The chapters of this book provide an excellent snapshot of current research and development activities in the area of query processing and optimization. They supply potential answers to many questions that have been raised for new types of database systems and at the same time reflect the variety of the different approaches taken. The book acts both as a reference for the state of the art in query processing for the "next generation" of database systems, and as a good starting point for anybody interested in understanding the challenging questions in the area. Furthermore, the book will help the reader to gain an in-depth understanding of why efficient query processing is needed for future database systems.

This highly focused and practical book looks at the issues involved in integrating learning technologies within teaching and learning. With in-text activities to encourage readers to think about what they do, the book demonstrates how academics can improve their teaching using technology. It raises issues about the educational value of using technology and considers the pressures forcing change in higher education. The book covers a wide range, from making lecture aids to creating multimedia resources, and includes discussion of: +educational perspectives+developing new teaching strategies for larger student groups+using computers to deliver teaching and learning resources+using computers to communicate with and between students.This book can stand alone or can be used in conjunction with Technology In Teaching And Learning. The two books cover all aspects of transforming teaching using technology. This book covers the educational issues.

First Published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor and Francis, an informa company.

WISE 2008 was held in Auckland, New Zealand, during September 1-3, at The Auckland University ofTechnology City Campus Conference Centre. The aim of this conferencewasto providean internationalforum for researchers, professi- als, and industrial practitioners to share their knowledge in the rapidly growing area of Web technologies, methodologies, and applications. Previous WISE c- ferences wereheld in Hong Kong, China (2000), Kyoto, Japan (2001), Singapore (2002), Rome, Italy (2003), Brisbane, Australia (2004), New York, USA (2005), Wuhan, China (2006) and Nancy, France (2007). The call for papers created considerable interest. Around 110 paper s- missions were received and the international Program Committee selected 31 papers out of the 110 submissions (an acceptance rate of 28. 2%). Of these, 17 papers were chosen for standard presentation and the remaining 14 papers for short presentation. The authors of the accepted papers range across 13 co- tries: Australia, China, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland and the USA. The technical track of the WISE 2008 program o?ered nine paper presentation sessions. The selected - pers covered a wide and important variety of issues in Web information systems engineering such as querying; search; ranking; trust; peer-to-peer networks; - formation ?ltering; information integration; agents and mining. A few selected papers from WISE 2008 will be published in a special issue of the World Wide Web Journal, bySpringer. Inaddition, a $1000prizewasawardedto the authors ofthepaperselectedforthe"YahikoKambayashiBestPaperAward. "Wethank all authors who submitted their papers and the Program Committee members andexternalreviewersfor their excellent work.

The Sixth International Workshop on Persistent Object Systems was held at Les Mazets des Roches near Tarascon, Provence in southern France from the fifth to the ninth of September 1994. The attractive context and autumn warmth greeted the 53 participants from 12 countries spread over five continents. Persistent object systems continue to grow in importance. Almost all significant uses of computers to support human endeavours depend on long-lived and large-scale systems. As expectations and ambitions rise so the sophistication of the systems we attempt to build also rises. The quality and integrity of the systems and their feasibility for supporting large groups of co-operating people depends on their technical founda tion. Persistent object systems are being developed which provide a more robust and yet simpler foundation for these persistent applications. The workshop followed the tradition of the previous workshops in the series, focusing on the design, implementation and use of persistent object systems in particular and persistent systems in general. There were clear signs that this line of research is maturing, as engineering issues were discussed with the aid of evidence from operational systems. The work presented covered the complete range of database facilities: transactions, concurrency, distribution, integrity and schema modifica tion. There were examples of very large scale use, one involving tens of terabytes of data. Language issues, particularly the provision of reflection, continued to be important."