Introductory paper: Reflections on Conceptual Modelling

The objective of this introductory paper is twofold. On one hand, it shows the guest editors's view about the complex held of Conceptual Modelling. To do that, we discuss some concepts related to this topic, as well as the re lation that nowadays exists between this process and the other parts of sof tware development. On the other hand, this introductory paper describes the papers that are in cluded in this special issue, connecting each of these papers with the view that the guest editors have about the field. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V . All rights reserved.