JPH09204438A - Information retrieval support device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate the recognition of the logical position of an arbitrary information piece in massive information pieces. SOLUTION: When the arbitrary information piece is referred to, a retrieval history storage means 11 stores identification information on the referred information piece and route information at the time of reference as retrieval history. A graph generation/display means 12 generates a graph 12a showing the referred information piece and the referred route based on stored retrieval history, and displays the graph 12a on a display device 2. Thus, referred information piece and the route at the time of referring to the information piece are displayed on the display device 2 as the graph. A user using the information piece can recognize a relation between the information pieces which the himself refers to.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information search support device for supporting an information fragment search function for accessing information fragments organized in a hypertext form using a computer, and particularly useful for a large number of information fragments. The present invention relates to an information search support device that extracts only a part.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As one form of expressing information and knowledge, there is a system of organizing in a hypertext form. In this method, a plurality of information fragments having a group of information are prepared, and each information fragment has a unique ID. Then, for an information fragment, the ID of the information fragment related to it
Retaining information associates those pieces of information. Then, by specifying the ID information of another information fragment by an operation on one information fragment, another related information fragment can be referred to.

However, it has been pointed out that such a representation form of information or knowledge makes it easy to lose track of the logical position of the referenced information fragment. Moreover,
With the spread of computer networks, the amount of information available to users via computers has become enormous. Therefore, it is necessary to express where available information and knowledge exist in some way.

Therefore, in order to solve this problem, all information fragments are graphed by nodes (figures which are nodes of connection relations) and the relationships between information fragments are graphed by arcs (lines or arrows connecting two nodes). It has been proposed to display the logical position of the information fragment currently referred to by displaying it in the form of a circle.

[0005]

However, in the case of displaying all the information fragments in a graph like this, it is effective when the number of the information fragments is a certain value or less, but is specified when the number of nodes increases. There is a problem that it is difficult to recognize the nodes and arcs of and the full effect is not exhibited.

Further, when the number of information fragments increases so that all the information fragments cannot be confirmed within a finite time, it becomes difficult to draw a graph. Further, even when searching for an information fragment that has been referred to before, it is difficult to distinguish an information fragment that has been referred to before and an information fragment that has not been referred to.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an information retrieval support device which facilitates confirmation of a logical position of an arbitrary information fragment in a huge amount of information fragments. To aim.

[0008]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the principle of an information retrieval support device according to the present invention. In order to solve the above problem, in the first invention, when an arbitrary information fragment is referred to in the information search support device 10 that supports the search function of the information fragments 21 to 23 associated with the hypertext form, it is referred to. Search history storage means 1 for storing the identification information of the information fragment and the route information when referred to as a search history.
1 and a graph creating and displaying means 1 for creating a graph 12a from the search history, showing a piece of information that has been referred to and a route that has been referred to, and displaying the graph on the display device 1
2. An information search support device 10 characterized by having
Is provided.

According to this structure, when an arbitrary information fragment is referred to, the search history storage means 11 stores the identification information of the referenced information fragment and the route information at the time of reference as a search history. The graph creation / display unit 12 creates a graph 12a indicating an information fragment that has been referred to and a referenced route based on the stored search history, and displays the graph 12a on the display device 2. As a result, the information fragment that has been referred to and the route when the information fragment has been referred to are displayed on the display device 2 as a graph, and the user who uses the information fragment can find information between the information fragments that he has referred to. You can check the relationship.

In the second invention, the graph creating / displaying means 12 in the first invention represents each information fragment by an individual graphic, and the referenced path is represented by a line connecting the graphic, thereby the graph 12a. An information search support device is provided which is characterized in that

According to this structure, a graphic corresponding to each referenced information fragment is displayed on the display device 2, and a graph is created in which the reference source information fragment and the reference destination information fragment are connected by a line. Therefore, the user who uses the information fragments can easily confirm the relationship between the information fragments.

