Coupling knowledge based systems with large data stores

Loose and tight couplings of knowledge-based systems with large underlying information bases are defined and discussed. Two points of discussion presented are whether it is possible to achieve tight coupling of the kind defined, and whether it is of some benefit to reach for tight coupling. It is concluded that in addition to a gain in performance, the tight integration of all system components will result in a homogeneous treatment of many of the application-specific system components of today. Different applications will be easier to integrate, homogeneous user interfaces will become the rule instead of the exception, and the sharing of components between different applications will reduce the system development effort considerably