Management and comparison of data from multiple information sources

Abstract

Systems, methods, and software described herein provide enhancements for managing and comparing data from multiple information sources. In one implementation, a method of operating a comparison service includes obtaining, from a plurality of data sources, data objects in a plurality of formats corresponding to an event, wherein the data objects each comprise data items for the event. The method further includes maintaining a data structure for the event, wherein the data structure relates data items of similar data type from the plurality of data sources. The method also provides identifying a user request for a summary of the event, generating an event summary based on the data structure, and providing the event summary to the requesting user.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of operating a comparison service to manage data from multiple information sources comprising:
 obtaining, from a plurality of data sources, data objects in a plurality of formats corresponding to an event, wherein the data objects each comprise one or more data items associated with the event;   maintaining a common data structure for the event, wherein the data structure relates data items of similar data type from the plurality of data sources;   identifying a request for a summary of the event;   in response to the request, generating an event summary based on the common data structure, wherein the event summary compares data items of similar data type from the plurality of data sources; and   generating a display of the event summary.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein maintaining the common data structure comprises:
 for each data object, extracting one or more data items from the data object;   identifying a data type associated with each of the one or more data items;   storing each of the one or more data items in the common data structure based on the data type.   
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein identifying the request for the summary of the event comprises receiving the request from a console device. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating the event summary based on the common data structure comprises:
 identifying one or more data types of interest for the event based on the common data structure; and   generating the event summary based on the one or more data types of interest and the common data structure.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein identifying the one or more data types of interest for the event based on the common data structure comprises identifying the one or more data types of interest based on data items associated with the one or more data types of interest meeting criteria. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein identifying the one or more data types of interest for the event based on the common data structure comprises for a data type in the common data structure:
 determining whether a difference of two or more data items that correspond to the data type exceed a threshold value; and   when the two or more data items that correspond to the data type exceed the threshold value, classifying the data type as a data type of interest.   
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the display of the event summary promotes the one or more data types of interest over other data types related to the event. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the display of the event summary promotes the one or more data types of interest over the other data types related to the event by displaying the one or more data types of interest in a different font, different size, different color, or different highlight than the other data types related to the event. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of data sources comprises companies or contractors. 
     
     
         10 . An apparatus comprising:
 one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media;   a processing system operatively coupled to the one or more non-transitory computer readable media; and   program instructions stored on the one or more non-transitory computer readable media that, when read and executed by the processing system, direct the processing system to:
 obtain, from a plurality of data sources, data objects in a plurality of formats corresponding to an event, wherein the data objects each comprise one or more data items associated with the event; 
 maintain a common data structure for the event, wherein the data structure relates data items of similar data type from the plurality of data sources; 
 identify a request for a summary of the event; 
 in response to the request, generate an event summary based on the common data structure, wherein the event summary compares data items of similar data type from the plurality of data sources; and 
 generate a display of the event summary. 
   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein maintaining the common data structure comprises:
 for each data object, extracting one or more data items from the data object;   identifying a data type associated with each of the one or more data items;   storing each of the one or more data items in the common data structure based on the data type.   
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein the plurality of formats comprises one or more document formats, emails, or messages. 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 10 , wherein generating the event summary based on the common data structure comprises:
 identifying one or more data types of interest for the event based on the common data structure; and   generating the event summary based on the one or more data types of interest and the common data structure.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein identifying the one or more data types of interest for the event based on the common data structure comprises identifying the one or more data types of interest based on data items associated with the one or more data types of interest meeting criteria. 
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein identifying the one or more data types of interest for the event based on the common data structure comprises for a data type in the common data structure:
 determining whether a difference of two or more data items that correspond to the data type exceed a threshold value; and   when the two or more data items that correspond to the data type exceed the threshold value, classifying the data type as a data type of interest.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the display of the event summary promotes the one or more data types of interest over other data types related to the event. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the display promotes the one or more data types of interest over the other data types related to the event by displaying the one or more data types of interest in a different font, different size, different color, or different highlight than the other data types related to the event. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 13 , wherein the plurality of data sources comprises companies or contractors. 
     
     
         19 . One or more non-transitory computer readable storage media comprising:
 program instructions that, when executed by a processing system, direct the processing system to:
 obtain, from a plurality of data sources, data objects in a plurality of formats corresponding to an event, wherein the data objects each comprise one or more data items for the event; 
 maintain a data structure for the event, wherein the data structure classifies data items from the data objects into data types, and wherein the data structure relates data items of similar data type from the plurality of data sources; 
 identify a request for a summary of the event; 
 identify one or more data types in the common data structure that satisfy criteria to be classified as data types of interest; 
 in response to the request, generate an event summary based on the data types of interest and the common data structure, wherein the event summary compares data items of similar data type from the plurality of data sources; and 
 generate a display of the event summary. 
   
     
     
         20 . The one or more non-transitory computer readable storage media of  claim 19 , wherein the program instructions to generate the display of the event summary promotes the one or more data types of interest over other data types related to the event.