Introduction Welcome PC Chairs message Keynotes Programme Proceedings Presentations Accepted papers Program committees Conference officers Important Dates Guidelines for Authors Submission Workshops Calls Sponsorship Co-located conferences Registration Venue Auckland Airport Transport Auckland Accommodation Tourism Conference Details Conference video Contact

Welcome Message from the General Chairs On behalf of the conference committee for VLDB 2008, it is our pleasure to welcome you to Auckland, New Zealand for the 34th International Conference on Very Large Data Bases. VLDB is a premier international forum for database researchers, vendors, practitioners, application developers, and users, organized every year by the VLDB Endowment. Since the first VLDB conference in 1975, the VLDB series has become the leading international forum. Such achievement comes from the quality of the work submitted, the ability of the management to react to change, and the policy of being strictly international from the beginning. This is the first time VLDB is visiting New Zealand, or Aotearoa. Hosting VLDB 2008 has been a significant undertaking for the database community in New Zealand, and we hope that we are able to build on this experience and the international links that are established. Auckland is the largest city in New Zealand, with approximately 1.4 million residents, over a quarter of the country’s population. Auckland lies on a narrow isthmus that was first settled around 1350 between the Tasman Sea and the Pacific Ocean. It was the capital of New Zealand from 1840-1865, and to this day is the major business centre in New Zealand. The conference venue is SKYCITY Auckland Convention Centre, near the base of the Sky Tower, in the heart of the city. We acknowledge and are grateful for the generous support of our eight sponsors. Their sponsorship is critical to the success of this conference. The success of the conference depended on the help of many other people, and our thanks go to all of them: VLDB Endowment Liaison, Renée Miller; General Program Chair, Peter Buneman; the Program Chairs, and members of the Program and Organization Committees, whose are listed elsewhere in the VLDB 2008 lists. Special thanks are due to John Walker, the conference organizer from CCE, and the students from the University of Auckland and the National University of Singapore who lent a hand before and during the conference. We also extend our thanks to Gerald Weber, the Organizing Committee and Proceedings Chair. Needless to say, our sincere thanks go to all participants of VLDB 2008, who have made this conference what it is today. Welcome and enjoy the conference, Auckland and its surrounds. Gillian Dobbie and Laura Haas VLDB 2008 General Chairs