SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING MULTIMODAL DOCUMENTS
A multimodal document management system and method includes a context manager for managing multimodal documents. A virtual media content management system is coupled to the context manager and a physical media content management system is coupled to the context manager. The context manager is operable to issue multimodal document management instructions to the virtual media content management system and issuing instructions to the physical media content management system. The context manager instructions may relate to shredding of multimodal documents by deleting virtual media and destroying physical media. The method for managing multimodal documents may include receiving a request for the shredding of an information and content data file containing a list of virtual media and physical media relating to a multimodal document. A determination is made if the request for shred is authorized and, where said request for shred is authorized, a record of the shred request is created. Elements in the element list are grouped based on elements in the list which are managed by the same content management system. A message is sent to each content management system requesting the shredding of each element for the grouping of elements for the content management system. The content management systems may verify and report the success of the shredding.
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This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119(e) of U.S. provisional patent applications: Ser. No. 60/909,281 filed Mar. 30, 2007, and entitled “A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ENABLING COLLABORATIVE CAPTURE AND REPLAY OF DIGITAL MEDIA FILES USING PHYSICAL DOCUMENTS”; and Ser. No. 60/909,273 filed Mar. 30, 2007, and entitled “SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR MANAGING MULTIMODAL DOCUMENTS.” Both provisional patent applications are incorporated herein by reference.
FIELD OF THE INVENTIONThe invention relates generally to multimodal documents and more particularly to systems and methods for managing multimodal documents including the shredding of multimodal documents through the deletion of virtual media and the destruction of physical media.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONDocument retention and destruction is becoming increasingly important. Government regulations and litigation threats place pressure on companies to properly handle documents that have reached the end of their usefulness. Additionally, documents that are not properly discarded can contribute to corporate espionage and identity theft. The handling of documents is also complicated by the multimedia and distributed nature of documents in our environment. Multimedia documents are documents that contain or are associated with different types of content or media. For example, a document may exist which could consist of word-processing content, video annotations, or other types of media. This media although associated with the document, is not necessarily embedded in the document and can be found in multiple locations throughout the environment.
Various systems have been developed for deleting and destroying documents and related content. U.S. Pat. No. 5,897,643 for SYSTEM FOR MAINTAINING A RECORD OF DOCUMENTS INCLUDING DOCUMENT COPIES discloses a system that maintains a listing of a document and its copies where the electronic record of a copy is deleted when that copy is deleted. U.S. Pat. No. 6,839,707 for WEB-BASED SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGING LEGAL INFORMATION discloses a web-based application that organizes the storage of patent applications and other legal documents into a hierarchical folder structure. It allows for the deletion of individual documents within a folder and also the deletion of the folders themselves. U.S. Pat. No. 6,148,312 for METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR ELECTRONIC ARTICLE MAINTENANCE AND DELETION discloses a system for deleting documents from an electronic document management system. Requests for deletion must be confirmed by the creator of the document or a pre-set reviewer. Multiple delete sites are possible and are responsible for the confirmation and corresponding deletion of the document and its metadata. Additionally, paper entitled “A Multimedia Document Filing System” by Xien Fan, Qianhong Liu, and Peter A. Ng, published 1997 in the International Conference On Multimedia Computing Systems, discloses a system of organization of multimedia documents based on creating and categorizing metadata derived from the content of the document. Known documents are placed into folders as a method of access. These folders can then be linked together to associate their content. A delete operation is defined on a folder where the operation will also delete the document from subordinate folders.
While the above systems provide some limited ability to process multimedia documents, it is desirable to have automated systems managing the removal of such documents from the environment where appropriate with no or limited user intervention required to locate and delete physical and electronic content related to the document. Additionally, the above systems have a narrow view of the scope of what constitutes a document to be processed and are essentially closed systems in that they are solely responsible for managing the documents. Moreover, it is desirable to be able to manage the removal and shredding of multimodal documents which, as explained below, may involve all forms of virtual media and physical media.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIt is an object of the present invention to provide a multimodal document management system that allows the management of multimodal documents across different domains of control.
It is a further object of the present invention to enable the management of shredding of multimodal documents including virtual media and physical media relating to a multimodal document.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a system to interact with different domains of control to automate, based on tracking information available to the system, the shredding of multimodal documents by the deletion of virtual media and destruction of physical media relating to a multimodal document.
