Report:PatBase/Viewing Results/Special Display Feature: Keywords in Context

Special Display Feature: Keywords in Context

The disadvantage of the pre-defined record views is that they provide a lengthy summary of patent family data without making it immediately evident why the record may be of interest: one necessary feature in a search system is the ability to immediately jump to the keyword hit in a document. PatBase addresses this by offering a display feature called “Keyword in Context” (KWIC), which can be included in the “Custom” display format to allow users to see keyword hits within the document. This feature can be enabled by defining the "Custom" display format from the system's "Custom display formats" menu accessible under the "Menu" section on the floating toolbar. KWIC is also the default highlighting option in the Full Text view if no advanced highlighting scheme has been defined (this feature was added in March 2010).^[1][2]

The Keyword-in-Context field provides a high-altitude reviewing tool: it lets the user see all parts of each full text record that contain the keywords of interest (proximity and truncation operators from the search query are utilized in the KWIC highlighting scheme). By showing the keywords as they occur in the documents, PatBase’s interface allows the user to get an immediate impression of the relevant content. Further reading can then be performed by opening up the “full-text” viewing window.

In March 2010, the KWIC option in the Custom Display format menu was linked to the country display preference, so "KWIC information of the first family member which contained hits will be displayed based on the user's" country preferences defined in the Custom Display format menu.^[2]

Editor's Note:

When selecting keyword excerpts to display, the system does utilize the truncation and proximity operators from the search query to limit excerpts for KWIC. When conducting a search “(helmet% w5 protect*)” in title, abstract or claims, the KWIC field only reports instances of ”helmet%” and “protect*” that appear within 5 words of each other anywhere in the full text. This can result in a shorter KWIC display than if all appearances of the keywords were included, which may be useful for users looking for more concise excerpts to browse through.

The “keyword in context” feature can be displayed along with the family record while viewing hits. The highlighting scheme will be automatically determined by the program using the keywords (and operators) from the text string, unless advanced highlighting features are turned on using the full-text viewing options or highlighting icon in the floating tool bar, described in the next section. A similar function, called "hit analysis," can also be generated from the full-text record view page.

Editor's Note:

Notably, the KWIC field is NOT restricted to displaying hits that occur in the title, abstract or claims of a document, even when the search was only conducted within these fields. The KWIC field does appear to be restricted to displaying excerpts containing keywords only when they occur within the distance specified by proximity operators. Here is an abbreviated example of a KWIC field resulting from the search described above (TAC=(helmet% w5 protect*)). Note that the keyword “helmet” is only highlighted if it is within 5 words of “protect.” Also, the KWIC analysis shows an excerpt from a description section, even thought the search took place in the title, abstract, and claims sections only. The KWIC format seems to be improved, now that it takes proximity operators in to account when displaying highlighted excerpts.

Example of a keyword-in-context (KWIC) display.

Sources

1. ↑ "PatBase Manual." PatBase website (restricted), http://www.patbase.com/Manual.pdf . Accessed November 30, 2011.
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} "PatBase user news." PatBase website (restricted), http://www.patbase.com/wnewinfo.asp?i=173. Accessed November 30, 2011.