Object-oriented data warehouse for information fusion from heterogeneous distributed data and knowledge sources

Tools for accessing, transforming, organizing and assimilating data and knowledge from multiple heterogeneous, distributed data and knowledge sources in a form that is suitable for further analysis constitute some of the key enabling technologies for translating recent advances in automated data acquisition, digital storage, computers and communications into fundamental advances in organizational decision support, data analysis, and related applications. The design, implementation, and evaluation of a data warehouse using object-oriented views and mediator agents for bridging the mismatch between data sources and clients has been a major focus of research as part of the Distributed Knowledge Networks Project at the Iowa State University Artificial Intelligence Research Laboratory over the past two years. This paper describes the design, implementation, and population of a data warehouse component of distributed knowledge networks.