The Araneus Project: Extending Database Techniques to the World Wide Web

The Araneus project aims at developing tools for datamanagement on the World Wide Web. We have implemented a system, called a Web-base Management system, for managing Web data. The system is designed to support several classes of applications: (i) highlevel access to data in the Web; (ii) design, implementation and maintenance of Web sites; (iii) cooperative applications on the Web. We discuss the lessons learned from our experiences with the system, ranging from database-style query interfaces to popular Web sites, to the design and implementation of several sites, among which an integrated Web museum, which correlates data coming from several virtual museums on the