A unified system for accessing typological databases

Abstract

We present the goals and architecture of the Typological Database System, a project for the creation of a unified interface to numerous independently developed typological databases. The aim of the project is to develop a software system that allows a user to simultaneously query diffrent databases through a single interface. The challenge of the project lies in the variability of the included data. In order to overcome the diversity, the system relies on detailed formal descriptions (metadata), prepared in advance and describing in detail the structure and content of each component database. The metadata is used to match a user's query against the capabilities of the component databases.

Resources

Details