details about a few areas that are new to them. Others may be looking for a general
architecture, but may only be interested in implementing parts of it. A different set
of readers may be looking for a checklist, perhaps at a very detailed level, to make
sure that they have not missed anything in their rules engine. The book offers
practical advice and guidance on a number of levels across a wide range of rules
engine functionality.
It is also hoped that this book will provide other audiences with useful informa-
tion. In particular, information resource professionals who work with metadata
should find a great deal to interest them. Metadata, often described as “data about
data,” is usually thought of as a form of documentation in many organizations. ...