Semistructured Database Design provides an essential reference for anyone interested in the effective management of semsistructured data. Since many new and advanced web applications consume a huge amount of such data, there is a growing need to properly design efficient databases.

This volume responds to that need by describing a semantically rich data model for semistructured data, called Object-Relationship-Attribute model for Semistructured data (ORA-SS). Focusing on this new model, the book discusses problems and presents solutions for a number of topics, including schema extraction, the design of non-redundant storage organizations for semistructured data, and physical semistructured database design, among others.

Semistructured Database Design presents researchers and professionals with the most complete and up-to-date research in this fast-growing field.

From the reviews of the first edition:

"This book covers schema extraction from an Extensible Markup Language (XML) data instance, algorithmic normalization of that schema … and the discussion of relaxing the normalization to effect more efficient retrievals. … Database designers and students are obvious targets for this book … . The book is easy to read, and provides an approach to a very practical contemporary problem. The authors have organized their material for easy reading." (E.A. Unger, Computing Reviews, April, 2005)

"Semistructured data are especially applied in web-applications. … The book is written in English. It is recommended to both practitioners and researchers/students, who have to deal with the design and storage organization of semistructured data." (Waltraud Gerhardt, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1076, 2006)