Knowledge archival and recollection systems and methods

Abstract

A method of recording user activity of a user on a comprising the steps of providing a file to a user from a network; transmitting and storing the file to a file archive; gathering user activity data for each file accessed; associating user activity data with each file accessed; and transmitting and storing user activity data; categorizing user activity data; ranking user activity data; compressing/decompressing user activity data; removing redundant data from 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; storing the actual content accessed by the user and the file enhancement data as stored material; indexing the stored material; receiving a command, including input parameters, for conducting a search of the stored material, the input parameters including keyword and file enhancement data from the user; generating a customizable user activity report.

1 . 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 said 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;   ranking said user activity data;   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 the actual content accessed by the user and the file enhancement data as stored material;   indexing the stored material, wherein a queries 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 from the user;   generating a customizable user activity report based on the input parameters and the 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.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said file is selected from the group consisting of text file, web-based file, video file, audio file. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , 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. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising at least one of the steps of:
 transmitting said user activity data to a database connection module;   categorizing said user activity data;   ranking said user activity data;   encrypting/decrypting said user activity data;   compressing/decompressing said user activity data;   removing redundant data from said file archive; and   creating preview thumbnails of said files.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , 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 said database server and said network browser plug-in.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of establishing communication between said database server and said network browser plug-in via a database connectivity module. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving a unique user identifier from said user. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising receiving a client identifier from said user. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising recording a unique system identification in said database server. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said user activity data is selected from the group consisting of user activity information, system information and environment information. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , 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. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 1 , 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 said network browser plug-in;   transmitting said file enhancement to said database server; and   storing said file enhancement on said database server.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the step of transmitting said file enhancements from said network browser plug-in to said database server through a database connectivity module. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein said actuation action is selected from the group consisting of: toolbar selection, hot key activation, and context menu selection. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , controlling said file enhancements such that the file enhancements are toggled between visible and invisible with respect to a user display. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising controlling access to said file enhancements by any of a number of users. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 creating a transparent layer over said file enhancement document;   temporarily recording said file modification properties; and   transmitting and storing said file modification properties to said database server.   
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , 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. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , 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.   
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 1 , said method further comprising:
 obtaining a web address associated with said at least one file's network address;   searching said 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.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising displaying at least one of said retrieved file enhancements transparently over said file and displaying a list of said retrieved file enhancement transparently over said file. 
     
     
         22 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:
 reading a configuration file;   creating a file transfer connection from said network browser plug-in and said database server; and   establishing communication between said network browser plug-in and said database server.