[0012] In the third invention, in the information search support device for supporting the search function of the information fragments 21 to 23 associated in a hypertext form, when an arbitrary information fragment is referenced, the referenced information fragment is identified. Information, route information at the time of reference, and search history storage means 11 for storing, as a search history, unused route information for referring to another information fragment from the referenced information fragment; Creating a graph 12a showing an information fragment that has a history, a referenced path, and an unused path that can be directly referenced by the information fragments that have been referenced, and displaying the graph 12a on the display device 2 An information search support device 10 is provided which includes a display unit 12.

According to this structure, when an arbitrary information fragment is referred to, the search history storage means 11 determines the identification information of the referenced information fragment, the route information at the time of the reference, and the other information fragment from the referenced information fragment. The unused route information for referring to the information fragment is stored as a search history. Graph creating and displaying means 12
Is a graph 1 showing information fragments that have been referred to, routes that have been referenced, and unused routes that can be directly referenced by the information fragments that have been referenced, based on the search history.
2a is created and the graph 12a is displayed on the display device 2. As a result, the user who uses the information fragment can confirm the reference route to the information fragment that he / she has referred to, even the route that has not been used yet.

In the fourth invention, in the information search support device for supporting the search function of the information fragments 21 to 23 associated in the hypertext form, when an arbitrary information fragment is referenced, the referenced information fragment is identified. Information, path information at the time of reference, unused path information for referring to another information fragment from the referenced information fragment, and identification information of an unreferenced information fragment that can be newly referenced by the unused path information A search history storage means 11 for storing as a search history, and an information path that has been referred to from the search history, a path that has been referenced, and an unused path that can be directly referenced by the information fragments that have been referenced. , A graph 12a showing an unreferenced information fragment that can be directly referenced from an information fragment that has been referred to, and a route for referring to the unreferenced information fragment, A graphing display means 12 for displaying on the display device a, the information retrieval support apparatus 10, characterized in that it has a provided.

According to this structure, when an arbitrary information fragment is referred to, the search history storage means 11 identifies the referenced information fragment, the reference route information, and the referenced information fragment to another information fragment. Unused route information for referencing information fragments,
Also, the identification information of the unreferenced information fragment that can be newly referenced by the unused route information is stored as a search history. The graph creation / display means 12 uses the search history to refer to information fragments that have been referred to, referenced routes, unused routes that can be directly referenced by the referenced information fragments, unreferenced information fragments, and A graph 12a showing a route for referring to the unreferenced information fragment is created, and the graph 12a is displayed on the display device. As a result, the user who uses the information fragment can access information fragments that he has referred to, as well as information fragments that he has referred to, as well as information fragments that he has referred to. You can check.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a principle block diagram of an information fragment search support device of the present invention. The information fragment search support device 10 of the present invention is connected to the information fragment search device 1 for referring to the information fragments 21 to 23 associated in a hypertext form. In this figure, the identification information of the information fragments 21 to 23 is "http: // aaa", "http: // bbb",
It is "http: // ccc".

In the information fragment reference device 10, the information fragment search device 1 is arranged to receive information fragments 21 to 2 in response to a user request.
After searching 3, the search history storage means 11 stores the identification information of the referenced information fragment and the route information at the time of the reference as a search history. At this time, the identification information of the referenced information fragment is stored in the already-referenced information fragment storage unit 11a, and the route information when referenced is stored in the reference route storage unit 11b.

The graph creating means 12 creates a graph 12a representing the searched information fragment and the reference route from the contents of the search history storage means 11. And the created graph 1
2a is displayed on the screen of the display device 2.

With such a configuration, for example, the information fragment search device 11 of the information fragment search support device 10 first refers to the information fragment 21 and then from the information fragment 21 to the information fragment 2.
2 and the information fragment 23 will be described.
At this time, the information fragment 2 searched by the information fragment search device 11
1 to 23 identification information "http: // aaa", "http: // bbb",
"Http: // ccc" is stored in the already-referenced information fragment storage unit 11a. At this time, the node number “N
1 ”,“ N2 ”, and“ N3 ”are added. Further, in the reference path storage unit 11b, the node number of the information fragment that has been referred to from the information fragment is added after the node number of each information fragment.

