An expert system-like architecture for integrating disparate information sources

Despite the intensive research efforts that have been invested in information technology, in many respects the pattern of distributed heterogeneous information systems has not changed much since its inception. Conventional distributed database technology was not designed to satisfy efficiently the advanced forms of interoperability required by modern information intensive applications. A revision and major enhancement of the contemporary methods and techniques used in the field of distributed information processing seems to be inevitable. This paper reports on an ongoing effort oriented toward developing an expert system-like architecture for an integrated environment in which a collection of cooperating heterogeneous distributed information processing elements is merged to form a loosely coupled association