System and method for providing a searchable library of electronic documents to a user

Abstract

A method and system for publishing a plurality of books for user access to information includes selecting a plurality of books, converting each book from a publisher's digital form, e.g., by training a tool to detect characteristic features (such as layout, typeface, and hierarchical or organizational features such as chapter headings, captions, drawings and tables), and extracting text or data information of the book tagged with the features. This produces a searchable library database arranged, for example, as an xml database indexed by book structure such that a user may remotely, over the internet or other network, access the database, search desired content, and view an image of a portion of the book with the desired data. The system includes a user registration module to identify an authorized user, and may maintain a personal bookshelf for the user. A search engine may score search results based on their position in the hierarchy or other factors, determining degree of relevance of text or data information located by the search engine. The other factors may include position of located search data in the hierarchy, identification of search data in the user's personal library or in a prior search by the user, or degree of match of data identified in the search. An interface with a commercially available search engine may operate to adapt the search. When provided a search query by a user, it may search for an exact match and score hits for relevance, and in the event an exact match is not found, operate to expand the query and return hits in order of rank together with an indication of the expanded search. The user may thus ascertain a degree of likely relevance of returned text or data information. The relational database may include hyperlinks to section headings and related data passages, such that a user accessing a page of a book may immediately view related data and context of a page. The relational database is indexed by logical subunits of the book such that expanded searches for Boolean combinations or proximity of elements span page breaks of book text to identify all instances of the desired search data. The search engine may expand a search if all hits have low ranking, and may suppress hits of low ranking when the search produces hits of high ranking. In further embodiments, the search engine may search tables, drawings and formulae of the converted book file.

1 - 25 . (canceled)  
   
   
       26 . A method of publishing a plurality of books for user searching and access over a computer network, the method comprising: 
 selecting a plurality of books, each book being in a layout form for hardcopy publication and not an electronic publishing format;    automatically detecting features of the books, wherein detecting features includes extracting text from the book and determining hierarchical features of the books;    tagging at least some of the text extracted from the books with determined hierarchical features relating to that text;    storing on a computer network the tagged text; and    providing a search engine to search over the computer network the tagged text, the search engine scoring search results at least in part based upon the hierarchical features with which the text is tagged.    
   
   
       27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the hierarchical features of the books includes chapters.  
   
   
       28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the hierarchical features of the books further includes sections and sub-sections.  
   
   
       29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the hierarchical features of the books further includes titles of the chapters, sections and sub-sections.  
   
   
       30 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the hierarchical features of the books includes a plurality of lowest level elements, and the search engine searches the lowest level elements for one or more search terms entered by a user to calculate a relevancy ranking for each of the lowest level elements determined to be relevant by the search engine.  
   
   
       31 . The method of  claim 30 , wherein the relevancy rankings for lowest level elements are combined into a relevancy ranking for a next highest level element.  
   
   
       32 . The method of  claim 26 , further comprising presenting search results from the search engine to a user over the network.  
   
   
       33 . The method of  claim 32 , further comprising displaying to a user a portion of a book related to a search result that is selected by the user.  
   
   
       34 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein a computer tool is applied to automatically detect the features of the books.  
   
   
       35 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the tool further detects characteristic features of a book including format of section headings, layout of text, drawings and captions and organizational features of the book.  
   
   
       36 . The method of  claim 33 , wherein the books are associated with a plurality of different publishers and further comprising monitoring access by users to books and determining royalties owed to the publishers associated with books that have been displayed to users.  
   
   
       37 . A publishing system operative on a plurality of books, each book being in a layout form for hardcopy publication and not an electronic publishing format, wherein the system comprises: 
 a document conversion processor for converting the books in a layout form for hardcopy publication into an electronic publishing format;    a detecting processor for automatically detecting hierarchical features of the books;    an extracting processor for extracting text or data information of the books and for tagging the extracted text or data information of the books with the hierarchical features detected by the detecting processor;    a memory for storing the tagged text or data information from the means for extracting in a publishing database, the memory comprising a searchable database of said plurality of books configured for a user to remotely access the database over a network or internet; and    a search engine effective to search the memory for specified search data, and return an image of a portion of the book with the desired data;    wherein the search engine ranks search results based on their position in the hierarchy to determine their degree of relevance of text or data information located by the search engine.    
   
   
       38 . The publishing system of  claim 37 , wherein the memory includes a publishing database having text or data information organized and related as chapter, section, subsection or other hierarchy, and the search engine scores search results based upon at least one factor selected from the set of factors including position of located search data in the hierarchy.  
   
   
       39 . The publishing system of  claim 37 , wherein the memory includes a publishing database having hyperlinks to related section heading data, such that a user accessing a page of a book may immediately view related data or context of a page.  
   
   
       40 . The publishing system of  claim 37 , wherein the memory includes a publishing database indexed by logical subunits of the books such that expanded searches for boolean combinations or proximity of elements span page breaks of book text to identify all instances of the desired search data.  
   
   
       41 . The publishing system of  claim 37 , wherein the hierarchical features of the books includes chapters.  
   
   
       42 . The publishing system of  claim 41 , wherein the hierarchical features of the books further includes sections and sub-sections.  
   
   
       43 . The publishing system of  claim 42 , wherein the hierarchical features of the books further includes titles of the chapters, sections and sub-sections.  
   
   
       44 . The publishing system of  claim 41 , wherein the hierarchical features of the books includes a plurality of lowest level elements, and the search engine searches the lowest level elements for one or more search terms entered by a user to calculate a relevancy ranking for each of the lowest level elements determined to be relevant by the search engine.  
   
   
       45 . The publishing system of  claim 44 , wherein the relevancy rankings for lowest level elements are combined into a relevancy ranking for a next highest level element.  
   
   
       46 . The publishing system of  claim 37 , further comprising a display for presenting search results from the search engine to a user over the network.  
   
   
       47 . The publishing system of  claim 46 , wherein the display displays to a user a portion of a book related to a search result that is selected by the user.  
   
   
       48 . The publishing system of  claim 37 , wherein the detecting processor further detects characteristic features of a book including format of section headings, layout of text, drawings and captions and organizational features of the book.  
   
   
       49 . The method of  claim 37 , further comprising a monitor and wherein the books are associated with a plurality of different publishers and monitor monitors access by users to books and determining royalties owed to the publishers associated with books that have been displayed to users.