Information systems: Records, relations, sets, entities, and things

Abstract

This article reviews progress in the creation of a scientific discipline for information systems. It discusses contributions from four sources of fundamental knowledge: 1. (1) Information Systems Technology; 2. (2) Scientific Computation Technology; 3. (3) Linguistics; and 4. (4) Mathematics. It then selectively reviews progress on an information systems science in the most active areas of study: name-based representations, stored representations, access languages, and information systems performance. This discussion relys on the definition of a series of abstract, structured levels for the description, design, and implementation of generalized data base management systems. © 1975.