Abstract: A concept dictionary is generated and/or updated in respect of an information system. The concept dictionary is used to assist in selecting queries and query terms for use in interrogating the information system. A lexical reference source is first used to generate queries semantically related to a query entered by a user, and the answers returned for each query are analyzed using a fuzzy processing technique to determine semantic relationships between the queries. The queries and the determined relationships are recorded in a concept dictionary for subsequent use.

Abstract: A method of operating a database management system for integrating data from a plurality of data sources comprising steps of: (a) selecting initial attributes for first and second data sources; (b) selecting a candidate matching function relating to a possible mapping between data in said first and second data sources; (c) applying said candidate matching function to data in said first data source to create possible data for said second data source; (d) deriving a disparity measure relating to an amount of disparity therebetween; (e) selecting different candidate matching functions and repeating steps (c) and (d); (f) designating a candidate matching function having a disparity measure indicative of the lowest amount of disparity as a probable candidate matching function; (g) selecting further attributes and performing steps (b) to (f) in respect thereof; and (h) determining a probable correspondence between data objects of said first and second data sources.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are provided for generating, from an input set of documents, a word replaceability matrix defining semantic similarity between words occurring in the input document set. For each word, distinct word sequences of predetermined length are identified from the documents of the set, each word sequence being indicative of the context in which the word was used and, according to the relative frequency of occurrence of the identified word sequences for the word, fuzzy sets are generated for each word comprising membership values for corresponding groups of word sequences. For each pair of words occurring in the document set, their respective fuzzy sets are used to calculate the probability that the first word of a pair is semantically suitable as a replacement for the second word of the pair, these probabilities being collated to form a word similarity matrix for use in an improved method of determining document similarity and in information retrieval.

Abstract: A method of operating a database management system for integrating data from a plurality of data sources comprising steps of: (a) selecting initial attributes for first and second data sources; (b) selecting a candidate matching function relating to a possible mapping between data in said first and second data sources; (c) applying said candidate matching function to data in said first data source to create possible data for said second data source; (d) deriving a disparity measure relating to an amount of disparity therebetween; (e) selecting different candidate matching functions and repeating steps (c) and (d); (f) designating a candidate matching function having a disparity measure indicative of the lowest amount of disparity as a probable candidate matching function; (g) selecting further attributes and performing steps (b) to (f) in respect thereof; and (h) determining a probable correspondence between data objects of said first and second data sources.