Designing integrating systems based on co-shared ontology

Abstract

In the paper the problem of designing flexible, scalable and user-friendly systems integrating distributed and heterogeneous information resources is described. It is justified that the elaboration of such systems is more complex than in case of traditional solutions based on central database. The example of the architecture of integrating model and the process of the creation of a system based on the model are discussed. Implementation of such integrating system may give a considerable number of benefits to organisation: easier access to various information resources, access for previously defined and undefined users, the possibility to formulate ad hoc queries, standardisation of an access to information resources, an access to data and information stored in various systems in real time, the facilitation of cooperation between business partners. However, the process requires elaboration of modules that perform individual tasks constituting the whole process of searching information resources in heterogeneous and distributed sources, e.g.: elaboration of a user query language and the method of queries formulation, establishing the structure of the ontology and methods of its on-line modification, preparing dictionaries, queries converters and integrator module.