One of the main uses of computer systems is the management of large
amounts of symbolic information representing the state of some
application domain, such as information about all the people I
communicate with in my personal address database, or relevant parts of
the outer space in the knowledge base of a NASA space mission. While
database management systems offer only the basic services of information
storage and retrieval, more powerful knowledge systems offer, in
addition, a number of advanced services such as deductive and abductive
reasoning for the purpose of finding explanations and diagnoses, or
generating plans.
In order to design and understand database and knowledge-based
applications it is important to build upon well-established conceptual
and mathematical foundations. What are the principles behind database
and knowledge systems? What are their major components? Which are the
important cases of knowledge systems? What are their limitations?
Addressing these questions, and discussing the fundamental issues of
information update, knowledge assimilation, integrity maintenance, and
inference-based query answering, is the purpose of this book.
Foundations of Databases and Knowledge Systems covers both basic and
advanced topics. It may be used as the textbook of a course offering a
broad introduction to databases and knowledge bases, or it may be used
as an additional textbook in a course on databases or Artificial
Intelligence. Professionals and researchers interested in learning about
new developments will benefit from the encyclopedic character of the
book, which provides organized access to many advanced concepts in the
theory of databases and knowledge bases.
