DESC:FORM 2
THE PATENTS ACT, 1970
(39 of 1970)
&
THE PATENTS RULES, 2003
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
(See section 10, rule 13)

“A method of supplementing information for a given information source from a plurality of other information sources”

By
INDUS TECHINNOVATIONS LLP
NO. 234, 5th CROSS, DOMLUR LAYOUT BANGALORE - 560 071

The following specification particularly describes the invention and the manner in which it is to be performed.

Field of the Invention

The invention is in the field of organizing the content of information sources. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method and system of supplementing the content with additional relevant information from a plurality of digital information sources.

Background of the Invention
Information sources may include a variety of structured or unstructured information which are abundant in a knowledge based society. Numerous books, documents, and multimedia files are available in various fields in the literature and their users are spending a large amount of time to learn the content. These information sources contain many concepts in its content and learning involves understanding the concepts and their relationships to each other. There is quite a lot of effort required in making the content available easily (e.g., through an electronic form), presenting the content in forms easily understandable to the readers (e.g., through images, audios and videos), and supplementing the content with external information (e.g., references to other relevant resources).
One way to learn the content in a field is to get the content in different media forms including images, audios, and videos. Another way to learn the content of a book is to get a list of the topics covered by the book along with the relationships between those topics. This can be done at different levels of granularity; it could be at the book level, chapter level, section level or topic level. These will provide different perspectives of the same content and make a lasting impression in the mind of the reader.
Concept maps provide visual representations of the concepts in a field of study and the relationships between them. This is a good medium to represent the concepts covered in a book along with their relationships to each other. For example, there are multiple ways to present the content in a book in easily understandable forms. In conjunction, there are methods to supplement and enhance the content with additional relevant information through different media. It is expected that good organization of the content and providing sufficient relevant information would lead to a quicker grasp of the relevant concepts and their interconnections. There is a need for organizing the content of a book in a more holistic manner and providing the content along with relevant extra information to the readers in an easily understandable and navigable manner.
There is thus a need in the art to organize available content in a more holistic manner and to provide the content along with relevant extra information to the readers in an easily understandable and navigable manner.

Summary of the Invention
An aspect of the present invention is to address at least the above-mentioned problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described below.
According to one aspect of the present invention is a method of supplementing information for a given information source from a plurality of other information sources, the method comprising: presenting a concept map structure in the context of the given information source and relevant concepts from the information source and the plurality of other information sources, supplementing each content of the concept map with additional relevant information and enabling the user to navigate on the concept map or on the supplemented information to use and modify the information.
In another aspect of the present invention provides an automated system of supplementing information for a given information source from a plurality of other information sources, the system comprising: a plurality of information sources, and at least one client device having an interface, wherein the client device includes a logic module for identifying relevant concepts from context of the plurality of information resources thereby organizing at least one concept map, a learning supplement generator for supplementing each content in the concept map with additional relevant information including documents, images, audios, videos, pages or content from the information source etc. and a processor including a database, the processor coupled with the logic module and the learning supplement generator to allow the user to navigate on the concept map and the additional relevant information in order to retrieve user preferred information, add and share texts, images, audios, videos, references and other relevant information with other users.
Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

Brief description of the drawings
The novel features believed characteristic of the invention are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a flow chart of a method of supplementing information for a given information source from a plurality of other information sources, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically representing a learning supplement constructed in accordance with the teachings of the disclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a presentation of a concept map structure and other supplemented information which is generated in connection with a user selection (e.g. user selection ‘Enthalpy’), in accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 shows an automated system of supplementing information for a given information source from a plurality of other information sources, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention.

Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

Detail description of the Invention

In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings that form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The leading digit(s) of reference numbers appearing in the Figures generally corresponds to the Figure number in which that component is first introduced, such that the same reference number is used throughout to refer to an identical component which appears in multiple Figures.

