Organizational viewing techniques

1. A method for processing a computer-based material, the method comprising the steps of:

presenting the computer-based material to a user on a screen;

determining one or more portions of the computer-based material that are of interest to the user based upon identification by the user of the one or more portions of the computer-based material when the one or more portions of the computer-based material are located in a viewing focal area of the screen, wherein an extent or placement of the viewing focal area can be variably set based on user preferences, or by selection by the user of the one or more portions of the computer-based material; and

annotating the computer-based material with indicia to permit rapid return by one or more hyperlinks to the one or more portions thereof that are of interest to the user at a later time.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computer-based material includes one or more of files, web pages, documents, data spreadsheets and computer displayable media.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more portions include one or more of specific areas, scroll positions, navigation positions, lines of text, characters of text, lines of data and characters of data.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more portions of the computer-based material are determined to be of interest to the user based on an amount of time the user views the one or more portions.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more portions of the computer-based material are determined to be of interest to the user based on an amount of time the one or more portions are located in the viewing focal area of the screen.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more portions of the computer-based material are determined to be of interest to the user based on a number of instances that the one or more portions are located in the viewing focal area of the screen.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more portions of the computer-based material are determined to be of interest to the user based on active identification of the one or more portions by the user.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of annotating further comprises the step of associating one or more indicia with the one or more portions.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of annotating further comprises the steps of:

associating one or more indicia with the one or more portions; and

ranking the one or more indicia based on when each of the one or more indicia were associated with the one or more portions.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of annotating further comprises the steps of:

associating one or more indicia with the one or more portions; and

ranking the one or more indicia based on an amount of time the user spent viewing the one or more portions.

11. The method of claim 1 , further comprising the steps of:

associating one or more indicia with the one or more portions; and

imposing a maximum viewing time limit beyond which the one or more indicia are removed or modified.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more portions include one or more of scroll positions, navigation positions, lines of text, characters of text, lines of data and characters of data.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more portions of the computer-based material are determined to be of interest to the user based on active identification of the one or more portions located in the viewing focal area by the user.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more portions of the computer-based material that are of interest to the user are determined based upon active or passive identification by the user of the one or more portions of the computer-based material when the one or more portions of the computer-based material are located in a viewing focal area of the screen, wherein an extent or placement of the viewing focal area can be variably set based on user preferences, or by selection by the user of the one or more portions of the computer-based material.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computer-based material comprises a document and wherein the viewing focal area encompasses a middle of a viewable portion of the document.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the viewing focal area is positioned based on an analysis of content of the computer-based material.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of annotating further comprises the steps of:

associating one or more indicia with the one or more portions; and

organizing the one or more indicia based on an amount of user interest.

18. A computer user interface provided on a screen comprising:

a computer-based material;

a viewing focal area of the screen encompassing a portion of the computer-based material, wherein an extent or placement of the viewing focal area can be variably set based on user preferences; and

one or more indicia associated with and annotating the portion of the computer-based material and including one or more hyperlinks permitting rapid return to the one or more portions of the computer-based material that are of interest to the user at a later time.

19. The user interface of claim 18 , wherein the computer-based material comprises one or more of files, web pages, documents, data spreadsheets and computer displayable media.

20. The user interface of claim 18 , wherein the viewing focal area has one or more of a user-configurable size and a user-configurable placement.

21. The user interface of claim 18 , wherein the one or more indicia are placed on a scroll bar associated with the computer-based material, at one or more positions corresponding with a location of the portion of the computer-based material.

22. The user interface of claim 18 , wherein the one or more indicia comprise tags having information related to an amount of time the portion was viewed by a user.

23. The user interface of claim 18 , wherein the one or more indicia comprise tags having information input by a user.

24. The user interface of claim 18 , wherein the one or more indicia comprise tags having chronological information displayed therein the information being related to when the portion was viewed by a user.

25. The user interface of claim 18 , wherein the one or more indicia are automatically created when the portion of the computer-based material is presented in the viewing focal area beyond a threshold time limit.

26. The user interface of claim 18 , wherein the one or more indicia are automatically created when the portion of the computer-based material is present in the viewing focal area for at least a threshold number of times.

27. The user interface of claim 18 , wherein the one or more indicia comprise toolbar buttons that, when activated, are configured to present a next most recently previously annotated portion of the computer-based material.

28. The user interface of claim 18 , wherein the one or more indicia comprise toolbar buttons that, when activated, are configured to present a next highly-ranked, based upon one or more of length of time viewed and number of instances viewed, previously annotated portion of the computer-based material.

29. An apparatus for processing a computer-based material, the apparatus comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor, coupled to the memory, operative to:

present the computer-based material to a user on a screen;

determine one or more portions of the computer-based material that are of interest to the user based upon identification by the user of the one or more portions of the computer-based material when the one or more portions of the computer-based material are located in a viewing focal area of the screen, wherein an extent or placement of the viewing focal area can be variably set based on user preferences, or by selection by the user of the one or more portions of the computer-based material; and

annotate the computer-based material with indicia to permit rapid return by one or more hyperlinks to the one or more portions thereof that are of interest to the user at a later time.

30. An article of manufacture for processing a computer-based material, comprising a machine readable, non-transitory medium containing one or more programs which when executed implement the steps of:

presenting the computer-based material to a user on a screen;

determining one or more portions of the computer-based material that are of interest to the user based upon identification by the user of the one or more portions of the computer-based material when the one or more portions of the computer-based material are located in a viewing focal area of the screen, wherein an extent or placement of the viewing focal area can be variably set based on user preferences, or by selection by the user of the one or more portions of the computer-based material; and

annotating the computer-based material with indicia to permit rapid return by one or more hyperlinks to the one or more portions thereof that are of interest to the user at a later time.