Information System Integrati on: A Metadata Management Approach

This paper deal s with the integration and control of organizational information systems. The framework for this integration and control is that of Information Resource Management (IRM) - the management not only of information but al so of the processes that specify, generate, di stri bute, and consume information. Within the context of IRM, the concept of metadata -- data about data -- is introduced. A tool to manage metadata, the Information Resource Dictionary System, is defined and a data model and data architecture are presented for the system. Al so, support tool s to aid in information integration are discussed. Lastly, the Enterprise Administration function is proposed to ensure not only the proper use of the Information Resource Dictionary System but also the impl ementation of corporate i nformation system integration and control policies