Electronic bookshelf with multi-user features

Details Electronic bookshelf with multi-user features Electronic bookshelf with multi-user features

1998-01-14

2002-05-07

Hayes, Gail (Department: 2700)

Data processing: database and file management or data structures

Database design

Data structure types

C713S185000, C713S168000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06385614

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to electronic books that are transmitted over a network, such as the Internet, to a user's personal computer or work station.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Presently, an individual with a personal computer can access web sites on the Internet of book stores. At such a web site, a user can search for a particular book or type of book, view a selection of books that meet the user's search criteria, and order a copy of one or more books that are identified in the searching process, which are then sent to the user's address. This type of system works well for consumer oriented books. However, this system does not work well for books that are frequently updated. Examples of frequently updated books include the reference books that are used in the legal, banking and insurance industries. These books are periodically updated to reflect changes in the laws that govern these industries. For these types of books, web sites have evolved that allow a customer to take out a subscription on a book of interest. The customer can then access the most recent edition of this book from the web site and view selected pages of the book on their personal computer or workstation. Books that are accessed in this fashion are typically referred to as “electronic” books.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is directed to a problem that was identified with respect to the current systems that allow customers to subscribe to “electronic” books. The problem involved the need for several individuals in an organization to have access to a particular electronic book. Under the prior subscription system, this need required the organization to purchase a separate subscription for each individual that required access to the particular book. As a consequence, each individual with a subscription was able to access their own individual copy of the book at any time.
The present invention recognizes that in many situations not all of the individuals in an organization need to have unlimited access to the book, i.e. be able to access the book at any time, and addresses these situations by providing several individuals with the right to access an electronic book but limiting the actual access of the book to one individual at a time. In other words, the invention provides an electronic book that can be shared by a number of users.
The present invention addresses a number of problems associated with providing shared access to an electronic book. In providing shared access to an electronic book over the Internet or an intranet, it was recognized that there is no provision for determining when an individual's exclusive access to or use of an electronic book has terminated or should be considered to have terminated. Without the ability to determine if termination has occurred or to effect termination, the book cannot be provided to other users that have a right to access the book. Further, while it is possible to provide a mechanism that permits the user to explicitly release the book so that the book can be used by others, such a mechanism is unreliable because it depends on the user to execute the release. The present invention address this problem by making use of a “cookie”, i.e. a temporary identifier that is assigned to a user when the user accesses a web site and is used in communications between the user and the web server. The “cookie” is part of the WorldWideWeb/Internet protocol and was included in the protocol to provide a web server with the ability to keep track of the “state” of communications between the web server and all of the users that are accessing the web server. In essence, the “cookie” is a unique, temporary identifier that is assigned to each user that is accessing a web server. In contrast to the “state” tracking use of the “cookie”, the present invention makes use of the “cookie” mechanism to terminate a user's exclusive use of a book, thereby permitting other users to access the book. To elaborate, upon accessing the web server on which the shared electronic book is located, a user is assigned a “cookie” for use in subsequent communications with the web server. The user is then able to request access to a shared electronic book. If the shared electronic book is available, the user is granted exclusive access to the book for a predetermined period of time. Each request that the user transmits to the web server with respect to the book during this predetermined period of time is accompanied by the “cookie” assigned to the user. If the web server does not see the “cookie” assigned to the user accompanying a request with respect the book to which the user has been granted exclusive access within the predetermined period of time or some portion thereof, the user's exclusive access to the shared electronic book is terminated upon expiration of the predetermined period of time. At this point, the book is again available to all users that have a right to access the book.
To facilitate termination of a particular user's exclusive access to a shared electronic book when the user only needs to refer to the book quickly and for a brief period of time, and thereby make the book available to the other users, one embodiment of the invention involves releasing the book from a particular user upon expiration of the predetermined period of time if the “cookie” and associated request relating to the book are not received within a portion of the predetermined period of time that commences after the predetermined period of time starts. For example, a particular user is granted exclusive access to a shared book for 30 minutes and the noted portion of the 30 minute period is defined to be the last 15 minutes of the 30 minute period. If a “cookie” relating to the book is not seen in the last 15 minutes of the 30 minute period, the user's access to the book is terminated upon expiration of the 30 minute period, even if a “cookie” was seen in the first 15 minutes of the 30 minute period. This assures that when a user that has been granted exclusive access to a book only needs to access the book quickly and for a short period of time, other users are not foreclosed from obtaining access to the shared book for an extended period of time.
In another embodiment, a user is able to renew or extend the period of time during which they have exclusive access to a shared electronic book. Again, the user is granted exclusive access to a shared electronic book for a predetermined period of time. If a “cookie” and associated request relating to the book are seen during the predetermined period of time, the user is granted a further period of exclusive access to the book. For example, if the user is initially granted a 30 minute period of exclusive access to a book and a “cookie” with an associated request relating to the book is seen by the web server during this 30 minute period, the user is granted a further period of exclusive access to the book.
A further embodiment addresses the concerns of (1) providing a user that has been granted exclusive access to a shared electronic book with the ability to renew or extend the period during which they have exclusive access to the book and (2) not foreclosing other users from having access to a shared electronic book when a user that has been granted exclusive access to a book only needs to refer to the book quickly and for a short period of time. This embodiment of the invention only renews or extends a user's exclusive access to a shared book if a “cookie” and associated request relating to the book are received during a portion of the predetermined period of time that commences after the predetermined period of time commences. To continue with the prior example, if a “cookie” and associated request relating to the book are seen in the last 15 minutes of the 30 minute period, the period of exclusive access is extended for a further period of time. If, on the other hand, “cookie” and associated request relating to the book are not seen in the last 15 minutes of the 30 minute period, th

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