Natural Language Access to Multiple Databases: A Model and a Prototype

Journal of Management Information Systems · 1995 · Volume 12 · Issue 1

DOI: 10.1080/07421222.1995.11518074

Abstract

A model is proposed that defines “context” for natural language queries in a multiple database environment and a suggested implementation for this model is described. The approach developed in this study relaxes the assumption usually made for natural language query systems that the context, in the form of a specific database, is given. The formal model defines a universe of discourse consisting of multiple contexts, each of which is represented by a database, which consists of a dictionary, a thesaurus, relations, columns, and values. A mechanism for identifying and selecting the appropriate context for a query and its implementation as a prototype are described. The integration of this mechanism into the general model of natural language query processing is indicated and implementational issues are discussed.

Keywords

context, database, dictionary, index, lexical analysis, natural language queries, semantics, synonyms, syntax, thesaurus

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