The graph creation / display means 12 reads the contents of the search history storage means 11, shows each information fragment by a node (a figure which becomes a node of connection relation), and indicates a reference route by an arc (a line connecting two nodes or a line connecting the two nodes). The graph 12a represented by the arrow) is created. This graph 12a is displayed on the screen of the display device 2.

As a result, the user can confirm only the connection relationship of the information fragment that has been referred to, and the logical position of the necessary information fragment can be easily confirmed. Moreover, since the number of information fragments that have been referred to is limited, the graph can be created at high speed.

Next, a specific example of a configuration in which the information retrieval support apparatus of the present invention is applied to a client connected to several servers holding a large number of information fragments via a network will be specifically described.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an information retrieval support device of the present invention used on a network. Client 10
0 is connected to information fragment servers 210 and 220 which serve information fragments via the network 200.
The client 100 includes an information fragment search device 120 that searches for information fragments, an information search support device 110 that holds a history searched by the information fragment search device 120, and creates a graph to visually show the history, and an information fragment. Search device 120
And a display device 130 for displaying on the screen the information fragments searched by the user and the graph created by the information search support device 110.

The information search support device 110 is for displaying a search history storage device 111 that stores the search history of the information fragments referred to so far, and a graph of the search history stored in the search history storage device 111. It is composed of a graph display calculation device 112.

Next, an example of a search history storage system of the search history storage device 111 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a storage system of already-referenced information fragments. The referenced information fragment is composed of an individually assigned node number and a unique ID number of the information fragment, and these pieces of information are stored in the form of a table. In this figure, the ID numbers “http: // aaa” and “ht” of the information fragments are assigned to the node numbers “N1” to “N4”, respectively.
"tp: // bbb", "http: // ccc", and "http: // ddd" are set.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a storage system of reference paths. The node number attached to the information fragment and the node number attached to the information fragment actually directly referenced from the information fragment are held. In this example, the node number "N
The information fragment of node number “N2” has been referred to from the information fragment of “1”. From the information fragment with the node number “N2”, the information fragments with the node numbers “N3” and “N4” have been referred to. The information fragment of the node number "N4" has been referred to from the information fragment of the node number "N3". Then, there is no information fragment that has been referred to from the information fragment of the node number "N4".

The graph display calculation device 112 is shown in FIGS.
Create a graph based on the search history shown in. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a graph of the displayed information search history. In this figure, the information fragments of the node numbers "N1" to "N4" are displayed at the nodes 31 to 34, and the reference route is displayed at the arcs 41 to 43.

Next, the operation of displaying the information search history of the information search support apparatus having the above configuration will be described. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining the information search history display operation. This is a process executed when an arbitrary information fragment is referred to by the information fragment search device. [S1] The reference source information fragment is set as "A", and the reference destination information fragment is set as "B". Further, the data of already searched information fragments is set as Table N, and the data of the reference route to the already searched information fragments is set as Table L. [S2] It is determined whether or not the ID number of the referenced information fragment appears in the table N of already searched information fragments. If it appears in Table N, the process proceeds to step 3 (S3), and if it does not appear in Table N, the process proceeds to step 5 (S5). [S3] The ID number of the information fragment referred to by the information fragment "B" is added to Table N. A node number is added to the added information fragment. [S4] The node number added to the information fragment "B" is shown in Table L.
And the node number of the information fragment “B” is added to the area indicating the reference destination of the information fragment “A” in the table L. [S5] Information fragment "B" is the information fragment "A" in Table L.
It is determined whether or not it is registered in the area indicating the reference destination of. If not registered, proceed to step 6 (S6),
If registered, the process ends. [S6] The node number of the information fragment “B” is added to the area indicating the reference destination of the information fragment “A” in the table L. The above-described processing of step 1 (S1) to step 6 (S6) is performed as shown in FIG.
This is a process performed by the search history storage device 111 shown in FIG. [S7] The displayed graph is recalculated to create a new graph. [S8] The created graph is displayed on the display device. The processes of step 7 (S7) and step 8 (S8) so far are processes performed by the graph display calculation device 112 shown in FIG.