A multimodal document management system embodying the present invention includes a context manager for managing multimodal documents. A virtual media content management system is coupled to the context manager and a physical media content management system is coupled to the context manager. The context manager is operable to issue multimodal document management instructions to the virtual media content management system and issuing instructions to the physical media content management system.
In accordance with a feature of the present invention, the context manager instructions relate to shredding of multimodal documents by deleting virtual media and destroying physical media.
A method for managing multimodal documents embodying the present invention includes the steps of receiving a request for the shred of elements in an information and content data file list of virtual media and physical media elements relating to a multimodal document. A determination is made if the request for shred is authorized and, where the request for shred is authorized creating a record of the shred request. Shred requested elements in the element list are grouped based on which are managed by the same content management system. A message is sent to each content management system requesting the shredding of each element of each grouping of elements managed by such same content management system.
The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of the specification, illustrate presently preferred embodiments of the invention, and together with the general description given above and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments given below, serve to explain the principles of the invention. As shown throughout the drawings, like reference numerals designate like or corresponding parts.
Various terms used herein have the meaning and usage set out below.
Multimodal documents include all forms and types of information. While multimodal documents are often physical documents and related virtual information, it also includes both virtual media and physical media. Virtual media, for example, include electronic versions of documents, e-mails, and metadata stored in memory of various types, electronic versions of video information stored in various forms, electronic versions of audio information stored in various forms and software stored in various electronic forms. Physical media, for example, include printed documents, media containing video information (DVDs, tapes, etc.), media containing audio information (CDs, tapes, etc.), physical models, photographs, and software disks. Multimodal documents content may be rendered, for example, in complete documents, artifacts and parts thereof that can exist in paper or electronic form. Virtual media and physical media are often related in that, for example, a printed document with hand written annotations (physical media) thereon may be electronically stored (virtual media). These media, the physical media and the virtual media, are related in that they involve the same or similar information or information that has been modified. For example, an electronic copy of an engineering drawing (virtual media) and the physical embodiment depicted in the engineering drawing (physical media) are both related in the information they convey.
Information domains are the various environments in which the virtual media and the physical media exist and are managed.
Domains of control are the various systems and/or subsystems, such as a content management server (server and associated software), responsible for control of a certain set of information such as video files, audio files, document metadata, or physical and/or electronic renderings of a document.
Information and content data is the complete set of data including content, use and domains of a multimodal document including virtual media and physical media; essentially a bucket of data pertaining to the multimodal document. The data, typically a list of elements, can be stored in a file or a database or otherwise. Herein, the phrase information and content data file (ICDF) is intended to encompass all of the foregoing.
Shredding includes the deletion of virtual media and the destruction of physical media, as the case may be.
The following is an overview of the operation of the system shown in
Reference is now made to
The virtual media content management system 6 is coupled to a virtual media shredding subsystem 10 which shreds, by deletion, the virtual media. The physical media content management system 8 is connected to a physical shredding subsystem 12, which shreds by destroying the physical media. The context manager 4 interactively operates with the various virtual media content management system(s) and the physical media content management system(s) to both identify and compile the content of information files for multimodal documents, to issue shredding instructions and to track the completion of the various shredding operations. Although shown as separate shredding systems, subsystems 10 and 12, each of these subsystems can be part of the content management system(s) for tracking media to which it is connected.
Reference is now made to
The context manager 4 is coupled via the messaging space to multifunctional devices 18 and 20. These may be devices that have been enhanced with one or more document identification technologies, such as radio frequency identification device (RFID) readers, bar code/ANOTO Docld capture, document image capture and hashing. These types of technologies, and others, are employed so that they can identify a pre-existing document that is being printed, scanned or copied. Additionally, these multi-functional devices can create document clones that have been uniquely named, using one of more of these technologies. A printer can create a physical clone of an electronic document while a scanner will do the reverse by taking a physical document and creating an electronic document.
