Report:Thomson Innovation/Viewing Results/Saving Results
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Saving Results
In Innovation, there are two ways to hold on to a record of interest: placing it in a Marked List (a single result set that is saved across sessions), or placing it into a Work File (where it is permanently saved until deleted).
Marked Lists
Both patents and non-patent literature records may be added to a Marked List. This is a temporary storage place to put records of interest, for later manipulation. Records in a marked list may be saved to a Work File, watched, exported, graphed, ordered as patent copies, or reviewed in the same way one would review documents in a Results Set.[1]
From a Results Set or Work File, records are added to a Marked List through the Results Set Toolbar. The figure below shows the toolbar. In contrast to a Work File (discussed in the next section), only selected records can be added to a Marked List – there is no automatic option to add all results from the set into a Marked List. Note that the user can choose the top check box to automatically select all records in the result set, and then they may add the entire selected result set to the Marked List. According to the system, the maximum number of records allowed in a Marked List of only patent documents is 60,000 (Analyst users) or 30,000 (Pro and Express users). For literature, the maximum is 15,000. For business (with the exception of NewsRoom content) and lists with more than one content type, the maximum is 1,500. Business NewsRoom marked lists can have up to 10,000 records.
Once records are in the Marked List, if they come up again in a new search string, they will appear in the results set with a yellow border around their check box, signifying that they have already been added to the list. This functionality can help users skip records that they previously had reviewed during the search.
When users are ready to review, order, export, graph, save or clear the records in their Marked Lists, they can view the List by choosing “View Marked List” from the Results Set Menu bar, or they can select “Marked List” from the options under the Search tab in the left menu pane. Additionally, the Marked List is saved as a Work File and can also be found in the Saved Work tab, under the Work Files folder. Unlike a Work File, however, only one Marked List can exist at a time, and the Marked List work file doesn't include the icon options to be deleted or edited. Testing indicates that the content of the Marked List remains intact even if the user signs out and starts a new session. Although the icon to edit the work file isn't included on the Marked List (under the Saved Work - Work Files interface), the user can still select the hyperlinked "Marked List" title to open the full list. Annotations or attachments may be added to the Marked List as part of the features of any file under the Saved Work tab; however, these annotations and/or attachments will disappear as soon as the list is cleared.
When opened, the Marked List displays records with all the functionality that is available from the Results Set view, except that the Refine and Subsearch feature will only allow users to search within the Marked List (it will not allow searchers create a new search to be run over all collections, as can be done from the Results Set page.)
Work Files
A saved results set in Innovation is called a Work File. Unlike a Marked List, a new Work File may be created for each new document set. Work Files are permanent until a user deletes them (testing indicates that the content of Marked Lists also remains intact across multiple sessions). In addition, entire Results Sets may be easily added into a Work File, while only selected records may be added to a Marked List. There are three ways to add records into a work file: 1) check one or more individual records on the page, 2) use the master check box on the top of the list to select all records on the page, or 3) create the work file from the entire results set by leaving all boxes unchecked. Once the necessary selections have been made, Work Files are created by using the Save drop-down menu on the Results Set Menu Bar.
According to the Thomson help file, Work Files can contain multiple types of content, and a single work file can contain Patent, Literature, and Business records. Work files are limited to the following sizes:[1]
- Patents: 60,000 for Analyst subscriptions and 30,000 for Pro & Express subscriptions
- Literature: 15,000 (total) (all subscriptions)
- Business: 1,500 (total) (Company, Market, Research); 10,000 (NewsRoom) (all subscriptions)
- Search All Content: 1,500 (total) (all subscriptions)
Work files can be accessed under the Saved Work tab. It should be noted that a search bar above the work files list will allow users to search through work file names, descriptions, owner, date modified, date created, common text fields, and user annotations to find the correct saved file (a similar bar even broadens the search to all saved system folders under Saved Work – more about this will be discussed in the next section).
From the Work Files folder view, annotations and/or attachments may be added to any work file by selecting the “orange page” icon. A text note may be appended to the file, or an external document may be uploaded. Annotations and attachments may be downloaded and saved onto the user’s computer by using the “Export Annotation” feature, seen in the figure below.
When opened, the work file retains all functionality that is available from the results set view, except that the Refine Search feature will only allow users to search within the work file (it will not allow searchers create a new search to be run over all collections, as can be done from the Results Set page.) The ability to conduct a search within the saved records is a notable advantage.
Editor's Note:Although the work file feature of Innovation is functional, there is one workflow problem in the way it is implemented. On Thomson, all boxes must be checked or unchecked before the entire results set can be added to a work file (or a new work file can be created). In MicroPatent PatentWeb, when saving a results set, an intermediate window asked users whether they wanted to save all records, or only the selected records from the results set. Why can’t the same function be introduced in Innovation?
The ability to search within work files is a major advantage over earlier Thomson systems, MicroPatent PatentWeb and Delphion. Many users have requested this feature, and now that it has been implemented, it will allow mini-searches to be conducted within saved patent sets, a valuable tool (especially for long or ongoing analysis projects, or searches with large answer sets).
