JPH11212996A - Information providing apparatus, information providing method, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] An information providing apparatus for automatically extracting user preference information and providing predetermined information based on the preference information,
A method and a recording medium are provided. An information providing unit requests user preference information from a user preference extraction unit in response to a user search request. The user preference extraction unit 17 reads the history information of the user from the history database 15 and uses the information such as the search date, search content, and search field of the history information to determine the degree of interest of the user in each field. The interest values shown are calculated respectively. The user preference extracting unit 17 extracts a calculated interest value exceeding the threshold value, generates preference information based on the extracted interest value, and transmits the generated preference information to the information providing unit 11. The information providing unit 11 reads information corresponding to the field indicated by the received preference information from each information source of the classification information database 13 and presents the information, for example, from the latest information.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information providing apparatus, a method, and a recording medium for automatically extracting information required by a user from information accumulated in a plurality of fields and displaying the information efficiently. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There has been proposed an information providing apparatus for reading information from a database and providing the information in accordance with a user's preference. Such an information providing apparatus includes, for example, an information search unit 41 and a classification information database 4 as shown in FIG.
2, a user preference registration unit 43, and a preference information database 44. The classification information database 42 is a database in which information to be provided to the user is classified and registered for each field, for example, and is registered and updated sequentially.
The preference information database 44 is a database in which, for example, information on items of interest or interest of the user is input from the user preference registration unit 43 and registered.

In such an information providing apparatus, for example, when a user inputs a search request to an information search unit 41, the information search unit 41 reads the user's preference information from a preference information database 42 and uses the user's preference information as a search condition. The information that is compared with the information in the classification information database 42 is presented as information that the user is interested in.

[0004]

However, in such an information providing apparatus, the user must register his / her own preference information in the preference information database 44 in advance. Was complicated. In addition, every time the user's preference changes, it is necessary to register new preference information again.

When corresponding information is read out and displayed from the classification information database 42 based on the preference information, the information includes, for example, a registration date, an information source (a place where the information exists, and the like). Etc. are displayed in an order based on the like. For this reason, even if there is information having similar contents in the information to be displayed, if the registration dates, information sources, and the like are different, the displays are scattered, which is not convenient.

The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and provides an information providing apparatus, a method and a recording medium for automatically extracting user preference information and providing predetermined information based on the preference information. The purpose is to do. It is another object of the present invention to provide an information providing apparatus, a method, and a recording medium that can collectively display information having similar contents without being scattered and displayed.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, an information providing apparatus according to a first aspect of the present invention comprises: an information storage means for storing information to be provided to a user; History information storage means for storing search history information including fields and search contents for each user, and a search for the user stored in the history information storage means in response to a search request input by the user Reading the history information, using the search date and the search field indicated by the search history information, to specify a field appropriate for the field of information to be provided to the user at the present time; Display means for reading and displaying information corresponding to the field from the information storage means.

According to such a configuration, for example, a field in which the user is interested is automatically specified using the search history information of the user, and information on the field is provided. Thereby, appropriate information can be provided to each user without bothering the user.

The field specifying means calculates an interest value Bj (j = 1,..., M (m is the number of fields) indicating the degree of the user's interest in each field in accordance with the calculation formula shown in Expression 3. Means for determining whether the acquired interest value Bj exceeds a predetermined value, and including a field corresponding to the interest value Bj exceeding the predetermined value in a field of information provided to the user. And may be provided.

[0010]

(Equation 3) (Search contents in each search field are Ci (i = 1,...
A, n (n is the number of search contents in the applicable field) and A
i is a weight for Ci. )

The weight A included in the calculation formula represented by the equation (3)
i may include a weight Ai (t) that varies with time t, and Ai (t) may be obtained by a monotonic decay function that includes the equation shown in Equation 4.

[0012]

(Equation 4)

[0013] The information storage means may include a plurality of information sources for storing information to be provided to a user, and the information providing apparatus may be configured such that the content of the information stored in different information sources is different. Detecting means for detecting similar similar information; means for specifying, as a reference information source, an information source whose registration date is the oldest in the similar information detected by the detecting means; and a registration date of the similar information in the reference information source. And a date update for taking a difference between the registration date of similar information in another information source and the information belonging to the same field as the similar information in the other information source, and updating the registration date by subtracting the difference. Means, may be provided, the display means reads information corresponding to the field specified by the field specifying means from each information source of the information storage means, in order of the registration date of each information Shimesuru means may further comprise a.
As a result, information of similar content is not scattered,
Since the information is collectively displayed, a user-friendly information providing device can be realized.

