Creation and Utilization of Relational Tags

Abstract

A system is described which allows a user to define a relational tag. The relational tag describes how a first item is related to a second item within an identified qualifying context. For instance, the relational tag may state that the first item is ranked higher than or lower than the second item. When utilized by many users, the system forms a graph of interconnected items. The system can perform comparative analysis within this graph. For instance, based on the relational tags, the system can determine which item is the top-ranking item or bottom-ranking item within the graph.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a known type of collaborative tagging system.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show an overview of an exemplary tagging strategy that employs the use of relational tags, where each relational tag relates a base item to at least one other item in a defined context.

FIG. 4 shows an exemplary tagging system which adopts the tagging strategy of FIGS. 2 and 3.

FIGS. 5A, 5B, 5C, and 5D show functionality for use in the system of FIG. 4 that allows a user to create a relational tag.

FIG. 6 shows functionality for use in the system of FIG. 4 that allows a user to perform comparative analysis based on a collection of relational tags.

FIG. 7 shows an exemplary object that can be used to store one or more relational tags according to one exemplary implementation of the system of FIG. 4.

FIG. 8 shows one exemplary system that is configured to process the type of object depicted in FIG. 7, the system including an item manager and an item encyclopedia.

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary article page produced by the item encyclopedia of FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 shows an exemplary editing page for defining tags associated with the article page shown in FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 shows exemplary processing functionality for implementing any aspect of the system shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 12 shows an exemplary procedure for defining a relational tag.

FIG. 13 shows an exemplary procedure for performing analysis based on a plurality of relational tags created using the procedure of FIG. 12.

Claims

1. An operations center coupled to a plurality of user devices via a coupling mechanism, the operations center comprising: a tag creation module configured to create relational tags, wherein each relational tag ranks a base item with respect to at least one other item within an identified context, wherein the relational tags collectively form a graph of interconnected items; andan analysis module configured to order the items within the graph based on the relational tags, to thereby provide an indication of a top-ranked item or bottom-ranked item in the graph.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the tag creation module is also configured to create category tags, wherein each category tag identifies a category of an associated item.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the analysis module is configured to provide an ordered list of items within a selected category by filtering with respect to a category tag associated with the selected category.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the analysis module includes a voting analysis module configured to analyze the collective tagging behavior of users and form a confidence level associated with the indication of the top-ranked item or the bottom-ranked item.

5. A computerized method for performing tag-related processing, comprising: receiving a definition of a relational tag that relates a base item to at least one other item according to a defined relationship; andstoring the relational tag in a tag-related store, wherein the relational tag provides metadata pertaining to the base item.

6. The computerized method of claim 5, wherein the base item pertains to an item that can be acquired by a user.

7. The computerized method of claim 5, wherein the defined relationship ranks the base item with respect to said at least one other item within an identified context.

8. The computerized method of claim 5, wherein the relationship asserts that the base item is a substitute for said at least one other item.

9. The computerized method of claim 5, wherein the relationship asserts that the base item is an accessory of said at least one other item.

10. The computerized method of claim 5, wherein the relational tag comprises: a name tag that identifies a type of relationship expressed by the relational tag; anda value tag that expresses said at least one other item.

11. The computerized method of claim 5, wherein the relational tag is stored in a data structure, the data structure also storing at least one category tag that identifies a category of the base item.

12. The computerized method of claim 5, further comprising repeating the receiving and storing with respect to a plurality of different base items to establish a graph of interconnected items.

13. The computerized method of claim 12, wherein at least two items in the graph are directly related.

14. The computerized method of claim 12, wherein at least two items in the graphs are indirectly related through a chain of items.

15. The computerized method of claim 12, further comprising performing comparative analysis on the graph of interconnected items.

16. The computerized method of claim 15, wherein the comparative analysis involves analyzing a plurality of relational tags to rank the items in the graph of interconnected items, to thereby provide an indication of a top-ranked item or bottom-ranked item in the graph.

17. The computerized method of claim 16, further comprising tagging items with category tags, wherein each category tag identifies a category of an associated item.

18. The computerized method of claim 17, wherein the comparative analysis involves providing an ordered list of items within a selected category by filtering with respect to a category tag associated with the selected category.

19. The computerized method of claim 16, further comprising analyzing collective tagging behavior of users and forming a confidence level associated with the indication of the top-ranked item or the bottom-ranked item.

20. One or more computer-readable media containing machine-readable instructions for implemented the computerized method of claim 5.

21. One or more computing devices, comprising: one or more processors; andmemory to store computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, perform the computerized method of claim 5.

22. A computerized method for performing tag-related processing, comprising: accessing a store of relational tags that annotate respective items, wherein each relational tag relates a base item to at least one other item; andperforming comparative analysis on the relational tags in the store to provide an output result.

23. The computerized method of claim 22, wherein at least one relational tag in the store is based on a relationship that ranks the base item with respect to said at least one other item within an identified context.

24. The computerized method of claim 22, wherein the comparative analysis involves ranking the items to provide an indication of a top-ranked item or bottom-ranked item.

25. One or more computer-readable media containing machine-readable instructions for implemented the computerized method of claim 22.

26. One or more computing devices, comprising: one or more processors; andmemory to store computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, perform the computerized method of claim 22.

27. A tagging data structure embodied on a computer-readable media to support tagging of digital content, the data structure comprising: a relational tag that relates a base item with at least one other item according to a defined relationship,wherein the relationship ranks the base item with respect to said at least one other item within a defined context.

28. The tagging data structure of claim 27, wherein the relational tag comprises: a name tag that identifies a type of relationship expressed by the relational tag; anda value tag that expresses said at least one other item.

29. The tagging data structure of claim 27, wherein the tagging data structure also stores at least one category tag that identifies a category of the base item.

30. A tagging data structure embodied on a computer-readable media to support tagging of digital content, the data structure comprising: a plurality of relational tags that form a graph of interconnected items, wherein each relational tag comprises: a relational tag that relates a base item with at least one other item according to a defined relationship,wherein the relationship ranks the base item with respect to said at least one other item within an identified context.

31. A system for processing tags, comprising: a tag-related store;logic configured to create a relational tag that relates a base item with at least one other item according to a defined relationship; andlogic configured to store the relational tag in the tag-related store, wherein the relational tag provides metadata concerning the base item,wherein the tag-related store provides a graph of interconnected items formed through the repeated application of the logic for receiving and logic for storing by a plurality of different users.

32. The one or more computers of claim 31, further comprising logic configured to perform comparative analysis on the graph of interconnected items.

33. The one or more computers of claim 32, wherein the comparative analysis involves analyzing a plurality of relational tags to rank the items in the graph of interconnected items within an identified context.