Human database designers apply their accumulated experience and commonsense reasoning abilities to each new design task. Recently, a number of expert systems have been developed that attempt to automate the database design process. Although these systems may have a high degree of expertise in database design, they typically know very little about anything else. As a result, they often have to ask questions that appear unnecessary or trivial, thus detracting from their credibility as experts and increasing the effort required of the user. The objective of this research is to add commonsense reasoning capabilities to a proven database design expert system. The commonsense reasoner will employ a simple, generic model of the business environment that it can extend semi- automatically with facts "learned" during each design session. The project involves conceptual work on the nature and representation of commonsense knowledge as the basis for a later implementation. The implemented system will be tested to assess the value of the commonsense facility. This research is expected to aid in designing computer systems that combine a high degree of expertise in a particular subject with general knowledge about the world at large and have the ability to apply both to solving problems.
