Principles of Data Integration

Book Preface

The invention of the Internet and the emergence of the World Wide Web revolutionized people’s access to digital data stored on electronic devices. Today, we take for granted the ability to specify a search query into a browser or smartphone and tap into millions of documents and into databases of local businesses, recommendations, and coupon offers. Similarly, we also assume we can order a computer configured just the way we want and receive it within days, even if the computer requires assembling parts from dozens of companies scattered around the world. To provide such services, systems on the Internet must efficiently and accurately process and serve a significant amount of data. But unlike traditional data management applications, such as maintaining a corporation’s payroll, the new services require the ability to share data among multiple applications and organizations, and to integrate data in a flexible and efficient fashion. This book covers the principles of data integration, a set of techniques that enable building systems geared for flexible sharing and integration of data across multiple autonomous data providers.