Series Foreword
The traditional view of information systems as tailor-made, cost-intensive
database applications is changing rapidly. The change is fueled partly by a
maturing software industry, which is making greater use of off-the-shelf
generic components and standard software solutions, and partly by the
onslaught of the information revolution. In turn, this change has resulted in a
new set of demands for information services that are homogeneous in their
presentation and interaction patterns, open in their software architecture,
and global in their scope. The demands have come mostly from application
domains such as e-commerce and banking, manufacturing (including the
software industry itself), training, education, and environmental management,
to mention just a few.
Future information systems will have to support smooth interaction with
a large variety of independent, multi-vendor data sources and legacy
applications running on heterogeneous platforms and distributed infor-
mation networks. Metadata will play a crucial role in describing the contents
of such data sources and in facilitating their integration.
As well, a greater variety of community-oriented interaction patterns will
have to be supported by next-generation information systems. Such
interactions may involve navigation, querying, and retrieval, and will have
to be combined with personalized notification, annotation, and profiling
mechanisms. Such interactions will also have to be intelligently interfaced
with application software, and will need to be dynamically integrated into
customized and highly connected cooperative environments. Morever the
massive investments in information resources, by governments and
businesses alike, call for specific measures that ensure security, privacy, and
accuracy of their contents.