The Saved Work Interface
Thomson Innovation has an advanced workspace that functions almost as an e-mail inbox would do, with multiple folders for different saved items. The system contains the following folder names, and specific types of saved Work Items and file types can be saved in each folder:[2]
- Inbox - Inbox messages
- Searches & Alerts - Saved searches, Alerts, Patent search templates
- Search Histories - The current search history and saved search histories
- Watched Records - Watched records
- Work Files - Work files (which can contain a variety of content types)
- Citation Maps - Citation maps (Pro and Analyst level subscriptions only)
- Charts - Charts
- Export templates - Export templates (exports and reports themselves are downloads and available via the Order Status screen in My account, not in saved work)
- ThemeScape Maps (Analyst level subscription only) - ThemeScape maps
- Text Clusters (Analyst level subscription only) - Text Clusters
- Personal Folders - A variety of files and folder of all content types
- Public Folders - A variety of files and folder of all content types
- Deleted Items - Any file or folder that has been deleted
In addition to the system folders, Innovation offers two additional folders: Personal Folders, and Public Folders. These appear in yellow, while the other system folders appear in orange. Anytime a user creates and saves an item in Innovation, they have the option to create a “file reference” to this item in their personal or public folders. Thus, the personal and public folders can contain many different file types, but they will only contain “copies” or “references” to these files: the actual file will still remain in the system folder. If one of these items is deleted from a personal or public folder, it will remain in its system folder until it is deleted from that location also. Public folders differ from personal folders in that public folders can be accessed by anyone in the user’s own company with a subscription to Innovation.
The practical consequence of this workspace is that it allows users to group saved items based on their relation to one another by using the personal or public folders. For example, a user would be able to perform a search regarding semiconductors, and save a file reference to the search histories, citation maps, charts, and work files into a personal folder that he or she created while performing the search. Henceforth, any time that user logged in to Innovation, they would be able to navigate directly to their personal folder, and see all the saved objects relating to that project. This would also allow the user to conveniently reference that work to create a formal report for the recipient of the search results.
Innovation has added a search bar at the top of the Saved Work interface, to allow users to search through all saved content to find any file they may need. This search bar can be used to search common text fields among all file types, or a drop-down menu can allow the user to search only in a specific area. The available content options are: Common Text Fields, File Name, Folder Name, Search & Alert Names, Search History Names, Watched Record Names, Work File Names, Citation Map Names, Chart Names, Export Template Name, Text Clusters, ThemeScape Maps, and Date Modified. In addition, whenever an individual system folder is opened, a second search bar appearing at the top of that folder list will automatically conduct a more specific search within the file fields in that folder (this is some redundant search functionality built in to the system).
Saving Analysis Results
Note: The analysis features of Thomson Innovation are described from a prior art searching perspective in this report.
With the Analyst subscription to Thomson Innovation, two additional folder options are available in the left pane of the Saved Work window, for saving Text Clustering and ThemeScape projects. The figure below shows the Saved Work window as it appears at the Analyst subscription level.
Saving Text Clustering Projects
In text clustering, users have the option to either save one cluster, or save all clusters from the analysis. It is not possible to hand-select multiple clusters to be saved.
It should be noted that if a user only attempts to save a one sub-cluster (instead of all clusters) they will be prompted with the following message:
You are saving only a subset of your cluster. If you intended to save the entire cluster, click Cancel to return to the previous page to update your selection, if you really only want to save a portion of the cluster, then simply fill in the required information on this page and click Save to finish.
The Save Cluster dialog screen, shown below, allows users to enter a title and description for the saved project, and choose to save the project to a personal folder, public folder, or share via the Saved Work Inbox.
Once a project is saved, it can be viewed in the Text Clusters folder within the user's Saved Work folders, and/or in whichever public or personal folder the user may have designated during the saving process. Descriptive information about the project, including the number and type of records, is displayed as seen in the figure below.
Saving ThemeScape Maps
Original versions of ThemeScape projects will be saved into the ThemeScape Maps folder in the Saved Work section of Thomson Innovation. Copies of ThemeScape maps can only be placed into public folders by "publishing" them, which places a read-only copy of the map into a designated public folder for others to view. Maps can be published through a number of avenues, including the "Publish Map" link available from within the ThemeScape Maps folder. The Publish Map link is shown in the figure below.
Although published versions of a ThemeScape Map cannot be edited, the user who created the map can always make changes to the original version in the ThemeScape folder of his or her account. A new version of the map may then be published for others to view. In the figure above, the first map has been "published," and is therefore a read-only copy that cannot be edited. The second item is the original map, which can still be edited.[3]
Some customization is possible when "publishing" a ThemeScape map. Various "groups" or "time slices" within a map may be selectively published. For more information, see the ThemeScape section of this report.
Sources
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Work Files." Thomson Innovation website, http://www.thomsoninnovation.com/tip-innovation/support/help/work_files.htm. Accessed September 17, 2012.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Saved Work." Thomson Innovation website, http://www.thomsoninnovation.com/tip-innovation/support/help/files_folders.htm. Accessed September 18, 2012.
- ↑ "ThemeScape." Thomson Innovation website, http://www.thomsoninnovation.com/tip-innovation/support/help/themescape.htm. Accessed September 18, 2012.
