Central knowledge management for expert systems

The position of the knowledge base management system in relation to expert systems is analogous to that of the database management system in relation to standard applications. Just as database management systems provide facilities to store and manipulate data for user applications, so knowledge base management systems provide facilities to store and manipulate knowledge for user knowledge-based or expert systems. A number of different approaches have been taken in trying to build prototypes of knowledge base management systems. One such approach is to extend an existing deductive database, and one such prototype system is described. An associated demonstration application from the domain of dentistry is examined, to show the practical use of the system and its utility in knowledge sharing.