Such processing is executed every time an information fragment is searched. Here, the search history storage device 111
An example of referring to the information fragment with the ID number "http: // eee" from the information fragment represented by the node number "N4" while the search history shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is held. First, the processing procedure performed in the flowchart of FIG. 6 will be specifically described.

First, in step 1 (S1), the reference information fragment "A" has the information fragment ID number "http: // ddd" corresponding to the node "N4" and the reference information fragment "B". Is the ID number of the information fragment to be searched, "http: /
"/ eee", the table shown in FIG. 3 is input to the table N of already searched information fragments, and the table shown in FIG. 4 is input to the table L of reference routes to already searched information fragments.

In step 2 (S2), "http: // e
Since the information fragment "ee" does not appear in the table of already searched information fragments shown in FIG. 3, the process moves to step 3 (S3). In step 3 (S3), "http: // eee", which is the ID number of the referenced information fragment, is added to the table of already searched information fragments as the node number "N5". FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a table of updated searched information fragments. Thus, in addition to the information fragments previously registered in the already searched information fragment table shown in FIG. 3, the node number “N5” is set as the ID number “htt”.
"p: // eee" is registered.

After this, in step 4 (S4), the reference route table is updated. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a table of updated reference routes. The node number "N5" is added to the item of the node number in the reference route table shown in FIG. 4, and the node number "N5" is added as a reference destination of the node number "N4".

Further, in step 7 (S7), as shown in FIGS.
A graph is calculated from the search history represented by, and step 8 (S
In 8), the graph is displayed on the display device. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display result of a graph in which a new node is added. In this figure, the positions of the nodes 31 to 33 are the same as those in the graph of FIG. 5, but the node 34 has moved upward. Below the node 34, the node 3 with the node number “N5”
5 has been added. In other words, when a new node is added, the positions of the previously registered nodes are recalculated, and a graph in which the overall balance is maintained is created.

By displaying such a graph each time a new information fragment is referenced, the user loses track of the logical position of the currently referenced information fragment even if the information fragment is repeatedly referenced. Never. Moreover, even when returning to any previously referenced information fragment, the position of the information fragment can be immediately confirmed, and the reference destination can be switched immediately.

By the way, in the above example, the information fragment that has been referred to and the route when the information fragment is referred to are displayed in a graph, but other reference routes to the information fragment that has been referred to Can also be displayed. Further, information fragments that can be referenced from information fragments that have been referenced can be displayed in a graph. An example of the information search support device for displaying such a graph will be described below. Information about which information fragment can be referred to from a certain information fragment can be obtained when the information fragment search device refers to the information fragment that is the reference source.

In this example, the basic configuration of the information search support device is the same as that shown in FIG. 2, but the stored contents of the search history in the search history storage device 111 and the graph created by the graph display calculation device 112 are used. And are different from the above example.

First, the stored contents of the search history in the search history storage device will be described. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a storage system of already searched information fragments and information fragments that can be referred to by the already searched information fragments. It is stored in the form of a table composed of a node number attached to the information fragment, a unique ID number of the information fragment, and a reference flag indicating whether or not the information fragment is actually referenced. In this example, the node numbers "N1" to "N5" are "http: // aaa", "http: // bbb", "http: // ccc",
Information fragments of "http: // ddd" and "http: // eee" are registered. Then, the node numbers "N1", "N3" to "N"
The information fragment “5” has a reference flag “◯”, which indicates that it has been referred to. On the other hand, the reference flag of the information fragment of the node number “N2” is “x”, which indicates that it has not been referred to yet.

