Annotations for Electronic Content

Abstract

Embodiments are described for capturing, displaying, and navigating annotations in an electronic document. In some embodiments, an annotation is displayed that is associated with an object in an electronic document. The annotation is maintained in a list of annotations. Selection of the annotation is received and in response to the selection, a window is displayed that includes at least a portion of the annotation. The window includes a navigation option enabling navigation of annotations in a plurality of electronic documents. In some embodiments, a selection of a navigation option is received and in response, the window may be navigated to an additional annotation associated with another object in a different electronic document.

1 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 displaying a first annotation associated with a first object in a first electronic document of a plurality of electronic documents, the first annotation maintained in a list of annotations;   receiving a selection of the first annotation;   responsive to receiving the selection of the first annotation, displaying a window that includes at least a portion of the first annotation, the window including a navigation option enabling navigation of annotations in the plurality of electronic documents;   receiving a selection of the navigation option; and   responsive to receiving the selection of the navigation option, navigating to a second annotation associated with a second object in a second electronic document of the plurality of electronic documents.   
     
     
         2 . A computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the first annotation and the second annotation are related based on content. 
     
     
         3 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . A computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein navigating to the second annotation comprises:
 displaying at least a portion of the second annotation in the window;   navigating to a location of the second object in the second electronic document; and   displaying the second object in the second electronic document.   
     
     
         4 . A computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein navigating to the second annotation comprises displaying at least a portion of the second annotation in the window while a display of the first object in the first electronic document remains fixed in an underlying window positioned under the window. 
     
     
         5 . A computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the annotation comprises at least one of a bookmark, a highlight, a note, or a drawing. 
     
     
         6 . A computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the annotations in the list of annotations are sorted based on one or more properties of the annotations. 
     
     
         7 . A computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the annotations in the list of annotations are sorted based on one or more properties that include at least one of a time of creation, a time last accessed, a type, or a book order. 
     
     
         8 . A computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 1 , wherein the list of annotations is maintained in a centralized annotations index. 
     
     
         9 . A computer-implemented method comprising:
 displaying, via a window, at least a portion of an annotation associated with an object in an electronic document, the annotation being maintained in a list of annotations;   receiving a search query requesting additional annotations related to the first annotation; and   responsive to receiving the search query, locating one or more annotations of the additional annotations related to the annotation, the one or more annotations being associated with one or more objects located in one or more additional electronic documents.   
     
     
         10 . A computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the additional annotations are related to the annotation based on content. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the additional annotations are related to the annotation based on having been created by a same user that created the annotation. 
     
     
         12 . A computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the one or more annotations each include at least one occurrence of text from the search query. 
     
     
         13 . A computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the annotations included in the list of annotations are sorted based on one or more properties of the annotations. 
     
     
         14 . A computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 9 , wherein:
 the electronic document and the one or more additional electronic documents include books; and   the annotations included in the list of annotations are sorted based on book order.   
     
     
         15 . A computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 9 , wherein the searching is performed based on a text query, and the method further comprises receiving one or more occurrences of the text query across the one or more annotations located in the searching. 
     
     
         16 . A computer-implemented method as recited in  claim 9 , further comprising, responsive to selection of an additional annotation from the one or more annotations, navigating to a location of an additional object associated with the additional annotation. 
     
     
         17 . A system comprising:
 one or more processors; and   one or more computer-readable storage media storing computer-executable instructions that are executable by the one or more processors to cause the system to perform operations comprising:   displaying a first annotation associated with a first object in a first electronic document of a plurality of electronic documents, the first annotation maintained in a list of annotations;   receiving a selection of the first annotation;   responsive to receiving the selection of the first annotation, displaying a window that includes at least a portion of the first annotation, the window including a navigation option enabling navigation of annotations in the plurality of electronic documents;   receiving a selection of the navigation option; and   responsive to receiving the selection of the navigation option, navigating to a location of a second annotation associated with a second object in a second electronic document of the plurality of electronic documents.   
     
     
         18 . A system as recited in  claim 17 , wherein the window is configured to be closed responsive to receiving a user selection of a portion of a display of a page of the first electronic document. 
     
     
         19 . A system as recited in  claim 17 , wherein the navigating to the location of the second annotation comprises displaying at least a portion of the second annotation in the window while a display of the first object in the first electronic document remains fixed in an underlying window positioned under the window. 
     
     
         20 . A system as recited in  claim 17 , further comprising:
 displaying the second annotation via the window responsive to navigating to the location of the second annotation;   receiving a selection of the second annotation; and   displaying the second object in the second electronic document in response to the selection of the second annotation.