Shredders 22 and 24 may be normal shredders that have been enhanced with one or more document identification technologies, such as those noted above. Such shredders can operate to inform the context manager 4, and other subsystems as appropriate, via the messaging space 16, when a document has been shredded, that is, physically destroyed, and, should the shredder have a memory, the virtual shredding, that is, the deletion of any relevant information in the shredder related to the multimodal document. An example of one type of shredder with enhanced document identification capability is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/156,127, filed for B. D. Singer et al. on Jun. 17, 2006, entitled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING THE STORAGE AND DESTRUCTION OF DOCUMENTS and assigned to Pitney Bowes Inc. (Pitney Bowes Docket No. F-933). Active workspaces 26 and 28 may be desks, shelves or other physical places where documents are used that may be enhanced with one or more document identification technologies. These active workspaces 26 and 28 can have additional on-line, active spaces, such as a user's electronic document mailbox, that act similarly to the physical spaces.
There are two primary types of software systems (audio server and ink server) shown in
There can, of course, be other domains, including other media servers such as those relating to video domains. The architecture of the system shown in
As can be seen above, the context manager 4 provides multimodal document compilation. It communicates via the messaging space 16 for messages and data emanating from all of the various information domains it interoperates with and derives the use of each managed multimodal document in each managed domain. For example, when a managed multimodal document is physically printed, the context manager 4 is informed via the messaging space of this activity. The context manager 4 uses the various messages communicated to it via the messaging space to record multimodal document use information. This can include the creation of document clones via the multifunctional devices. The context manager 4 can obtain information relating to the physical location of documents, such as via the active workspaces, and the attachment of media clips on virtual or physical documents via the various media servers, such as the audio server 30 and the ink server 40. There may also be other on-line internet or intranet applications, not shown, that communicate with the context manager 4, such as word processing document used on a personal computer.
For the architecture shown in
The system mitigates the need for human intervention when shredding a multimodal document in the system. The multimodal document is shredded to the best ability of the system based on available data concerning the multimodal document and the use of the multimodal document. The shredding of virtual media such as computer files existing on a media server in one location and physical media such as printed documents in another location can be brought about by a request from a context manager such as a server in yet another location. The context server may also possess greater knowledge of the context than individual systems and users of the multimodal document because of the span of domains about which the context server stores or can access data. The system uses this knowledge from the span of domain to assist users in completely shredding a multimodal document or portion of such document as desired and authorized.
The system is organized for the context manager to communicate with various domains of control related to the multimodal document so that it is able to initiate and, depending on how the system is implemented, monitor and/or confirm, the shredding of a multimodal document including renditions and annotations associated with the document. Upon receiving a request or instruction for shredding, a domain of control, such as a server, will attempt to shred the portions of the multimodal document which it processes or controls. The domain of control can communicate back to the system the completion of the shred and/or the status of an attempted shred. After receiving responses to various requests, or expiration of a timeout period, the system informs affected users the status of the shredding of the multimodal document. If the system has been unable to shred the content to the extent requested, these notifications of shred status from the various domains may function as a request for user intervention. If successful, the notifications instead signal the completion of the shredding process to the user.
Thus, the system manages documents that exist in both the physical and electronic environment. For any given document managed by the context manager, the shredding process ensures the removal of the document's metadata and all its associated content (annotations and renderings). A rendering is analogous to a copy of the document. Just as copies of a document can exist in a paper form or as an electronic file, renderings have an equal ambivalence to medium. The system proactively manages paper documents, for example, in several ways. First, if a document is deleted, the system will alert users to the deletion event and request that they destroy the paper rendering. Second, the system will monitor user interactions with a paper rendering for an action that represents deletion of that document. On the occurrence of the triggering process, the system will begin a deletion of all content and metadata related to the current document.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
The tracking the use of each piece of content at 90 may include location tracking of physical items and use tracking, like writing on items, mailing documents (e.g., e-mail sniffers and enhanced postal meters, such as meters with scanners), etc. All tracking information of both physical media and virtual media is sent to and managed by the context manager 4. The tracking methods can employ any of the methods described above and other well known methods useful in tracking and sensing and image recognition, including by use of digital pens, radio frequency identification (RFID), bar codes and numeric fields, electronic document identification (ID) sensing, image recognition via cameras, and the like.
Reference is now made to
Window B illustrates a pdf document listed as the second electronic version 94 in Window A. This is document is designated as document 102a in Window B. Window C illustrates one of the virtual document parts listed in Window A, here designated as 104a. Various types and formats of displays and organization of the various information related to the creation, tracking and shredding of virtual media and physical media can be employed, depending on the nature and design of the system.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
At block 122, the requester is notified that there was a problem with all failed shreds. For all successful shred operations at block 124, the associated metadata is removed from the context manager memory, storage means 4. A message is sent at block 126 to the requester with the state of the shred operation. At block 128, the requester must explicitly follow up with external parties to ensure that their shred was complete, to the extent that the external parties are not within the domains that are managed by the context manager 2.