FIG. 11 shows a reference path and a storage method of information fragments that can be referenced from each information fragment. It holds the node number attached to the information fragment, the node number attached to the information fragment actually referenced from the information fragment, and the node number attached to the information fragment that can be referred to from the already-referenced information fragment. In the figure, the node numbers arranged on the upper right side of each node number are a list of information fragments actually referenced from the information fragments, and the node numbers arranged on the lower right side of each node number are the information items. It is a list of information fragments that can be referenced from the fragments.

In this example, from the node number "N1",
I have referred to the information fragment of node number "N3",
It is possible to refer to the information fragments of the node numbers “N2” and “N3”. Since the node number “N2” has not been referenced yet, there is no information fragment that has been referenced, and the information fragment that can be referenced is also unknown. From the node number “N3”, the information fragment of the node number “N4” has been referred to, and only the information fragment of the node number “N4” can be referenced. From the node number “N4”, the information fragment of the node number “N5” has been referred to, and only the information fragment of the node number “N5” can be referenced. From the node number “N5”, there is no information fragment that has been referenced, and only the information fragment with the node number “N2” can be referenced.

FIG. 12 is a graph displayed based on the search history shown in FIGS. Node number "N1",
The information fragments of “N3” to “N5” are the solid-line nodes 51, 5
3 to 55, the reference paths are solid arcs 61 to 63.
It is drawn with. When an information fragment is searched in this state, the following processing is performed.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing the information retrieval history display operation for displaying a graph including unused routes and unreferenced information fragments. This is a process executed when the information fragment search device refers to another information fragment from one information fragment. [S11] The reference source information fragment is set to "A", and the reference destination information fragment is set to "B". Further, the data of already searched information fragments is set as Table N, and the data of the reference route to the already searched information fragments is set as Table L. [S12] The reference flag of the information fragment “B” in Table N is changed to “◯”. [S13] It is determined whether all the information fragments that can be referred to from the information fragment “B” appear in the table N of already searched information fragments. If it appears in Table N, proceed to Step 14 (S14)
If it does not appear in, the process proceeds to step 16 (S16). [S14] The ID number of the information fragment that can be referenced from the information fragment "B" and does not appear in Table N is added to Table N in the state of the reference flag "x". A node number is added to the added information fragment. Further, this node number is also added to table L. [S15] The node number of the information fragment that can be referenced from the information fragment “B”, which is not in the referable destination list from the information fragment “B” in Table L, is added to the list. Note that, basically, in the unreferenced state, the list of reference destinations of the information fragment “B” is blank, so that all the node numbers of the information fragments that can be referenced from the information fragment “B” are added. . [S16] It is determined whether or not the information fragment “B” is registered in the area indicating the reference destination of the information fragment “A” in the table L. If registered, the process proceeds to step 18 (S18), and if not registered, the process proceeds to step 17 (S17). [S17] The node number of the information fragment of "B" is added to the area indicating the reference destination of the information fragment of "A" in Table L. The processing from step 11 (S11) to step 17 (S17) described above is processing performed by the search history storage device 111. [S18] The displayed graph is recalculated to create a new graph. [S19] The created graph is displayed on the display device. Step 18 (S18) and step 18 (S1
The process 9) is a process performed by the graph display calculation device 112.

Such processing is executed every time an information fragment is searched. Here, the search history storage device shown in FIG.
0, with the search history shown in FIG. 11 being held,
A case where the information fragment represented by the node number “N2” is retrieved from the information fragment represented by the node number “N5” will be specifically described. However, it is assumed that the information fragment represented by the node number “N3” and the new information fragment having the ID number “http: // fff” can be referenced from the information fragment represented by the node number “N2”. . FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of information fragments that can be referred to from the information fragment with the node number “N2”. The dotted arrow in FIG. 14 represents a referenceable relationship, and the node 53 with the node number “N3” and the node 56 of the information fragment with the ID number “http: // fff” are indicated by the dotted line.

