Barja M.L.
Bratvold T.A.
Myllymäki J.
Sonnenberger G.

Abstract

Integrated access to heterogeneous information sources is becoming increasingly important, largely due to the propagation of the World Wide Web and other distributed systems. Many existing solutions for dealing with heterogeneity are based on a database-style modeling of data, meta-information, and queries. Others focus on information retrieval (IR) techniques such as best-match queries, relevance assessment, and content-based source selection. Not much research exists which combines the two approaches.

In this paper, we present a system named Informia which combines techniques from the database and IR fields and allows the user to access a large and diverse set of information sources. We discuss user requirements for information seeking in a heterogeneous environment, derive system features necessary to support the users' needs, and show how Informia supports these features. We also describe Informia's extensible and customisable architecture, which facilitates the development of specialised applications for particular problem domains.

To receive a copy of this publication, please contact one of the autho

[Bar98] Barja M.L., Bratvold T.A., Myllymäki J. and Sonnenberger G.. Informia: a Mediator for Integrated Access to Heterogeneous Information Sources. In Gardarin, French, Pissinou, Makki, Bouganim (editors), Proceedings of the Conference on Information and Knowledge Management CIKM'98, Washington DC, USA, November 3-7, 1998, pages 234-241, ACM Press, 1998.