Introduction

Abstract

The advent of the Web elicited connectivity to a wealth of information sources and services which had hitherto been inaccessible. Its simple interface was an instant success that helped tremendously in its wide deployment. The early Web provided users access to text-based pages through hypertext links. As the Web evolved (Figure 1.1), its exponential growth has resulted in higher expectations that went largely unfulfilled. Although powerful search engines and data integration systems were developed to sift through the massive amount of information, the ever increasing amount of accessible information has made quality information search an arduous task.