Abstract: Changes to the source network model are captured in a database schema independent fashion, and an update manager broadcasts the changes to a registered client as and when the changes occur. Alternatively, the update manager can be queried, and in response, returns a summary of changes corresponding to criteria specified in the query. The client assesses the change summary to determine whether to request the detailed information corresponding to one or more of the reported changes in the change summary. A combination of both approaches may include, for example, regularly broadcasting a change summary and responding to specific subsequent requests. To facilitate an efficient scheme for identifying and filtering changes of interest, associative change records are provided, wherein the devices or components of the network that are associated with each change are identified. To facilitate selective time based retrieval, each change record includes a date-time stamp.