Querying XML Document Collections

In this paper we describe a query interface towards XML document collections. External schema annotation in RDF contains information used to dynamically build the interface tailored to the user's characteristics and to the document structure, as described by its XML Schema. The interface makes the user aware of structure semantics, so supporting her/him in formulating semantically correct queries. In preparing the query, the user can have access to ontologies or linguistic resources via web services. Queries are prepared in an intermediate format that can be translated into different search engines. The architecture is fully compliant with web design principles and standards.