Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for generating, from an input set of documents, a word replaceability matrix defining semantic similarity between words occurring in the input document set. For each word, distinct word sequences of predetermined length are identified from the documents of the set, each word sequence being indicative of the context in which the word was used and, according to the relative frequency of occurrence of the identified word sequences for the word, fuzzy sets are generated for each word comprising membership values for corresponding groups of word sequences. For each pair of words occurring in the document set, their respective fuzzy sets are used to calculate the probability that the first word of a pair is semantically suitable as a replacement for the second word of the pair, these probabilities being collated to form a word similarity matrix for use in an improved method of determining document similarity and in information retrieval.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for generating, from an input set of documents, a word replaceability matrix defining semantic similarity between words occurring in the input document set. For each word, distinct word sequences of predetermined length are identified from the documents of the set, each word sequence being indicative of the context in which the word was used and, according to the relative frequency of occurrence of the identified word sequences for the word, fuzzy sets are generated for each word comprising membership values for corresponding groups of word sequences. For each pair of words occurring in the document set, their respective fuzzy sets are used to calculate the probability that the first word of a pair is semantically suitable as a replacement for the second word of the pair, these probabilities being collated to form a word similarity matrix for use in an improved method of determining document similarity and in information retrieval.

Abstract: An apparatus is provided for use in scheduling events on behalf of a plurality of participating physical entities. The apparatus comprises evaluating means and scheduling means, the evaluating means being arranged to evaluate a received event request containing information about the event and to generate an input to the scheduling means with respect to one or more physical entities identified in the received event request. The evaluating means is arranged, on behalf of physical entities identified in the received event request, to calculate a value for each of a plurality of predetermined measures, including a measure of the importance of the requested event to an identified entity, using an appropriate rule set for each measure, and using a further rule set, to combine the calculated values and so derive and output a value representative of the overall degree of support by the identified physical entity for the requested event, for input to the scheduling means.

Abstract: Methods and systems are provided for deriving a user model from a plurality of event records relating to events, each event record comprising data relating to attributes of an event, the method comprising: identifying a plurality of sequences of event records from said plurality of event records, each sequence containing a plurality of event records; determining a plurality of sequence clusters from said plurality of sequences, each sequence cluster comprising a plurality of related sequences; analysing the sequences in a cluster and deriving one or more rules relating to the sequences of that cluster; and providing a user model based on rules derived in relation to a plurality of clusters. Methods and systems are also provided for using a user model for suggesting possible events, or sequences of events, which may follow or precede known events, and for determining a potential sequential order for a plurality of known events.