Information retrieval from networked heterogeneous sources

This paper presents a multi-agent system called ISAME, for retrieving information from heterogeneous distributed sources. ISAME constitutes a virtual library that supplies a set of software agents with a simplified access to a set of dynamic information sources available under electronic formats, as well as services for facilitating and optimizing information retrieval. The originality of this system rests on the fact that it simplifies the information retrieval process by making the sources transparent to the user.