Data management for visual information systems

Visual information systems contain a substantial amount of non-alphanumeric information, and represent a radical departure from the largely text-based paradigm of conventional information systems. For the effective operation of an information system, data search and management mechanisms play a pivotal role, and a key requirement of such a system is the ability to search and locate information much more efficiently than a manual approach. However, for a visual information system where most data and relationships are non-alphanumeric, locating the correct information poses a new challenge. In particular, the database characteristics and storage structures required to support a visual information system are substantially different from those for a conventional information system. Here, the principal functions and components of a database management system for the effective management of visual information are presented.