While most business applications typically operate on structured data that can be effectively managed using relational databases, some applications use more complex semistructured data that lacks a stable schema. XML techniques are available for the management of semistructured data, but such techniques tend to be ineffective when applied to large amounts of heterogeneous data, in particular in applications with complex query requirements. In this paper we describe an approach that relies on

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... mapping of multiple semistructured data sets to objectrelational structures and uses an object-relational database to support complex query requirements. We illustrate this approach using weakly heterogeneous oceanographic data.