Reference is now made to
At block 138, the context manager 4 sub-groups various elements in the list. This may be based on the content management systems employed, such as the various media servers, the various element inventory administration, users of the multimodal documents, and the like. At block 140, a message is sent to each content management system requesting the deletion and destruction of each element; for example, e-mails sent to persons and the like. At block 142, a response timer is set for each content management system. The response timer and time involved can be unique to the particular content management system and even within subsystems of the particular content management system, depending on the need and applications for the system. At block 144 a list of all items that have been sent out of the system domain is created. At block 146, the requester is notified of all such items including recipients of the items, and at block 148, the requester follows up on those items using traditional methods, e.g., phone mail, e-mail, and other appropriate methods to ensure the deletion or destruction of the virtual media and physical media. The process steps 144, 146 and 148 are for those portions of multimodal document that may not or are not under the management of the context manager 4 and need separate, independent operations to ensure their deletion and/or destruction. Thus, the context manager 4 manages not only systems within the direct or indirect control of the context manager system 4 but also related multimodal document virtual media and physical media related to such other materials that need to be independently processed when that information is available to the context manager 4.
Reference is now made to
Reference is now made to
While the present invention has been disclosed and described with reference to a single embodiment thereof, it will be apparent, as noted above that variations and modifications may be made therein. It is, thus, intended in the following claims to cover each variation and modification that falls within the true spirit and scope of the present invention.
Claims
1. A multimodal document management system, comprising:
- a context manager for managing multimodal documents;
- a virtual media content management system, said virtual media content management system coupled to said context manager;
- a physical media content management system, said physical media content management system coupled to said context manager; and,
- said context manager operable to issue multimodal document management instructions to said virtual media content management system and to said physical media content management system.
2. A multimodal document management system as defined in claim 1, further comprising:
- a second virtual media content management system, said virtual media content management system coupled to said context manager; and,
- said first and said second virtual media content management systems each operating in different domains of control.
3. A multimodal document management system as defined in claim 1, further comprising:
- a second physical media content management system, said physical media content management system coupled to said context manager; and,
- said first and said second physical media content management systems each operating in different domains of control.
4. A multimodal document management system as defined in claim 1, further comprising:
- a second virtual media content management system, said virtual media content management system coupled to said context manager;
- said first and said second virtual media content management systems each operating in different domains of control;
- a second physical media content management system, said physical media content management system coupled to said context manager; and,
- said first and said second physical media content management systems each operating in different domains of control.
5. A system multimodal document management as defined in claim 1, where said virtual media content management system is interactively coupled to said context manager and said physical media content management system is interactively coupled to said context manager such that said virtual media content management system and said physical media content management system can interactively communicate with said context manager.
6. A multimodal document management system as defined in claim 5, further comprising:
- a virtual media shredding subsystem coupled to said virtual media content management system and a physical media shredding subsystem coupled to said physical media content management system.
7. A multimodal document management system as defined in claim 6, wherein said virtual media shredding subsystem is operable under control of said virtual media content management system to delete virtual media upon instructions from said context manager to said virtual media content management system and wherein said physical media shredding subsystem is operable under control of said physical media content management system to destroy physical media upon instructions from said context manager to said physical media content management system.
8. A multimodal document management system as defined in claim 7, wherein said context manager receives communications from said virtual media tracking system concerning the status of virtual media related to multimodal documents and receives communications from said physical media tracking system concerning the status of physical media related to said multimodal documents.
9. A multimodal document management system as defined in claim 8, wherein said context manager creates information and content data files concerning multimodal documents.
10. A multimodal document management system as defined in claim 9, wherein said context manager information and content data files for a multimodal document includes a list of virtual media content relating to said multimodal document and of physical media content relating to said multimodal document.
11. A multimodal document management system as defined in claim 10, wherein said information and content data file is employed in identifying elements of said multimodal document in issuing shredding instructions.
12. The multimodal document management system as defined in claim 11, wherein said shredding instructions issued by said context manager to virtual media content management system and to said physical media content management system include personal shredding instructions involving the shredding of all multimodal document element content in said information and content data file relating to a particular user.