[0014] The information providing apparatus may further include a registration unit for registering information to be provided to each user in advance, and the display unit is registered with the information by the field specifying unit and the registration unit. There may be further provided a means for reading out the relevant information from the information storage means and displaying the information based on the information.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information providing method, comprising: an information storage step of storing information to be provided to a user; and search history information including a search date, a search field, and search contents. A history information storage step for storing for each user, and in response to a search request input by the user, read the search history information of the user stored in the history information storage step, and indicate the search history information. Using a search date and a search field, a calculating step of calculating an interest value indicating a degree of interest in each field, and extracting an interest value exceeding a threshold value from among the interest values calculated in the calculating step for each field. , Fields corresponding to the extracted interest values,
A specifying step of specifying the field of information to be provided to the user; and a display step of reading and displaying information corresponding to the field specified by the specifying step from the information stored in the information storing step. .
As a result, for example, it is possible to automatically specify a field of information that the user is interested in, and to provide information suitable for the user.

[0016] The information storing step may include a step having a plurality of information sources for storing information to be provided to a user, and the information providing method includes the steps of: A detection step of detecting similar information having similar contents, a step of specifying, as a reference information source, an information source whose registration date is the oldest in the similar information detected by the detection step; And the difference between the registration date of the similar information in another information source and the registration date of the similar information in the other information source, and for each piece of information belonging to the same field as the similar information in the other information source, update the registration date by subtracting the difference. Date updating step, wherein the displaying step reads information corresponding to the field specified by the specifying step from each of the information sources. It may comprise the step of displaying the registration date order of the information is. Thereby, information having similar contents can be displayed collectively without being scattered.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium comprising: an information storage unit for storing information for providing a computer to a user; search history information including a search date, a search field, and search content; Means for storing the search history information of the user stored in the history information storage means in response to a search request input by the user, and indicating the search history information. Using a search date and a search field, calculating means for calculating an interest value indicating the degree of interest in each field, of interest values for each field calculated by the calculating means, extracting those exceeding a threshold, Specifying means for specifying a field corresponding to the extracted interest value as a field of information to be provided to the user, reading information corresponding to the field specified by the specifying means from the information storage means; Recording a program for Shimesuru display means functions as a. This automatically identifies, for example, the areas of information that the user is interested in,
An apparatus that provides information suitable for the user can be realized.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a recording medium comprising: an information storage unit having a plurality of information sources for storing information for providing a computer to a user; and information stored in different information sources. Detecting means for detecting similar information having similar contents, means for specifying an information source whose registration date is the oldest as a reference information source in the similar information detected by the detecting means, similarity information in the reference information source And the difference between the registration date of the similar information in another information source and the registration date of the similar information in the other information source, and for each piece of information belonging to the same field as the similar information in the other information source, update the registration date by subtracting the difference. Means for reading out information corresponding to the field to be displayed from each information source of the information storage means and displaying the information in order of registration date. To record a gram. This allows
It is possible to realize an apparatus capable of displaying information having similar contents without being scattered.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an information providing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an information providing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the information providing apparatus includes an information providing unit 11, a classification information database 13, a history database 15, a user preference extraction unit 17, a user preference registration unit 18, and a preference information database 19. .

The information providing unit 11 responds to a user's input of an information search request and requests the user preference extracting unit 17 for preference information indicating an information field in which the user is interested. When the user inputs a search request,
The information providing unit 11 includes, for example, information (hereinafter referred to as search request information) such as a field of information desired by the user and contents (a question in the field, an item obtained by subdividing the field, and the like) and a user to identify the user. And user information. The information providing unit 11 transmits the input search request information and user information to the user preference extracting unit 17 together with a request for preference information. Further, the information providing unit 11 reads out predetermined information from the classification information database 13 based on the preference information or the like supplied from the user preference extraction unit 17 and presents it to the user.

The classification information database 13 is a database in which various information to be provided to the user is registered, for example, and includes a plurality of information sources P (various servers and the like). FIG. 2 shows an example of information (registered information) registered in an arbitrary information source P. The information registered in the information source P includes, for example, information such as a registration date, a registered content, a registered field, and the like, as shown in FIG. 2, and is sequentially registered and updated.

The history database 15 stores information (history information) on data read from the classification information database 13 for each user. The history information includes, for example, items such as a search date, a search content, and a search field, as shown in FIG. Such history information is generated for each user and registered in the history database 15.

