Overview

The MOMIS (Mediator envirOnment for Multiple Information Sources) is a framework to perform information extraction and integration from both structured and semistructured data sources. An object-oriented language, with an underlying Description Logic, called ODL-I3, derived from the standard ODMG is introduced for information extraction. Information integration is then performed in a semi-automatic way, by exploiting the knowledge in a Common Thesaurus (defined by the framework) and ODL-I3 descriptions of source schemas with a combination of clustering techniques and Description Logics. This integration process gives rise to a virtual integrated view of the underlying sources (the Global Schema) for which mapping rules and integrity constraints are specified to handle heterogeneity. The MOMIS system, based on a conventional wrapper/mediator architecture, provides methods and open tools for data management in Internet-based information systems by using a CORBA-2 interface. MOMIS was developed as a joint collaboration between the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia and University of Milano and Brescia, within the INTERDATA national research project, under the direction of Professor S. Bergamaschi.