Logical Information Systems: from Taxonomies to Logics

Dynamic taxonomies have been proposed as a solution for combining querying and navigation, offering both expressivity and interactivity. Navigation is based on the filtering of a multidimensional taxonomy w.r.t. query answers, which helps users to focus their search. We show that properties that are commonly used only in queries can be integrated in taxonomies, and hence in navigation, by the use of so-called logics. Hand-designed taxonomies and concrete domains (e.g., dates, strings) can be combined so as to form complex taxonomies. For instance, valued attributes can be handled, and different roles between documents and locations can be distinguished. Logical Information Systems (LIS) are characterized by the combination of querying and navigation, and the systematic use of logics.