The purpose of this catalogue is to promote interaction between members of the AI'' community. It will do this by announcing the existence of Ai techniques and portable software. and acting as a pOinter into the literature. Thus the AI community wili have access to a common. extensional definition of the field. which will: promote a common terminology. discourage the reinvention of wheels. and act as a clearing house for ideas and software. The cataiogue is a reference work providing a quick guide to the AI tools available for different jobs. It is not intended to be a textbook like the Artificial Intelligence Handbook. It. intentionally. only provides a brief description of each tool. with no extended discussion of the historical origin of the tool or how it has been used in particular AI programs, The focus is on techniques abstracted from their historical origins. The original version of the catalogue. was hastily built in 1983 as part of the UK SERC-Dol. IKBS. Architecture Study [lKBS Architecture Study 831. it has now been adopted by the SERC Specially Promoted Programme in IKBS and is kept as an on line document undergoing constant revision and refinement and published as a paperback by Springer Verlag.
