Visualisation for semantic information systems

The topic of visualisation is today apparent in many areas of science. Visualisation in general uses graphical representations in order to amplify human cognition. It is thus more formal than artistic visual representations. These may leave it entirely to the artist and the beholder to infer the ’correct’ interpretation from a graphical composition. At the same time visualisation is less focused on technical aspects than for example computer graphics that primarily deals with algorithms and te- nologies to realise graphics on technical devices. A central aspect of visualisation as it is seen here, is its orientation towards solutions for particular agents p- forming tasks in speci? c domains. In contrast to the often technical discussions on visualisation, this perspective promotes the explicit consideration of domain speci? c and contextual factors. This book contains the core parts of my dissertation that has been completed in 2006. The domain of business informatics is considered as the core ? eld of analysis. By building upon the view of semantic information systems, a basis is formed for developing both a conceptual and technical framework for visualisation in IT-based management. The results presented in the following represent the state of discussion at the end of the year 2006. Despite this limitation it can be stated that the ? ndings are still applicable and the analyses well characterise the state-- the-art.