The user preference extracting unit 17 includes the information providing unit 11
History database 15 in response to a request for preference information from
The search request information received from the information providing unit 11 is updated by adding the search request information received from the information providing unit 11 to the user history information specified by the user information received from the information providing unit 11 out of the user history information stored in the user information. In addition, the user preference extraction unit 17
Using the updated history information, a numerical value (interest value) indicating the degree of interest of the user in each information field at the present time is calculated by a predetermined method. The user preference extraction unit 17
It is determined whether or not the calculated interest value in each field exceeds a preset threshold value, and if it exceeds, it is determined that the user is interested in the field. Based on this determination, the user preference extraction unit 17 generates preference information indicating a field in which the user is determined to be interested, and supplies the information to the information providing unit 11.

The user preference registration section 18 and the preference information database 19 are auxiliary parts in the present apparatus, for example, for registering and storing preference information or the like that is particularly desired to be registered or has little change. . The preference information registered in the preference information database 19 is read out and processed by the user preference extraction unit 17 as necessary. For example, the information may be read each time the preference information is generated by the user preference extraction unit 17 and included in the preference information.

This information providing apparatus is an apparatus that specifies information that matches the user's preference at the present time from history information related to a user's search and presents the information. Hereinafter, main operations of the present apparatus will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the user inputs search request information indicating the field, contents, and the like of information that the user wants to see at the present time, and user information for identifying the user, together with the search request. In response to the input, the information providing unit 11 transmits the input search request information and user information to the user preference extracting unit 17 together with the request for the preference information (step S1).

In response to the request for the preference information, the user preference extraction unit 17 reads the history information of the user specified by the received user information from the history database 15 and reflects the received search request information (step S2). next,
The user preference extraction unit 17 executes a field-of-interest extraction process for identifying / extracting a field that the user is currently interested in from the history information on which the search request information is reflected (step S3). Details of this processing will be described later. In the field of interest extraction processing, the generated preference information is passed to the information providing unit 11. The information providing unit 11 determines the field indicated by the preference information received from the user preference extraction unit 17
Search the classification information database 13 (step S4),
The corresponding information is read out and displayed, for example, from the latest information (step S5). In this manner, the information on the field specified by the field of interest extraction process using the history information stored in the history database 15 is read from the classification information database 13, and is used as information that the user is currently interested in. Is displayed.

Next, the details of the interest field extraction processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 5, for example, in the case of processing a search request of the user H1 whose history information is the same as the history information shown in FIG. Will be explained. User preference extraction unit 17
Is the user H1 stored in the history database 15
For all of the search fields in the history information (Fig. 3),
The search contents in the field are represented by Ci {i = 1, 2,..., N},
Assuming that the weight value for each search content Ci is Ai (t) whose value changes with time t, based on the following formula,
The degree of interest of the user H1 in each search field, that is, an interest value Bj {j = 1, 2,..., M} is calculated (steps S11 and S12).

[0028]

(Equation 5)

A is a weight coefficient for the weight value Ai (t). For example, FIG. 6 shows the weight value Ai (t) when the weight coefficient A = 1. In this case, the value of the time t is 2
Calculated as 0 day = 1. For e- ^t , for example, 1
Another monotonous decay function such as / t may be substituted.

Next, the user preference extracting section 17 determines whether or not the calculated interest value Bj in each field is larger than a preset threshold value. If the interest value Bj is larger than the threshold, the user preference extracting unit 17
1 is considered to be interested in the field corresponding to the interest value Bj, and temporarily stores the field Ej corresponding to the interest value Bj. By performing this determination for all interest values Bj, all fields (fields E) in the history information of the user H1 are obtained.
Among the fields (2, E3, E4), fields that the user H1 is interested in at the present time are extracted (steps S13, S1).
4, S15). The threshold value is, for example, 0.5.

The user preference extracting unit 17 generates the preference information of the user H1 based on the extracted field Ej, transmits the generated information to the information providing unit 11 (step S16), and ends the interest field extracting process. For example, when the search date is February 20, 1997 and the weight value Ai (t) shown in FIG. 6 is used, the field in which the user H1 is interested at the time of the search date is the field E3 according to the above formula. And field E4. In this manner, the field in which the user H1 is currently interested can be specified. When generating the preference information, the user preference extraction unit 17 may read and use the information of the user set in the preference information database 19, for example.

