Collaborative, Incremental Specification of Identities

Abstract

Methods and systems for collaborative, incremental specification of identities are provided. Users of an information processing system collaborate to define and refine identities of entities, and users can create references for those identities. Relationships among the identifiers imply related keywords that can be used to improve search, navigation, and integration. Relationship factoring can be used to maintain efficient logical and physical representations.

1 - 22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . A computer-implementable method for incremental specification of identities in a computer network, the method comprising:
 creating a first identifier that represents a set of entities;   refining the first identifier by creating a second identifier that represents a subset of the entities represented by the first identifier;   refining the second identifier by creating a third identifier that represents a subset of the entities represented by the second identifier;   specifying a targeted unrefinement that associates the first identifier with a first audience and the second identifier with a second audience, wherein the targeted unrefinement's relations relating a reference to an audience is encrypted independently such that an audience can only obtain the reference according to the relations;   generating a first reference to the third identifier with parameters that comprise the targeted unrefinement; and   resolving the reference as the second identifier for the second audience.   
     
     
         24 . The method of  claim 23 , wherein the reference comprises a reference timestamp. 
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the resolving requires a timestamp parameter. 
     
     
         26 . A computer-implementable method for incremental specification of identities in a computer network, the method comprising:
 creating a first identifier that represents a set of entities;   refining the first identifier by creating a second identifier that represents a subset of the entities represented by the first identifier;   refining the second identifier by creating a third identifier that represents a subset of the entities represented by the second identifier;   specifying a targeted unrefinement that associates the first identifier with a first audience and the second identifier with a second audience, wherein the targeted unrefinement's relations relating a reference to an audience is encrypted independently such that an audience can only obtain the reference according to the relations;   marking the first identifier as a default unrefinement;   generating a reference to the third identifier with parameters that comprise the targeted unrefinement; and   resolving the reference as the first identifier for the third audience that is distinct from the first and second audiences.   
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 26 , wherein the reference comprises a reference timestamp. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 27 , wherein the resolving requires a timestamp parameter.