Returning to FIG. 13, the processing procedure when the information fragment represented by the node number "N2" is searched from the information fragment represented by the node number "N5" will be described. Step 1
In 1 (S11), the reference information fragment "A" has the ID number "htt" of the information fragment corresponding to the node number "N5".
For the information fragment “B” that is the reference destination of p: // eee, the ID number “http: // bbb” of the information fragment corresponding to the node number “N2” that is the search target is set. Further, the table shown in FIG. 10 is input to the table N of search information fragments, and the table shown in FIG. 11 is input to the table L of reference routes to the search information fragments. In step 12 (S12), the reference flag of the node number “N2” corresponding to the information fragment B in Table N is changed to “◯”.

In the next step 13 (S13), since the ID number "http: // fff" among the information fragments that can be referred to from the node number "N2" is not in the table N, the process is step 14
Move to (S14).

In step 14 (S14), the information fragment with the ID number "http: // fff" is represented by the node number "N6", and this node number "N6" is added to the table N with the reference flag "x". To do. Furthermore, the node number "N
6 ”is added. As a result, the already-searched information shown in FIG. 10 is changed. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a state after updating the already-searched information fragment of FIG. In this figure, the information fragment of "http: // fff" is added to the data of FIG. 10 as the node number "N6" with the reference flag "x".
Further, the reference flag of the node number “N2” has changed from “×” to “◯”.

In step 15 (S15), the node number "N3" and the node number "N6" are added to the list of information fragments that can be referred to from the node number "N2" in the table L. In step 16 (S16), the node number "N2" is shown in table L.
Since it is not referred to by the node number “N5” of, the process proceeds to step 17 (S17).

Next, in step 17 (S17), the node number "N2" is added to the reference destination of the node number "N5" in Table L. By the processing up to this point, the information of the reference route shown in FIG. 11 is also changed. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a state after the reference route reference and the illuminatable information fragment shown in FIG. 11 are updated. In this figure, the node number “N6” is added to the node number item. Then, the node number "N
The node number “N3” and the node number “N6” are added as referenceable information fragments of “2”. Furthermore, the node number “N2” is added as the information fragment already referred to from the node number “N5”.

Step 18 (S18) and step 1
In 9 (S19), a graph is calculated from the search history shown in FIGS. 15 and 16 and displayed on the display device. The calculation method of the graph is, for example, “Kamada and Kawai”
There is a method of drawing the arc so that the elastic energy is minimized as in the algorithm of (1), but it is not particularly limited here.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a graph including unused routes. This figure shows a display result when the nodes having the reference flag of “◯” in FIG. 15 are connected by an arc between the nodes in the referenceable relationship of FIG. 16. In this figure, the arcs 61 to 64 indicating the actually referred paths are indicated by solid arrows, and the arcs 65 and 66 indicating the referable paths are indicated by dashed-dotted arrows.

Further, in addition to the graph of FIG. 17, unreferenced information fragments can be displayed. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a graph including information fragments that can be referenced from information fragments that have been referred to. This connects all the nodes appearing in FIG. 15 with an arc between the nodes included in the node list of the information fragments that can be referred to in FIG.
In this figure, in addition to FIG. 17, among the information fragments that can be referred to from the information fragment represented by the node 52 with the node number “N2”, the node 56 with the node number “N6” that has not actually been referenced, Arc 6 indicating the reference route to the node 56
7 is displayed. In this figure, the route actually referred to is indicated by a solid arrow, and the route to the node whose reference flag is "○" among the referenceable nodes is indicated by a dashed-dotted arrow, and the reference flag is "x". , And the route to that node are indicated by dotted arrows.

By repeating the above process, the search history is stored in the search history storage device one after another. Then, by using the information of the referable information fragments obtained in the search process, it is possible to display a graph including the information fragments around the searched information fragment.

