Methods and apparatus for knowledge base assisted annotation

1. A method of determining an annotation for a document, the method comprising the steps of:

obtaining an annotation proposed by a user to be associated with the document;

automatically determining, in accordance with a knowledge base containing allowed annotations, whether the user-proposed annotation matches one or more allowed annotations from the knowledge base; and

annotating the document with an allowed annotation from the knowledge base when the user-proposed annotation matches the allowed annotation from the knowledge base;

wherein the user need not consider any annotations when a single allowed annotation is automatically determined to match the user-proposed annotation, and when more than a single annotation is automatically determined to match the user-proposed annotation: (a) in a first mode, the user need only consider the matching allowed annotations and select one of the matching allowed annotations; and (b) in a second mode, the user need not consider any annotations but rather one of the allowed annotations is automatically selected.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of notifying the user that the user-proposed annotation does not match at least one allowed annotation, when no match is found.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of storing a user-proposed annotation/allowed annotation match, when a match is found.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of notifying the user that the user-proposed annotation matches more than one allowed annotation, when more than one match is found.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user is notified of match results after each attempted matching operation.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user is notified of match results after a predetermined number of attempted matching operations.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the step of maintaining a history buffer of matches.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the history buffer is used to update a set of allowed annotations.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the history buffer is used to disambiguate matches.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the automatic determining step further comprises determining a closeness between the user-proposed annotation and the at least one allowed annotation.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the knowledge base comprises at least one term graph.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the automatic determining step further comprises the steps of:

determining a node in the at least one term graph that corresponds to the user-proposed annotation;

determining at least one node in the at least one term graph that corresponds to the at least one allowed annotation; and

computing a distance between the nodes.

13. The method of claim 12 , wherein node determination comprises a stemming operation.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the user-proposed annotation is stored, when the user-proposed annotation matches the allowed annotation, such that the user-proposed annotation is useable in a subsequent match operation.

15. Apparatus for determining an annotation for a document, the apparatus comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor coupled to the memory and operative to: (i) obtain an annotation proposed by a user to be associated with the document; and (ii) automatically determining determine, in accordance with a knowledge base containing allowed annotations, whether the user-proposed annotation matches one or more allowed annotations from the knowledge base; and (iii) annotate the document with an allowed annotation from the knowledge base when the user-proposed annotation matches the allowed annotation from the knowledge base;

wherein the user need not consider any annotations when a single allowed annotation is automatically determined to match the user-proposed annotation, and when more than a single annotation is automatically determined to match the user-proposed annotation: (a) in a first mode, the user need only consider the matching allowed annotations and select one of the matching allowed annotations; and (b) in a second mode, the user need not consider any annotations but rater one of the allowed annotations is automatically selected.

16. An article of manufacture for determining an annotation for a document, comprising a machine readable medium containing one or more programs which when executed implement the steps of:

obtaining an annotation proposed by a user to be associated with the document;

automatically determining, in accordance with a knowledge base containing allowed annotations, whether the user-proposed annotation matches one or more allowed annotation from the knowledge base; and

annotating the document with an allowed annotation from the knowledge base when the user-proposed annotation matches the allowed annotation from the knowledge base;

wherein the user need not consider any annotations when a single allowed annotation is automatically determined to match the user-proposed annotation, and when more than a single annotation is automatically determined to match the user-proposed annotation: (a) in a first mode, the user need only consider the matching allowed annotations and select one of the matching allowed annotations; and (b) in a second mode, the user need not consider any annotations but rather one of the allowed annotations is automatically selected.

17. A method of providing a service for determining an annotation for a document, comprising the step of:

a service provider deploying a system operative to: (i) obtain an annotation proposed by a user to be associated with the document; (ii) automatically determine, in accordance with a knowledge base containing allowed annotations, whether the user-proposed annotation matches one or more allowed annotations from the knowledge base; and (iii) annotate the document with an allowed annotation from the knowledge base when the user-proposed annotation matches the allowed annotation from the knowledge base;

wherein the user need not consider any annotations when a single allowed annotation is automatically determined to match the user-proposed annotation, and when more than a single annotation is automatically determined to match the user-proposed annotation: (a) in a first mode, the user need only consider the matching allowed annotations and select one of the matching allowed annotations; and (b) in a second mode, the user need not consider any annotations but rather one of the allowed annotations is automatically selected.