The features, structures, or characteristics of the invention described throughout this specification may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. For example, reference throughout this specification to “certain embodiments,” “some embodiments,” or similar language means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in certain embodiments,” “in demonstrative embodiments,” “in some embodiment,” “in other embodiments,” or similar language throughout this specification do not necessarily all refer to the same group of embodiments and the described features, structures, or characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments.

FIG. 1 shows a flow chart of a method 100 of supplementing information for a given information source from a plurality of other information sources, according to one embodiment of the present invention.

At step 110, the method presents a concept map structure in the context of the given information source and other relevant concepts from the plurality of other information sources, the presenting the concept map is by defining association between the concepts including relation between the concepts and linking the same. In an operation, presenting the concept map includes identifies relevant concepts from the plurality of other information sources and also identifying relevant concepts within the context of the given information source. The given information sources are of various forms which are available to describe a field of study. As an example embodiment, a textbook describes different related ideas and concepts in a field of study in electronic form or printed form. A collection of documents in printed form or electronic form around a common theme provides information in a relevant field of study. Both the textbook and the collection of documents (may be syllabus with textbook) are all considered as given information source. Once the method identifies relevant concepts, further defines association between the identified concepts (i.e.) identifying relation between the concepts and linking the same. The information sources may contain different set of related topics which includes one or more concepts which are connected to each other through an explicit relationship and others are connected through implicit relationships. The identification of concepts and relation of the concepts are structured manually or automated with the help of subject experts in their respective field.

The concept map structure according to the identified relevant concepts and their association thereby forming a learning supplement. The concept maps are organized at multiple levels of granularity, and the concept map includes one or more concept maps with distinct concepts. The concept maps are linked to one or more other concept maps through related concept. Moreover, the concept map are created from information source data, external data and the data from the web. The learning supplement includes documents, images, audios, videos, pages or content from the information source and relevant documents internal or external to the book. Further, the learning supplement allows the user to add and share texts, images, audios, videos, references and other relevant information with other users.

Identifying the concepts within the information source and relating those to each other provides its concept map which gives a different perspective to the content of the information source. In addition to giving a list of relevant topics in the information source the concept map gives a bird’s eye view of the content, where the user will be able to navigate through the content in ways different from the linear ordered way given in textbooks.

At step 120, the method supplements each content in the concept map with additional relevant information. The additional relevant information includes primitive information relevant to each identified concepts and other additional information. The primitive information may be or may include a summary or the definition of the identified concept. Moreover, it may also include but not limited to videos and other contents. The additional information including related concepts to each identified concepts from the external or other information sources including textbooks, articles and the web.

At step 130, the method allows the user to navigate on the concept map or on the supplemented information to use and modify the information. Further, the method at step 140 enables the user to add and share texts, images, audios, videos, references and other relevant information with other users. Furthermore, the method at step 150 adaptively updates the learning supplement by receiving feedback from the user on the concepts, the concept maps and the relevant information. The learning supplement can be developed in an adaptive manner so that the system adapts its content including the concepts, the concept map, and relevant information from user feedback. This will include implicit feedback including the selections made by the user during the usage of the system and the data updated to the system by the users.

Furthermore, the method at step 160 enables the user to rate various notes, images, videos or references so that at a later stage the user can filter the same based on the rating. Moreover, the method also provides test and review exercise to the user at certain points to evaluate the user’s progress and grasping knowledge of the concept by the user.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram schematically representing a learning supplement constructed in accordance with the teachings of the disclosure. In an example embodiment, the learning supplement includes a first section 210 and a second section 220. The first section provides a concept map which is created based on the subject matter. For example, for a hard copy of a book, the learning supplement may be supplied along with the hard copy. The supplement includes a concept map, wherein the concept map created by identifying relevant concepts from the plurality of information sources, the identifying relevant concepts is in the context of the book. Further, the concept map also defines association between the identified concepts, i.e. identify relation between the concepts and linking the same.

The second section 220 of the learning supplement provides primitive information relevant to each identified concepts and also providing additional information including but not limited to related concepts to each identified concepts from the external sources including textbooks, articles and the web.

