A METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PERFORMING ELECTRONIC DATA-GATHERING ACROSS MULTIPLE DATA SOURCES

摘要

A method and system for electronic data-gathering system allows a user to easily capture and archive electronic data without the need to interact with an additional application user-interface. The present invention streamlines the workflow of performing research, and also ensures that information is easily traceable to its original source. The described embodiments of the present invention automatically encapsulate user-selected sets of electronic data with a set of attribution, creation, and user-defined metadata. The system uses the captured data and metadata to create gem data objects. These gem data objects are then routed within the electronic data-gathering system. The gem data objects may be stored on a persistent storage mechanism. The research system also includes a data viewer that allows a user to view and perform actions upon the gem data objects.