13. The multimodal document management system as defined in claim 11, wherein said shredding instructions involving exhaustive shredding of all multimodal document element content in said information and content data file.
14. A multimodal document management system as defined in claim 12, wherein said context manager subsequent to the shredding of all said personal virtual media relating to a multimodal document and all said personal physical media relating to a multimodal document deletes all personal virtual media data relating to said multimodal document stored in memory means for said context manager.
15. A multimodal document management system as defined in claim 13, wherein said context manager subsequent to the exhaustive shredding of all said virtual media relating to a multimodal document and all said physical media relating to a multimodal document deletes all virtual media data relating to said multimodal document stored in memory means for said context manager.
16. A multimodal document management system as defined in claim 11, wherein said multimodal document includes physical media including physical documents and virtual media including virtual documents relating to said physical documents.
17. A multimodal document management system as defined in claim 16, wherein said multimodal document virtual media further includes audio clip media relating to said physical documents.
18. A method for managing multimodal documents, comprising the steps of:
- receiving a request for a shred of elements in an information and content data file containing a list of virtual media and physical media elements relating to a multimodal document;
- determining if the request for shred is authorized and, where said request for shred is authorized, creating a record of said shred request;
- grouping said shred requested elements in said element list based on each element in said which are managed by the same content management system; and,
- sending a message to each content management system requesting the shredding of each element in each grouping of elements managed by said same content management system.
19. A method for managing multimodal documents as defined in claim 18, comprising the further step of setting a response timer for receiving a response to said shredding request message from each content management system to which a shredding request is sent.
20. A method for managing multimodal documents as defined in claim 18, comprising the further step of:
- awaiting a response from said content management systems;
- determining if the shred request was accomplished from each content management system response;
- disabling an element response trigger and removing each element from said list where a response is received from said content management system that said shred request was accomplished, where said element response trigger is triggered by a failure to receive said response; and,
- if said information and content data file list elements have been successfully shredded, sending a message to said requester that said shred request was successful.
21. A method for managing multimodal documents as defined in claim 20, comprising the further step of repeating said steps beginning with said awaiting a response from said content management systems if said information and content data file have not been successfully shredded.
22. A method for managing multimodal documents as defined in claim 21, comprising the further steps of,
- determining if a predetermined maximum number of retries have been attempted for shred requested elements where said element response trigger has fired when a response period has passed for a content management server to respond; and,
- where said maximum number of retries attempts have been implemented for shred requested elements, marking said element as having failed to be shredded; and,
- notifying said requester that said element has failed to be shredded.
23. A method for managing multimodal documents as defined in claim 18 wherein said request for a shred of elements in an information and content data file containing a list of virtual media and physical media elements relating to a multimodal document is a request for a comprehensive shred of all said elements of virtual media and physical in said information and content data file list.
24. A multimodal document management system, comprising:
- a context manager for managing multimodal documents;
- a first and a second virtual media content management system, said first and said second virtual media content management system coupled to said context manager, said first and said second virtual media content management systems each operating in different domains of control;
- a first and a second physical media content management system, said first and said second physical media content management system coupled to said context manager, said first and said second physical media content management systems each operating in different domains of control;
- said context manager operable to issue multimodal document management shredding instructions to said first and said second virtual media content management system and to issue shredding instructions to said first and said second physical media content management system; and,
- said first and said second virtual media content management system, in response to shredding instruction received from said context manager, operable to initiate the process of shredding of virtual media; and,
- said first and said second physical media tracking system, in response to shredding instruction received from said context manager, operable to initiate the process of shredding of physical media.
25. A multimodal document management system as defined in claim 24, wherein said context manager receives communications from said first and said second virtual media tracking system concerning the status of virtual media shredding related to multimodal documents and receives communications from said first and said second physical media tracking system concerning the status of physical media shredding related to said multimodal documents.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 28, 2007
Publication Date: Oct 2, 2008
Applicant: Pitney Bowes Inc. (Stamford, CT)
Inventors: Deborra J. Zukowski (Newtown, CT), Eric C. Friedrich (Somerville, MA), Arthur J. Parkos (Southbury, CT), Chao Chen (Milford, CT), Jean-Hiram Coffy (Norwalk, CT), John F. Braun (Fairfield, CT), Richard W. Heiden (Shelton, CT)
Application Number: 11/846,109
International Classification: G06F 17/21 (20060101);