From Library Journal
I'm always suspicious of a book that mentions a Nobel laureate, Hammurabi, the Spanish Armada, human evolution, and artificial intelligence all on the first page. Too erudite for a discussion of databases? Perhaps for ordinary databases, but this opus is concerned with intelligent databases--that is, databases that handle information as we (humans) do. Like computers, we are unable to store a lot of raw data at any given moment, but we can notice patterns and trends in a complex framework of numbers and facts, a trick difficult to program in a machine. This book makes the case for computers and people working together to take advantage of this dichotomy. Its 12 chapters break into three sections; the first introduces intelligent databases and their operation, the second provides models of intelligent databases and their interfaces, and the final examines how intelligent databases might work in real life. In spite of the terminology and phraseology--data fusion, information discovery, hyperinformation, and others (there should be a lexicon in the back)--the authors succeed in explaining their view of "oceans of data" well, thanks to lots of digestible illustrations and prose.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Back Cover
Intelligent Database Tools & Applications • Hyperinformation Access • Data Quality • Visualization • Automatic Discovery Written by the well-known authorities and authors of Intelligent Databases, here’s the practical follow-up book which shows how to develop useful and effective database applications. With a strong emphasis on the practical considerations involved in developing a real-world intelligent database, this state-of-the-art book shows readers:
- Ten fundamental principles guiding successful intelligent database construction
- How to use intelligent databases to solve critical problems which conventional databases cannot solve
- Special chapters on information discovery strategies, data visualization, and hypermedia interfaces
- Example applications from executive information systems and project management to quality control and point-of-sale marketing
Packed with new ideas, Intelligent Database Tools & Applications is essential reading for database developers and computer analysts, as well as professionals in any field in which databases are used. Praise for Intelligent Database Tools & Applications "The authors have done an admirable job of discussing the technologies that go into databases to make them smart." — Professor R. Clay Sprowls University of California, Los Angeles "This book is a must read for everyone concerned with the optimization of their data architecture." — Eugene L. Cliett, Jr. Executive Director Philadelphia Computing Center "Sharing their ideas in a lucid form, the authors have made the automation of information discovery a reality." — Joseph Halligan System Development Manager Blue Cross
