Abstract
Information modeling is concerned with the construction of computer-based
symbol structures which capture the meaning of information and organize
it in ways that make it understandable and useful to people. Given
that information is becoming an ubiquitous, abundant and precious
resource, its modeling is serving as a core technology for information
systems engineering. We present a brief history of information modeling
techniques in Computer Science and briefly survey such techniques
developed within Knowledge Representation (Artificial Intelligence),
Data Modeling (Databases), and Requirements Analysis (Software Engineering
and Information Systems). We then offer a characterization of information
modeling techniques which classifies them according to their ontologies,
i.e., the type of application for which they are intended, the set
of abstraction mechanisms (or, structuring principles) they support,
as well as the tools they provide for building, analyzing, and managing
application models. The final component of the paper uses the proposed
characterization to assess particular information modeling techniques
and draw conclusions about the advances that have been achieved
in the field.
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