Further, in the present apparatus, when the information providing unit 11 reads out information of a predetermined field from each information source P in the classification information database 13 and displays it, the information related to the contents is collected without being scattered. To display
It has a function of shaping the registration information of each information source P. This function is realized by an information integration process that searches for information with similar registration contents in different registration information, and when detected, compares the registration dates of similar information and matches the new registration date to the old registration date. You. Hereinafter, in this information integration process, the registration information is changed to information sources P2 and P3 as shown in FIG.
An example will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, the information providing unit 11 searches for the registered content Q3j (j = 1 to 5) of P3 substantially equal to the registered content Q2i (i = 1 to 5) of the registered history information of P2 (step S21). . In this example, it is assumed that the registered content Q23 of the information source P2 and the registered content Q34 of the information source P3 are substantially equal.
When the information providing unit 11 detects the registered contents Q23 and Q34 whose registered contents are substantially equal in step S21, the registration dates D2i and D3j (in this case, “1”)
997/4/30 "and" 1997/6/10 ") are compared (step S22).

In the comparison in step S22, the registration date of all information in the relevant field is reset by subtracting the difference d of the compared dates for the information source P with the new registration date (step S23, S24), the process ends. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, since the registration date of Q3 is newer, the registration field E3 in the information source P3
About registration contents Q31, Q33, Q34, Q35 of
Reset the registration date. In this reset, Q23 and Q
34, the difference d (= 40 days) is calculated, and the information source P
3, registration contents Q31, Q33, Q of registration field E3
The date obtained by subtracting 40 days from each of the registration dates of 34 and Q35 is set as a new registration date. Source P after resetting the registration date
FIG. 9 shows the registration information of No. 3.

In the state where the registration date of a part of the information (information of the relevant field) in the information source P3 is changed,
For example, the field E3 is displayed. Information provider 11
Are the information sources P2, P in the classification information database 13.
The information corresponding to the registration field E3 is extracted from the registration history information No. 3 and displayed, for example, in order of the registration date. FIG. 10 shows a display example in this case. As shown in the figure, since the registration dates of the registered contents Q23 and Q34 having similar contents have been corrected, they are displayed adjacent to each other. With this function, it is possible to prevent information having similar contents from being displayed separately, and to correct a registration time difference between different information sources P. It should be noted that a technique for searching for existing similar documents may be used to determine whether or not the contents of the information are similar.

Further, for example, in the information sources P2 and P3, when there are a plurality of sets of documents having similar contents (for example, when Q21 and Q33 are similar and Q23 and Q34 are similar), the date of the information source P3 D3j may be linearly complemented in accordance with the older information source P2 on the registration date as described below.

[0037]

(Equation 6)

When the information of the actual registration date is important, the actual registration date may be used as the registration date for display, and only the display order may be corrected.

Further, the present invention may be applied to a help desk for receiving a question from a requester. In this case, the information source P is provided for each questioner, the time lag is corrected in the question for each questioner, and similar Q & A information can be displayed collectively for each field.

Further, of the history information stored in the history database 15, old information may be automatically deleted.

FIG. 11 shows a hardware configuration of the information providing apparatus of the present invention. As illustrated, the information providing device includes an input unit 51, a display unit 53, a storage unit 55, and a control unit 57. The input unit 51 is for a user to input search request information, user information, a search request, and the like, and includes, for example, a touch panel, a keyboard, a mouse, and the like. The display unit 53 displays a search request input instruction, a search result, and the like. The storage unit 55 stores various information used in the present apparatus, and includes the above-described classification information database 13, history database 15, preference information database 19, and the like. The control unit 57 controls the entire apparatus, and performs the above-described search request processing, interest field extraction processing, information integration processing, and the like.

[0042]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Using the search history information of the user, for example, a field in which the user is interested is automatically specified, and information on the field is provided. Thereby, appropriate information can be provided to each user.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of an information providing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of registration information registered in an arbitrary information source P;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of history information registered in a history database.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining a main operation of the information providing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining a field of interest extraction process.

FIG. 6 shows a weight value Ai (t) when a weight coefficient A = 1.
FIG.

