TAMBIS--Transparent Access to Multiple Bioinformatics Information Sources.
The TAMBIS project aims to provide transparent access to disparate biological databases and analysis tools, enabling users to utilize a wide range of resources with the minimum of effort. A prototype system has been developed that includes a knowledge base of biological terminology (the biological Concept Model), a model of the underlying data sources (the Source Model) and a 'knowledge-driven' user interface. Biological concepts are captured in the knowledge base using a description logic called GRAIL. The Concept Model provides the user with the concepts necessary to construct a wide range of multiple-source queries, and the user interface provides a flexible means of constructing and manipulating those queries. The Source Model provides a description of the underlying sources and mappings between terms used in the sources and terms in the biological Concept Model. The Concept Model and Source Model provide a level of indirection that shields the user from source details, providing a high level of source transparency. Source independent, declarative queries formed from terms in the Concept Model are transformed into a set of source dependent, executable procedures. Query formulation, translation and execution is demonstrated using a working example.
Baker
P G
PG
School of Biological Sciences, University of Manchester, U.K.
Brass
A
A
Bechhofer
S
S
Goble
C
C
Paton
N
N
Stevens
R
R
D001185:Artificial Intelligence; D019295:Computational Biology; D016208:Databases, Factual; D014584:User-Computer Interface