in embedded in said at least one user's messenger application and said messenger plug-in transmits user activity data gathered from said at least one users messenger system to said database server using a database connection protocol. 
     
     
         63 . The system as in  claim 52 , further comprising a messenger monitor module in communication with said database server, and said file archive, wherein said messenger monitor module tracks user activity in a messenger application. 
     
     
         64 . The system as in  claim 52 , wherein said database connectivity module, said search module and said report module reside on at least one of the user side and the server side of said system. 
     
     
         65 . The system as in  claim 52 , wherein said file archive indexer includes a front-end indexer in communication with said search module and said report module, and a background indexer in communication with said file archive and said front-end indexer. 
     
     
         66 . The system as in  claim 52 , wherein a background indexer generates an index of file archive contents, and stores said index on a front-end indexer. 
     
     
         67 . The system as in  claim 52 , wherein said search module is in communication with said file archive indexer, said report module and said database server using a database connection protocol and in communication with said file archive using a file transfer connection, wherein said search module retrieves user activity data stored on said database server and files stored on said file archive. 
     
     
         68 . The system as in  claim 52 , wherein said search module is comprised of at least one of a web-based user search interface, a search engine, a result analyzer, a click-stream visualization module and a query formulator module. 
     
     
         69 . The system as in  claim 52 , wherein said report module is comprised of a report user interface, a report generator and a report viewer interface. 
     
     
         70 . The system as in  claim 52 , wherein said report module is in communication with a mail server. 
     
     
         71 . A computer implemented method of extracting knowledge about a computer user's activity, said method comprising:
 initiating a search application on a computer;   displaying a user search interface;   receiving input parameters via said search interface, the input parameters including at least one of a keyword, date range, user activity data, file enhancement, and criteria and graph options from the user, the user activity data including data of activity of the user accessing online data, being provided to the computer from a network, and offline data being locally available on the computer;   formulating a database query based on the received input parameters;   transmitting said database query to a database;   obtaining database query results from said database, the database storing the user activity data and actual content accessed by the user;   providing said database query results to a result analyzer module;   a file archive indexer in communication with the database for indexing a file archive for storing files and data regarding said files, the file archive indexer including a front-end indexer for processing queries;   displaying search result analyzer module results to a user based on the input parameters and at least one of the user activity data and actual content accessed by the user;   obtaining a click stream for each database query result, to provide a set of click streams from multiple users; and   displaying a click stream visualization module results to a user, wherein said click stream visualization module results are from the set of click streams from multiple users.   
     
     
         72 . The method as in  claim 71 , further comprising the steps of:
 formulating a keyword query based on said received input parameters;   transmitting said keyword query to an indexer;   obtaining said keyword query results from said indexer;   determining an intersection of said keyword query results and said database query results; and   providing said intersection to a post-processing module.   
     
     
         73 . The method as in  claim 71 , further comprising the steps of:
 generating a rank for each database query result; and   obtaining a click stream for each database query result.   
     
     
         74 . The method as in  claim 71 , wherein said actuation is selected from the group consisting of toolbar selection, hot key activation, and context menu selection. 
     
     
         75 . The method as in  claim 71 , wherein said input parameters are related to user activity, file content, system information, environment information and file enhancement. 
     
     
         76 . The method as in  claim 71 , further comprising the step of displaying an intersection as at least one of thumbnails, click stream visualization, archived web-pages, actual online content and file enhancement. 
     
     
         77 . The method as in  claim 71 , further comprising the steps of: transmitting said database query results, said keyword query results, and said input parameters to a report module; providing a report to said user from information obtained from said report module. 
     
     
         78 . The method as in  claim 71 , further comprising a data server, wherein said query is transmitted to said database server via a database connectivity module according to a protocol selected from the group consisting of ODBC, JDBC and HTTP/PHP. 
     
     
         79 . The method as in  claim 71 , wherein the database connectivity module transmits the query according to a protocol selected from the group consisting of ODBC, JDBC, and HTTP/PHP. 
     
     
         80 . The method as in  claim 77 , further comprising at least one of the steps of:
 dynamically modifying said report;   saving said report in memory on a local computer; and   saving said report on a file archive.   
     
     
         81 . The method as in  claim 71 , the file archive indexer including a background indexer for generating and updating indexes. 
     
     
         82 . The method as in  claim 71 , the search result analyzer module results including a customizable user activity report based on the input parameters and the user activity data. 
     
     
         83 . The method as in  claim 78 , further comprising at least one of the steps of:
 transmitting said report to a mail server;   dynamically modifying said report;   saving said report in memory on a local computer;   saving said report on a file archive.   
     
     
         84 . The method as in  claim 71 , further comprising the steps of:
 collecting file enhancement data, associating the file enhancement data with a file being currently accessed by the user, and transmitting the file enhancement data, wherein the file enhancement data includes annotations and file insertions.   
     
     
         86 . The method as in  claim 84 , further comprising the steps of:
 storing the actual content accessed by the user and the file enhancement data as stored material.   
     
     
         87 . The method as in claim  85 , further comprising the step of:
 indexing the stored material using a front-end indexer and a background indexer, wherein the front-end indexer processes queries and the background indexer generates and updates indexes.   
     
     
         88 . The method as in  claim 86 , further comprising the step of:
 receiving a command, including input parameters, for conducting a search of the stored material.