7A is a diagram illustrating an example of registration information of an information source P2, and FIG. 7B is a diagram illustrating an example of registration information of an information source P3.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an information integration process.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of registration information of the information source P3 after a registration date is reset in the information integration processing.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a display example in a case where information corresponding to a registered field E3 is extracted from registration history information of information sources P2 and P3 and displayed in order of registration date.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the information providing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a conventional information providing apparatus.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Information provision part 13 Classification information database 15 History database 17 User preference extraction part 18 User preference registration part 19 Preference information database 41 Information search part 42 Classification information database 43 User preference registration part 44 Preference information database 51 Input part 53 Display part 55 Storage Unit 57 control unit

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An information storage means for storing information to be provided to a user, a history information storage means for storing search history information including a search date, a search field, and a search content for each user; The search history information of the user stored in the history information storage unit is read in response to the search request input by the user, and the search date and the search field indicated by the search history information are used to read the user at the present time. A field specifying means for specifying an appropriate field as a field of information to be provided, and display means for reading and displaying information corresponding to the field specified by the field specifying means from the information storage means. Information providing device. 2. The field specifying means calculates an interest value Bj (j = 1,..., M (m is the number of fields) indicating the degree of the user's interest in each field in accordance with a calculation formula shown in Expression 1. )) And means for determining whether or not the acquired interest value Bj exceeds a predetermined value, and setting a field corresponding to the interest value Bj exceeding the predetermined value to a field of information to be provided to the user. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an inclusion unit. (Equation 1) (Search contents in each search field are Ci (i = 1,...
A, n (n is the number of search contents in the applicable field) and A
i is a weight for Ci. ) 3. A weight A included in a calculation formula represented by the following equation 1.
i includes a weight Ai (t) that changes with time t, and A
3. The information providing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein i (t) is obtained by a monotone decay function including an equation represented by Expression 2. (Equation 2) 4. The information storage means includes a plurality of information sources for storing information to be provided to a user, and the information providing apparatus has a similar content among information stored in different information sources. Detecting means for detecting similarity information, and similarity information detected by the detecting means,
Means for identifying the information source whose registration date is the oldest as a reference information source, a registration date of similar information in the reference information source,
Date update means for taking a difference between the registration date of the similar information in another information source and the information belonging to the same field as the similar information in the other information source, and updating the registration date by subtracting the difference. The display means further comprises means for reading information corresponding to the field specified by the field specifying means from each information source of the information storage means and displaying the information in order of registration date of each information. The information providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein 5. The information providing apparatus further comprises a registration unit for registering information to be provided to each user in advance, and the display unit includes information by the field specifying unit and information registered by the registration unit. The information providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: means for reading out and displaying the corresponding information from the information storage means based on the information. 6. An information storage step for storing information to be provided to a user, a history information storage step for storing search history information including a search date, a search field, and search contents for each user, The search history information of the user stored in the history information storage step is read in response to the search request input from the user, and the interest in each field is retrieved using the search date and the search field indicated by the search history information. A calculating step of calculating an interest value indicating the degree; and extracting an interest value exceeding a threshold value from the interest values of the respective fields calculated in the calculating step, and using the field corresponding to the extracted interest value in the utilization step. A step of specifying as a field of information to be provided to a user, and information corresponding to the field specified by the specifying step from information stored in the information storage step. A display step of reading and displaying the information. 7. The information storing step includes a step of storing a plurality of information sources for storing information to be provided to a user, and the information providing method includes the steps of: A detecting step of detecting similar information whose contents are similar; a step of specifying, as the reference information source, an information source whose registration date is the oldest in the similar information detected by the detecting step; The difference between the registration date and the registration date of similar information in another information source is obtained, and for each piece of information belonging to the same field as the similar information in the other information source, the registration date is updated by subtracting the difference. A date updating step, wherein the displaying step reads information corresponding to the field specified by the specifying step from each of the information sources, and Comprising the step of displaying the recording date order, information providing method according to claim 6, characterized in that. 8. An information storage means for storing information for providing a computer to a user,
History information storage means for storing, for each user, search history information including a search date, a search field, and a search content, and the usage information stored in the history information storage means in response to a search request input by the user. Means for reading the search history information of the user and calculating an interest value indicating the degree of interest in each field using the search date and the search field indicated by the search history information, and an interest in each field calculated by the calculation means. Among the values, a value exceeding a threshold is extracted, and a field corresponding to the extracted interest value is specified as a field of information to be provided to the user. Display means for reading and displaying the information to be read from the information storage means. 9. An information storage means having a plurality of information sources for storing information for providing a computer to a user, and detecting similar information having similar contents among information stored in different information sources. Means, in the similar information detected by the detecting means, means for specifying the information source whose registration date is the oldest as the reference information source, and the registration date of the similar information in the reference information source and the similar information in the other information source. Date update means for taking a difference between the registration date and each piece of information belonging to the same field as the similar information in the other information source, and updating the registration date by subtracting the difference, information corresponding to the field to be displayed. Means for reading out from each information source of the information storage means and displaying each information in the order of registration date. Computer readable recording a program for functioning as Recording medium.