Method and apparatus for constructing and maintaining a user knowledge profile

Abstract

A method of constructing an entity profile, having private and public portions with different access restrictions, commences with the assignment of a confidence level to content within an electronic document. The electronic document may be associated with a first entity. The content may furthermore potentially be descriptive of the first entity. If the confidence level assigned to the content is less than a predetermined threshold, the content is automatically rejected for inclusion within the entity profile. However, if the confidence level assigned to the content exceeds the predetermined threshold, the content is included within the private portion of the entity profile. Thereafter, the content is automatically presented to the first entity for authorization, by the first entity, for inclusion of the content within the public portion of the profile. The public portion of the profile may be freely accessible by other entities, whereas the private portion may have access restrictions.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of constructing an entity profile including first and second portions having different access restrictions, the method including:
 automatically assigning a confidence level to content within an electronic document associated with a first entity, the content being potentially descriptive of the first entity;   if the confidence level assigned to the content is less than a predetermined threshold, then automatically rejecting the content for inclusion within the entity profile;   if the confidence level assigned to the content exceeds the predetermined threshold, then automatically including content within the first portion of the entity profile, and automatically presenting the content to the first entity for authorization by the first entity for inclusion of the content within the second portion of the entity profile,   wherein the first and second portions of the entity profile have different access restrictions with respect to a second entity.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the second portion of the entity profile has unrestricted access. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the first portion of the entity profile has restricted access. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  including designating the second portion of the entity profile as a public portion and designating the first portion of the entity profile as a private portion. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  including determining whether the electronic document is indicated as being for use in construction of the entity profile. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the determining comprises examining a flag associated with the electronic document, the flag marking the document as being for use in the construction of the entity profile or not. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5  wherein the of determining comprises determining whether the electronic document is addressed to a construction entity that performs construction of the entity profile. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1  including determining whether the electronic document indicates an attachment as being for use in the construction of the entity profile or not. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the automatic assigning of the confidence level comprises identifying a term within the content. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the automatic assigning of the confidence level includes counting the number of words within the term. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the automatic assigning of the confidence level includes identifying parts of speech comprising the term. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the automatic assigning of the confidence level includes comparing the term to a collection of lexicon terms. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the automatic assigning of the confidence level includes determining the frequency with which the term occurs within the electronic document associated with the first entity. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13  wherein the determining of the frequency comprises determining a percentage value indicating the frequency of occurrence of the term relative to a total number of terms within the electronic document associated with the first entity. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the automatic assigning of the confidence level comprises determining the frequency with which the term occurs within a plurality of electronic documents associated with the first entity. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 9  wherein the term comprises a grammar term, noun phrase or word. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the automatic assigning of the confidence level includes analyzing addressee information associated with the electronic document. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the analyzing of the addressee information includes identification of a level of seniority of an addressee of the electronic document. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the analyzing of the addressee information includes determining an average level of seniority of all addressees of the electronic document. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 17  wherein the analyzing of the addressee information includes determining a level of seniority of a most senior addressee of the electronic document.