Importance

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Abstract

A system and method for enabling information associations which parses objects contained within a document such a Web page, in order to form a list of 'metalink' objects within the document for which related information may be available. Visual indications of metalink objects within the document may be provided automatically, or in response to a user action requesting such indications be made, and may include any kind of modification to the visual display of the metalink objects or to the cursor as it is moved over or near the metalink objects. User selection of a metalink object, for example clicking on the display of a metalink object, is further detected. In response to such user selection of a metalink object, a database is searched for information related to the selected metalink object, including pointers or links to other documents. The search results ('metadata') are then displayed, for example in a pop-up window. Metadata may be weighted in terms of their perceived relevancy to a user of the local system, or to a group of users spread across multiple systems, or to all users, based on monitoring of activities performed on one or more client systems by client side software.

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First Claim