Method and apparatus for digital media management, retrieval, and collaboration

1. A method for use with a system storing digital media records and comprising a search engine searching said stored digital media records, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving different search requests from users;

logging the different search requests;

expanding the logged search requests;

for each term in the expanded logged search requests, assigning a weight to the term based on how close the term is to a corresponding one of the received different search requests;

applying a statistical clustering algorithm to the weighted, expanded logged search requests based on content of the expanded logged search requests, thereby grouping similar search requests together;

identifying, using a semantic net hierarchy, a lowest-level tern in the hierarchy that subsumes all queries in a grouping of search requests; and

communicating the identified term to a user.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the expanding is performed using a thesaurus.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the expanding is performed using a semantic net comprising synonyms and super-terms.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the identifying comprises identifying, using a semantic net hierarchy, a lowest-level linguistic term in the hierarchy that subsumes all queries in a grouping of search requests.

5. The method of claim 1 , comprising: identifying, using the semantic net hierarchy in combination with term frequency in a reference corpus, a lowest level term in the hierarchy that subsumes all queries in a grouping of search requests.

6. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

creating a vector for each expanded, weighted logged search request; and

arranging the created vectors into a matrix;

wherein the applying comprises applying the statistical clustering algorithm to the matrix.

7. A method for use with a system storing digital media records and comprising a search engine searching said stored digital media records, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving different search requests from users;

performing, by the search engine, searches based upon the different search requests, yielding respective search results, each search result defining selected digital media records, the digital media records each having associated metadata;

logging the search results and the metadata associated with digital media records selected therein;

expanding the metadata, defining expanded query metadata results;

for each term in the expanded query metadata results, assigning a weight to the term based on how close the term is to a corresponding one of the received different search requests;

applying a statistical clustering algorithm to the weighted, expanded query metadata results based on content of the expanded query metadata results, thereby grouping similar expanded query metadata results together;

identifying, using a semantic net hierarchy, a lowest-level term in the hierarchy that subsumes all of the expanded query metadata results in the grouping of expanded query metadata results; and

communicating the identified term to a user.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the expanding is performed using a thesaurus.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the expanding is performed using a semantic net comprising synonyms and super-terms.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the identifying comprises identifying, using a semantic net hierarchy, a lowest-level linguistic term in the hierarchy that subsumes all of the expanded query metadata results in the grouping of expanded query metadata results.

11. The method of claim 7 , comprising:

creating a vector for each weighted, expanded query metadata result; and

arranging the created vectors into a matrix;

wherein the applying comprises applying the statistical clustering algorithm to the matrix.

12. A method for use with a system storing digital media records and comprising a search engine searching said stored digital media records, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving different search requests from users;

performing, by the search engine, searches based upon the different search requests, yielding respective search results, each search result defining selected digital media records or being empty;

logging the search requests for which the search result is empty;

expanding the logged search requests;

for each term in the expanded logged search requests, assigning a weight to the term based on how close the term is to a corresponding one of the received different search requests;

applying a statistical clustering algorithm to the weighted, expanded logged search requests based on content of the expanded logged search requests, thereby grouping similar search requests together; and

communicating a group of search requests to a user.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the expanding is performed using a thesaurus.

14. The method of claim 12 wherein the expanding is performed using a semantic net comprising synonyms and super-terms.

15. The method of claim 12 , comprising:

creating a vector for each expanded, weighted logged search request; and

arranging the created vectors into a matrix;

wherein the applying comprises applying the statistical clustering algorithm to the matrix.

16. A method for use with a system storing digital media records and comprising a search engine searching said stored digital media records, the system permitting user expressions of interest in particular stored digital media records, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving different search requests from users;

performing, by the search engine, searches based upon the different search requests, yielding respective search results, each search result defining selected digital media records;

receiving expressions of interest from users with respect to selected digital media records;

logging the search requests for which a user has expressed interest in a selected digital media record;

expanding the logged search requests;

for each term in the expanded logged search requests, assigning a weight to the term based on how close the term is to a corresponding one of the received different search requests;

applying a statistical clustering algorithm to the weighted, expanded logged search requests based on content of the expanded logged search requests, thereby grouping similar search requests together;

communicating a group of search requests to a user.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein the expanding is performed using a thesaurus.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein the expanding is performed using a semantic net comprising synonyms and super-terms.

19. The method of claim 16 wherein a user expressing interest in a selected digital media record comprises the user placing the selected digital media record into an online shopping cart.

20. The method of claim 16 wherein a user expressing interest in a selected digital media record comprises the user purchasing rights to use the selected digital media record.

21. The method of claim 16 wherein a user expressing interest in a selected digital media record comprises the user placing the selected digital media record into an online projects folder or other work space.

22. The method of claim 16 , comprising:

creating a vector for each expanded, weighted logged search request; and

arranging the created vectors into a matrix;

wherein the applying comprises applying the statistical clustering algorithm to the matrix.