Fusing Interesting Topics in the Web

Abstract

A PERSON BUILDS HIS OR HER KNOW LEDGE FROM DIFFERENT SOURCES OF INFORMATION. IN SCHOOL HE LEARNS THAT BUONARROTI WAS BORN IN CAPRESE AND AT HOME THEY TELL HIM THAT THE NAME OF THE NEIGHBOR'S DOG IS FIDO. IN ORDER TO KNOW MORE, HE COMBINES INFORMATION FROM MANY SOURCES. BUT THIS MULTI-SOURCE INFORMATION CAN CONTAIN REPETITIONS, DIFFERENT LEVEL OF DETAILS OR PRECISION, AND CONTRADICTIONS. THESE PROBLEMS ARE NOT EASY TO SOLVE BY COMPUTERS. NEVERT HE LESS, THE ENORMOUS MASSES OF ACCUMULATED KNOW LEDGE (IN THE WEB THERE EXIST MORE THAN ONE BILLION DIFFERENT PAGES) DEMAND COMPUTER EFFORTS TO COMBINE THEM, SINCE MERGING MANUALLY THIS INFORMATION IN A CONSISTENT WAY IS OUTSIDE HUMAN CAPABILITIES. IN THIS PAPER, A METHOD IS EXPLAINED TO COMBINE MULTI-SOURCE INFORMATION IN A MANNER THAT IS AUTOMATIC AND ROBUST; CONTRADICTIONS ARE DETECTED AND SOME TIMES SOLVED. REDUN DANCY IS EXPUNGED. THE METHOD COMBINES TWO SOURCE ONTO LO GIES INTO A THIRD; THROUGH ITERA TION, ANY NUMBER CAN BE COMBINED.