Identifying and using bibliographical references in electronic books

Abstract

An electronic book system recognizes patterns in texts that correspond to bibliographical references. User selection of a bibliographical reference causes a digital copy of the work referenced to be made available to the user. Factors such as price, reference format and user feedback are used to select a source from which the digital copy of the work is obtained.

1 . An electronic book reader comprising:
 a recognition subsystem, configured to identify a pattern of characters within a portion of text indicative of the characters representing a bibliographic reference to an external work; and   an ordering subsystem, configured to provide a digital copy of the external work responsive to selection of the bibliographic reference by a user.   
     
     
         2 . The electronic book reader of  claim 1 , wherein the recognition subsystem is an optical character recognition (OCR) subsystem. 
     
     
         3 . The electronic book reader of  claim 1 , wherein the ordering subsystem is further configured to automatically select a preferred source of the external reference responsive to one or more factors. 
     
     
         4 . The electronic book reader of  claim 3 , wherein the one or more factors includes at least one of: terms of delivery provided by the preferred source, preferences set by the user, format in which the external work is provided by the preferred source, and feedback provided by other users. 
     
     
         5 . The electronic book of  claim 4 , wherein the terms of delivery include a price. 
     
     
         6 . The electronic book of  claim 4 , wherein the terms of delivery include terms of use. 
     
     
         7 . The electronic book reader of  claim 1 , wherein the order subsystem is further configured to direct the user to an on-line marketplace for the digital copy. 
     
     
         8 . The electronic book reader of  claim 1 , wherein the digital copy is provided for free. 
     
     
         9 . The electronic book reader of  claim 1 , wherein the user makes a payment in exchange for the digital copy. 
     
     
         10 . The electronic book reader of  claim 9 , wherein the payment is automatically split between two or more parties. 
     
     
         11 . A computer-implemented method for identifying and using bibliographic references in an electronic book, comprising:
 identifying a pattern of characters within a portion of text indicative of the characters representing a bibliographic reference to an external work; and   providing a digital copy of the external work responsive to selection of the bibliographic reference by a user.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising automatically selecting a preferred source of the external work responsive to one or more factors. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the one or more factors includes at least one of: terms of delivery provided by the preferred source, preferences set by the user, format in which the external reference is provided by the preferred source, and feedback provided by other users about the source. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the terms of delivery include a price. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the terms of delivery include terms of use. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein providing a digital copy includes directing the user to an on-line marketplace. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the digital copy is provided for free. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising making a payment in exchange for the digital copy. 
     
     
         19 . The method  claim 18 , wherein the payment is automatically split between two or more parties. 
     
     
         20 . A computer program product that comprises a non-transient computer readable storage medium containing computer executable instructions for identifying and using bibliographic references in an electronic book, comprising:
 instructions to identify a pattern of characters within a portion of text indicative of the characters representing a bibliographic reference to an external work; and   instructions to provide a digital copy of the external work responsive to selection of the bibliographic reference by a user.   
     
     
         21 . The computer program product of  claim 20 , further comprising instructions to automatically select a preferred source of the external work responsive to one or more factors. 
     
     
         22 . The computer program product of  claim 21 , wherein the one or more factors includes at least one of: terms of delivery provided by the preferred source, preferences set by the user, format in which the external reference is provided by the preferred source, and feedback provided by other users about the source. 
     
     
         23 . The computer program product of  claim 22 , wherein the terms of delivery include a price. 
     
     
         24 . The computer program product of  claim 22 , wherein the terms of delivery include terms of use. 
     
     
         25 . The computer program product of  claim 20 , wherein the instructions to provide a digital copy include instructions to direct the user to an on-line marketplace. 
     
     
         26 . The computer program product of  claim 20 , wherein the digital copy is provided for free. 
     
     
         27 . The computer program product of  claim 20 , further comprising instructions to make a payment in exchange for the digital copy. 
     
     
         28 . The computer program product  claim 27 , wherein the payment is automatically split between two or more parties.