Beyond Databases: An Asset Language for Conceptual Content Management

Innovative information systems such as content management systems and information brokers are designed to organize a complex mixture of media content – texts, images, maps, videos, . . . – and to present it through domain specific conceptual models, for example, on sports, stock exchange, or art history. In this paper we extend the currently dominating computational container models into a coherent content-concept model intended to capture more of the meaning – thereby improving the value – of content. Integrated content-concept views on entities are modeled using the notion of assets, and the rationale of our asset language is based on arguments for open language expressiveness [19] and dynamic system responsiveness [8]. In addition, we discuss our experiences with a component-based implementation technology which substantially simplifies the implementation of open and dynamic asset management systems.