Theories of meaning in schema matching: An exploratory study

Schema matching is an important step in database integration. It identifies elements in two or more databases that have the same meaning. A multitude of schema matching methods have been proposed, but little is known about how humans assign meaning to database elements or assess the similarity of meaning of database elements. This paper presents an initial experimental study based on five theories of meaning that compares the effects of seven factors on the perceived similarity of database elements. Implications for schema matching research are discussed and guidance for future research is offered.