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Many problems encountered when building applications of database systems involve the manipulation of models. By "model," we mean a complex structure that represents a design artifact, such as a relational schema, object-oriented interface, UML model, XML DTD, web-site schema, semantic network, complex document, or software configuration. Many uses of models involve managing changes in models and transformations of data from one model into another. These uses require an explicit representation of "mappings" between models. We propose to make database systems easier to use for these applications by making "model" and "model mapping" first-class objects with special operations that simplify their use. We call this capability model management.In addition to making the case for model management, our main contribution is a sketch of a proposed data model. The data model consists of formal, object-oriented structures for representing models and model mappings, and of high-level algebraic operations on those structures, such as matching, differencing, merging, function application, selection, inversion and instantiation. We focus on structure and semantics, not implementation.

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Building information modeling (BIM) has been presented as a potential solution to current facilities management problems related to information exchange during handover, and facilities information management during operations. However, implementing BIM in an owner organization is a complex challenge that necessitates reconfiguration of work practices and internal structures to fully realize the benefits. Owners are often unsure about how or whether they should go through the challenges related to implementation. Although previous studies have documented the potential benefits of BIM adoption for owners, such as improvements in work order processing, very little research has specifically looked at the transition to BIM and the scale of the effort required for large and diverse owner organizations. This paper presents the results of a long-term embedded case study analysis of a large owner-operator institutional organization that investigated the alignment of facility management (FM) practices across organizational and project contexts. The research objective was to examine current organizational practices in order to understand the potential, as well as the challenges, of transitioning from a paper-based to a model-based approach in handover and operations. We describe the current state of handover, information management and facility management practices and developed a framework to characterize the alignment between organizational constructs, available technology, project artifacts and owner requirements. This investigation of the current state of practice enables us to

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