The Database and Expert Systems Application -DEXA - conferences are mainly oriented to establish a state-of-the art forum on Database and Expert System applications. But Practice without Theory has no sense, as Leonardo said five centuries ago. In this Conference we try a comprornise between these two complementary aspects. A total of 5 sessions are application-oriented, ranging from classical applications to more unusual ones in Software Engineering. Recent research aspects in Databases, such as activity, deductivity and/or Object Orientation are also present in DEXA 92, as weIl as the implication of the new "data models" such as OO-Model, Deductive Model, etc .. included in the Modelling sessions. Other areas of interest, such as Hyper-Text and Multimedia application, together with the classical field of Information Retrieval are also considered. FinaIly, Implementation Apects are reflected in very concrete fields. A total of of nearly 200 papers submitted from all over the world were sent to DEXA 92. Only 90 could be accepted. A Poster session has also been establishcd. DEXA 90 was held in Vienna, Austria; DEXA 91 in Berlin, Germany; and DEXA 92 will take place in Valencia, Spain, where we are celebrating the discovery of thc New World just five centurics ago, in Leonardo''s age. Both the quality of the Conference and the compromise between Practice and Thcory are duc to the credit of all the DEXA 92 authors.
