Claims
- 1. An information management method comprising:gathering and storing data from a plurality of data sources; filtering and prioritizing the gathered and stored data; packaging the filtered and prioritized data; and delivering the packaged data to an end user; wherein data is filtered and prioritized in a plurality of layers arranged sequentially, a first layer having a broadest categorization of data and each subsequent lower layer having a narrower categorization of data than its adjacent higher layer.
- 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of data sources comprise external sources of data and internal sources of data.
- 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the external sources of data comprise sources of data accessible on the Internet.
- 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the internal sources of data comprise sources of data accessible on a corporate Intranet.
- 5. The method of claim 2, wherein the internal sources of data comprise at least one of stored documents, stored databases and personal computers.
- 6. The method of claim 1, wherein when the data is prioritized as a “high” priority, then the data is immediately delivered to the end user while if the data is prioritized as a “low” priority, a signal is sent to the end user and the data is delivered upon a request by the end user.
- 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of layers comprises the first layer comprising a corporate layer, a second layer comprising a department layer, a third layer comprising a group layer and a fourth layer comprising a personal layer; andwherein the personal layer corresponds to the interests of the end user, the group layer corresponds to the interests of a plurality of end users including the end user, the department layer corresponds to the interests of a plurality of groups including the plurality of end users and the corporate layer corresponds to the interests of a plurality of departments.
- 8. An information management apparatus comprising:a means for gathering and storing data from a plurality of data sources; a means for filtering and prioritizing the gathered and stored data; a means for packaging the filtered and prioritized data; and a means for delivering the packaged data to an end user; wherein data is filtered and prioritized by said means for filtering and prioritizing in a plurality of layers arranged sequentially, a first layer having a broadest categorization of data and each subsequent lower layer having a narrower categorization of data than its adjacent higher layer.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the plurality of sources of data comprise external sources of data and internal sources of data.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the external sources of data comprise sources of data accessible on the Internet.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the internal sources of data comprise sources of data accessible on a corporate Intranet.
- 12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the internal sources of data comprise at least one of stored documents, stored databases and personal computers.
- 13. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein when the data is prioritized as a “high” priority by the means for filtering and prioritizing, then the data is immediately delivered to the end user by the means for delivering while if the data is prioritized as a “low” priority by the means for filtering and prioritizing, a signal is sent to the end user and the data is delivered upon a request by the end user by the means for delivering.
- 14. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the plurality of layers comprises: the first layer comprising a corporate layer, a second layer comprising a department layer, a third layer comprising a group layer and a fourth layer comprising a personal layer; andwherein the personal layer corresponds to the interests of the end user, the group layer corresponds to the interests of a plurality of end users including the end user, the department layer corresponds to the interests of a plurality of groups including the plurality of end users and the corporate layer corresponds to the interests of a plurality of departments.
- 15. A computer program of instructions, executable by a machine and embodied in a tangible medium, performing method steps comprising:gathering and storing data from a plurality of data sources; filtering and prioritizing the gathered and stored data; packaging the filtered and prioritized data; and delivering the packaged data to an end user; wherein data is filtered and prioritized in a plurality of layers arranged sequentially, a first layer having a broadest categorization of data and each subsequent lower layer having a narrower categorization of data than its adjacent higher layer.
- 16. The program of claim 15, wherein the plurality of data sources comprise external sources of data and internal sources of data.
- 17. The program of claim 16, wherein the external sources of data comprise sources of data accessible on the Internet.
- 18. The program of claim 16, wherein the internal sources of data comprise sources of data accessible on a corporate Intranet.
- 19. The program of claim 16, wherein the internal sources of data comprise at least one of stored documents, stored databases and personal computers.
- 20. The program of claim 15, wherein when the data is prioritized as a “high” priority, then the data is immediately delivered to the end user while if the data is prioritized as a “low” priority, a signal is sent to the end user and the data is delivered upon a request by the end user.
- 21. The program of claim 15, wherein the plurality of layers comprises the first layer comprising a corporate layer, a second layer comprising a department layer, a third layer comprising a group layer and a fourth layer comprising a personal layer; andwherein the personal layer corresponds to the interests of the end user, the group layer corresponds to the interests of a plurality of end users including the end user, the department layer corresponds to the interests of a plurality of groups including the plurality of end users and the corporate layer corresponds to the interests of a plurality of departments.
- 22. The method of claim 1, wherein the gathered and stored data is filtered based on stored personalized information of the end user.
- 23. The method of claim 1, wherein the data is pushed to the end user if it has been prioritized as a “high” priority.
- 24. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a means for filtering the gathered and stored data based on stored personalized information of the end user.
- 25. The apparatus of claim 8, further comprising a means for pushing the data to the end user if it has been prioritized as a “high” priority.
- 26. The program of claim 16, wherein the gathered and stored data is filtered based on stored personalized information of the end user.
- 27. The program of claim 16, wherein the data is pushed to the end user if it has been prioritized as a “high” priority.
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/494,471, filed in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Jan. 31, 2000.
US Referenced Citations (1)
Number |
Name |
Date |
Kind |
5802518 |
Karaev et al. |
Sep 1998 |
A |
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Continuation in Parts (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09/494471 |
Jan 2000 |
US |
Child |
09/570036 |
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US |