Content-based organization of the information space in multi-database networks

Abstract. Rapid growth in the volume of network-available data, complexity, diversity and terminological fluctuations, at different data sources, render network-accessible information increasingly difficult to achieve. The situation is particularly cumbersome for users of multi-database systems who are expected to have prior detailed knowledge of the definition and uses of the information content in these systems. This paper presents a conceptual organization of the information space across collections of component systems in multi-databases that provides serendipity, exploration and contextualization support so that users can achieve logical connections between concepts they are familiar with and schema terms employed in multi-database systems. Large-scale searching for multi-database schema information is guided by a combination of lexical, structural and semantic aspects of schema terms in order to reveal more meaning both about the contents of a requested information term and about its placement within the distributed information space.