Reusable Knowledgebases for Hydroinformatics

Knowledgebases vary significantly in complexity. At their most simple they can be considered digital reference documents which might be sensibly represented as printed files or tables but which benefit from the ability of a computer application to guide the user through the data. More sophisticated examples may direct the user to filter the knowledgebase, to “drill- down” through it and to add additional support through analysis such as ranking of alternates.
Past BTO projects have produced a variety of knowledgebase- related outputs. This report investigates options for reducing the development time, complexity and expert developer knowledge required for the creation of new knowledgebases by exploiting synergies between the basic knowledgebase forms.
The report examines the use of the inherent facilities of Database Management Systems to devolve data management as far as possible to be independent of the application. The use of metadatabases to describe a knowledgebase and the use of templatized user interfaces to short- circuit the development of a rich user interface for a knowledgebase are further examined.