FIG. 3 illustrates a presentation of a concept map structure and other supplemented information which is generated in connection with a user selection (e.g. user selection ‘Enthalpy’), in accordance with an example embodiment of the present invention. In an example operation, when a concept in the concept map is selected, the learning supplement provides information relevant to the selected concept (as shown in FIG. 3). The information includes relevant images (FIG. 3, A), videos (FIG. 3, B), relevant pages of the digital text book (FIG. 3, C), links to documents relevant to the selected concepts, references to the selected concepts, and links to information relevant to the selected concepts. The information provided is in the form of various digital artifacts such as digital documents, images, audios, and videos. In the whole description, the learning supplement includes the concept map and other related information as a whole is defined as the learning supplement.
The learning supplement displays concept maps and information relevant to selected concepts. The user can navigate through one or more concept maps at one or multiple levels of granularity and select one or more concepts. The user can zoom-in to see narrower concepts or zoom-out to see broader concepts. At each level the concepts of interest may be selected, relevant information for the concept may be obtained, and the concept may be studied and understood by the reader (FIG. 3, D).
The user can search for information within the content of the learning supplement, content within the book, and content external to the book; and become aware of the interconnections between the various pieces of information.
The user can set the context of a search by selecting one or more concepts before making a keyword search. The system provides results relevant to the context set by the selected concepts.
The learning supplement provides the option to the user of adding notes, images, videos, links to references, or other information useful with the learning supplement (FIG. 3, E). The added information can be at the book level, concept map level, concept level, or in a general category. These user-added details and annotations can be saved by the user for later use. The details and annotations can be made private or public by the user. In the latter case, they can be shared with other users in a collaborative environment. The breadth and depth of information provided to every user by the learning system can thus be improved by crowd-sourcing additional information.
Each user of the learning supplement system can rate the various notes, images, videos, references and other details presented by the system or added to the system by the other users and made public and shared by them.
Users of the learning supplement system are offered the option of filtering the various notes, images, videos, references and other details that are public and available to them; such that only those above a certain rating level are visible to them. This filter can be applied to both the default set of digital artifacts and details available with the system, as well as those subsequently added to it by the other users.

FIG. 4 shows an automated system of supplementing information for a given information source from a plurality of other information sources, in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention. The system 400 includes one or more information sources 410 and at least one client device 420 having an interface 430. The information sources includes external data sources and the sources from the World Wide Web (internet). The client device includes a logic module 422, a learning supplement generator 424, a processor 426 and a database 428. The logic module 422 for identifying relevant concepts from context of the plurality of information resources thereby organizing at least one concept map. The learning supplement generator 424 for supplementing each content in the concept map with additional relevant information including documents, images, audios, videos, pages or content from the information source etc. The processor 426 including a database 428, the processor 426 coupled with the logic module 422 and the learning supplement generator 424 allows the user to navigate (using user interface 430) the learning supplement in order to retrieve desired information, add and share texts, images, audios, videos, references and other relevant information with other users. The concept map generated is structured at multiple levels of granularity which includes a plurality of concept maps with distinct concepts, and the concept maps are linked to one or more other concept maps through related concept. Further, the concept maps are created from at least one or all of information source, external data source, and the web. The identification of concepts and relation of the concepts are stored in the database 428, wherein the concepts are structured manually or automated with the help of subject experts in their respective field. The interface 430 of the client device 420 allows the user to enter at least one search query in order to retrieve relevant information from the formerly updated learning supplement stored in the database or external information from the web. In addition, the system adapts the content including the concepts, the concept map, and relevant information from user feedback. This will include implicit feedback including the selections made by the user during the usage of the system and the data updated to the system by the users.

A number of implementations have been described. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made. For example, advantageous results may be achieved if the steps of the disclosed techniques are performed in a different order and/or if components in a disclosed system or architecture are combined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.

