Features leading edge research, new philosophies and innovativemethodologies on materials information and database systemutilization.

21 comprehensive, peer-reviewed papers from an internationalbody of materials data professionals are divided into the followingkey areas:

Materials Science and the Role of Virtual Experiments --3 papers discuss alternative ways computers can best be used tosupport materials research and development.

Progress and Refinement of Data Models -- Using theInternet for comprehensive knowledge sharing; data modelflexibility; and a new international standard, STEP, forrepresenting and exchanging product data are among the issuesexplored in 4 papers.

Expert Systems and Knowledge Organization -- 5 papersexamine how modern software technologies can be used to exploresuch areas as corrosion data, environmentally assisted cracking;and the exploration of unconventional natural gas reserves.

New Aspects of Data Content, Data Evaluation --Environmental impact evaluation of materials engineering; concretematerials database guidelines; superconductor data evaluationmethodology; and long term field corrosion test databases are amongthe topics presented in 5 papers.

Advancement of Computer Technologies -- 4 papers discussthe significance of materials microstructural information;microstructural classification; database performance andapplication; and future information systems designed for open worldproblem solving.