Reuse a Repository of Conceptual Schemas in a Large Scale Project

Abstract

This chapter describes a methodology and a tool for the reuse of a repository of conceptual schemas. Large amounts of data are managed by organizations, with heterogeneous representations and meanings. Since data are a fundamental resource for organizations, a comprehensive and integrated view is needed for it. The concept of data repository fulfils these requirements, since it contains the description of all types of data produced, retrieved, and exchanged in an organization. Data descriptions should be organized in a repository to enable all the users of the information system to understand the meaning of data and the relationships among them. The methodology described in the chapter is applied in a project where an existing repository of conceptual schemas, representing information of interest for central public administration, is used in order to produce the corresponding repository of the administrations located in a region. Several heuristics are described and experiments are reported.