In addition, a user with necessary privileges (such as an administrator) can add, delete, or modify the content in the learning supplement including the concepts, text, images, audio, video, and references. The user can modify the concept map in terms of the positioning of the nodes in the graph, content of the nodes, look and feel of the nodes and vertices, relationship between nodes, information relevant to the nodes including text, images, audio, video, and references. This feature serves various functions; that of updating the concepts and related details of the learning supplement, curating the concepts and content of the learning supplement, and moderating the information added by the various users to the system.
The learning supplement uses the output from available sensors within an electronic platform or user device such as accelerometers, clocks, magnetic sensors, geo-location detector (e.g., GPS), touch sensors, image sensors, audio sensors and video sensors to help the user interact with the learning supplement and to enhance the user experience in navigating, learning and extracting relevant information.
The learning supplement stores a part or all of its content and other relevant information in an external server that is accessible from the user device through a network or the Internet.
The learning supplement tracks the usage behavior of its users, based on which it provides relevant resources of interest to the users. Based on the usage behavior pattern, the learning supplement provides references or advertisements to resources that are relevant to its content, or are of potential interest to the user. These can be used in assisting the user to purchase access to additional resources for study, as well as become aware of other resources (e.g. books) available in the field that are of possible interest to the user.
Additionally, advertisements served at appropriate points of the learning supplement system can be employed to make the user aware of people and teams working on projects relevant to the concepts being studied, courses available for enrollment in related areas of study, corporate entities working in related fields, as well as job openings available in the field of study.
The learning supplement may display tests and review exercises at various points, to evaluate the user’s progress and grasp of the concepts.
The learning supplement assists in evaluating the learning behavior of the user and the understanding of the concepts. It records the topics covered by the user and logs the path taken through the various concepts. The learning supplement records various statistics of learning behavior including, but not restricted to, the time taken at various concepts along the path in a session.
The learning system can adapt itself based on the user behavior and results of the periodic evaluation. Based on these factors, the system adapts itself by modifying the concept maps and updating the information presented to the user. The learning supplement system makes suggestions to the user on the next set of concepts to study. The system can suggest that the user revisit earlier concepts as revision, if the evaluation indicates that the user’s understanding of them is incomplete. Alternatively, the system can suggest more challenging concepts for the user to study if it deems that the user has fully grasped the earlier concepts.

We Claim:

1. A method of supplementing information for a given information source from a plurality of other information sources, the method comprising:
presenting a concept map structure in the context of the given information source and relevant concepts from the given information source and the plurality of other information sources;
supplementing the content of the concept map with additional relevant information; and
enabling the user to navigate on the concept map or on the supplemented information to use or modify the information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of presenting the concept map includes,
defining association between the concepts including relation between the concepts and linking the same.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of supplementing additional information including related concepts to each concepts from the external sources including textbooks, articles and the web.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the relationship between the concepts in the concept map are related to each other through explicit and implicit relationship, the concept map is organized at multiple levels of granularity, and wherein the concept map includes a plurality of concept maps with distinct concepts.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the concept maps are linked to one or more other concept maps through related concept, and wherein the concept maps are created from information source data, external data, and data from the web.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the identification of concepts and relation of the concepts are structured manually or automated with the help of subject experts in their respective fields.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of supplementing each content in the concept map with additional relevant information includes documents, images, audios, videos, pages or content from the information source.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
enabling the user to add and share texts, images, audios, videos, references and other relevant information with other users.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
adaptively updating the additional information by receiving feedback from the user on the concepts, the concept maps and the relevant information, wherein the feedback from the user is implemented by tracking the usage behavior of the users based on user intended content-.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
enabling the user to rate various notes, images, videos or references so that at a later stage the user can filter the same based on the rating.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
providing test and review exercise at certain points to evaluate the user’s progress and grasp of the concept.