[0052]

As described above, in the first invention,
Since the search history of the information fragment is stored and the graph showing the information fragment that has been referred to and the route when the information fragment is referred to is displayed on the display device based on the search history, the information fragment is displayed. A user who uses can easily confirm the logical position of the target information fragment. Also, in the second invention, each information fragment is represented by an individual graphic,
Since the route that refers to the information fragment is represented by the line connecting the figures, a graph in a format that is easier for the user to understand is displayed on the display device.

Further, in the third invention, as an information fragment search history, an unused route for referring to another information fragment from the referenced information fragment is stored, and an information fragment that has been referred to is stored. In addition to the route when the information fragment was referenced, the unused routes that connect the information fragments that have been referenced are also displayed in the graph, so that the user knows the reference route other than the previously referenced route. be able to.

In the fourth invention, the identification information of the information fragment that can be referred to from the referred information fragment is stored as the information fragment search history, and the information that can be referred to from the information fragment that has been referred to is stored. Since the fragments are also displayed in the graph, the user can also know the relationship between the information fragment that has been referred to and the information fragments around it.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of an information search support device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an information search support device of the present invention used on a network.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a storage system of already-referenced information fragments.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a storage system of a reference path.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a graph of a displayed information search history.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an information search history display operation.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a table of updated searched information fragments.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an updated table of reference routes.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display result of a graph to which a new node is added.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a storage method of already searched information fragments and information fragments that can be referred to by the already searched information fragments.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a storage method of a reference path and information fragments that can be referenced from each information fragment.

12 is a diagram showing a graph displayed based on the search history shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. FIG.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an information search history display operation for displaying a graph including an unused route and an unreferenced information fragment.

FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram of information fragments that can be referenced from the information fragment with the node number “N2”.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a state after updating the already-searched information fragment of FIG. 10;

16 is a diagram showing a state after the reference route reference and the illuminatable information fragment shown in FIG. 11 are updated.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a graph including unused routes.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a graph including information fragments that can be further referenced from information fragments that have been referred to;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Information Fragment Retrieval Device 2 Display Device 10 Information Retrieval Support Device 11 Search History Storage Means 11a Previous Reference Information Fragment Storage Unit 11b Reference Route Storage Unit 12 Graph Creation and Display Means 21-23 Information Fragments 31-35 Nodes 41-45 Arc

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An information search support device for supporting a search function for information fragments associated in a hypertext form, when an arbitrary information fragment is referenced, identification information of the referenced information fragment and a reference information when the information fragment is referenced. A search history storage unit that stores route information as a search history, and a graph that creates a graph showing an information fragment that has been referred to and a referenced route from the search history, and displays the graph on a display device. An information retrieval support device comprising: creation and display means. 2. The information retrieval support device according to claim 1, wherein the graph creation / display means creates a graph by representing each information fragment by an individual graphic and representing a route by a line connecting the graphics. 3. An information search support device that supports a search function for information fragments associated with a hypertext form, when an arbitrary information fragment is referenced, identification information of the referenced information fragment and a route at the time of reference. Information and a search history storage unit that stores unused route information for referring to another information fragment from the referenced information fragment as a search history; an information fragment that has been referenced from the search history; And a graph creating and displaying means for creating a graph showing an unused route that can be directly referred to by information fragments that have been referred to, and displaying the graph on a display device. Information retrieval support device. 4. An information search support device for supporting a search function of information fragments associated with a hypertext form, when an arbitrary information fragment is referenced, identification information of the referenced information fragment and a route at the time of reference. Retrieval in which information, unused path information for referring to another information fragment from the referenced information fragment, and identification information of an unreferenced information fragment newly made available by the unused path information are stored as a search history History storage means, from the search history, information fragments that have been referred to, referenced routes, unused routes that can be directly referenced by the information fragments that have been referenced, the unreferenced information fragments, and An information retrieval support, comprising: a graph creating and displaying means for creating a graph showing a route for referring to the unreferenced information fragment and displaying the graph on a display device. apparatus.