12. An automated system of supplementing information for a given information source from a plurality of other information sources, the system comprising:
a plurality of information sources; and
at least one client device having an interface, wherein the client device includes
a logic module for identifying relevant concepts from context of the plurality of information resources thereby organizing at least one concept map;
a learning supplement generator for supplementing each content in the concept map with additional relevant information including documents, images, audios, videos, pages or content from the information source; and
a processor including a database, the processor coupled with the logic module and the learning supplement generator to allow the user to navigate on the concept map and the additional relevant information in order to retrieve user preferred information, add and share texts, images, audios, videos, references and other relevant information with other users.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the concept map is structured at multiple levels of granularity, the concept map includes a plurality of concept maps with distinct concepts, and the concept maps are linked to one or more other concept maps through related concept.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the concept maps are created from at least one or all of information source, external data source, and the web.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the identification of concepts and relation of the concepts are stored in the database, wherein the concepts are structured manually or automated with the help of subject experts in their respective field.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the interface of the client device allows the user to enter at least one search query in order to retrieve relevant information from the learning supplement stored in the database and any external information from the web related to that search query.

Abstract

A method of supplementing information for a given information source from a plurality of other information sources

The present invention relates to a method of supplementing information for a given information source from a plurality of other information sources. In one embodiment the method includes presenting a concept map structure in the context of the given information source and other relevant concepts from the plurality of other information sources, supplementing each content of the concept map with additional relevant information, and enabling the user to navigate on the concept map or on the supplemented information to use and modify the information.

Figure 3 (for publication)

,CLAIMS:
We Claim:

1. A method of supplementing information for a given information source from a plurality of other information sources, the method comprising:
presenting a concept map structure in the context of the given information source and relevant concepts from the given information source and the plurality of other information sources;
supplementing the content of the concept map with additional relevant information; and
enabling the user to navigate on the concept map or on the supplemented information to use or modify the information.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of presenting the concept map includes,
defining association between the concepts including relation between the concepts and linking the same.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of supplementing additional information including related concepts to each concepts from the external sources including textbooks, articles and the web.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the relationship between the concepts in the concept map are related to each other through explicit and implicit relationship, the concept map is organized at multiple levels of granularity, and wherein the concept map includes a plurality of concept maps with distinct concepts.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the concept maps are linked to one or more other concept maps through related concept, and wherein the concept maps are created from information source data, external data, and data from the web.

6. The method of claim 2, wherein the identification of concepts and relation of the concepts are structured manually or automated with the help of subject experts in their respective fields.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of supplementing each content in the concept map with additional relevant information includes documents, images, audios, videos, pages or content from the information source.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
enabling the user to add and share texts, images, audios, videos, references and other relevant information with other users.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
adaptively updating the additional information by receiving feedback from the user on the concepts, the concept maps and the relevant information, wherein the feedback from the user is implemented by tracking the usage behavior of the users based on user intended content-.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
enabling the user to rate various notes, images, videos or references so that at a later stage the user can filter the same based on the rating.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
providing test and review exercise at certain points to evaluate the user’s progress and grasp of the concept.

12. An automated system of supplementing information for a given information source from a plurality of other information sources, the system comprising:
a plurality of information sources; and
at least one client device having an interface, wherein the client device includes
a logic module for identifying relevant concepts from context of the plurality of information resources thereby organizing at least one concept map;
a learning supplement generator for supplementing each content in the concept map with additional relevant information including documents, images, audios, videos, pages or content from the information source; and
a processor including a database, the processor coupled with the logic module and the learning supplement generator to allow the user to navigate on the concept map and the additional relevant information in order to retrieve user preferred information, add and share texts, images, audios, videos, references and other relevant information with other users.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the concept map is structured at multiple levels of granularity, the concept map includes a plurality of concept maps with distinct concepts, and the concept maps are linked to one or more other concept maps through related concept.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the concept maps are created from at least one or all of information source, external data source, and the web.

15. The system of claim 12, wherein the identification of concepts and relation of the concepts are stored in the database, wherein the concepts are structured manually or automated with the help of subject experts in their respective field.

16. The system of claim 12, wherein the interface of the client device allows the user to enter at least one search query in order to retrieve relevant information from the learning supplement stored in the database and any external information from the web related to that search query.