Abstract
Information enrichment is generally considered a modern task of supplying specific-necessity metadata to an existing body of information, with the intent to enable a particular task. In this paper we suggest that information enrichment service systems have been existent for thousands of years, and that information has often been enriched in more generically useful ways than just for a single task. Viewing information enrichment as a service system provides a framework for thinking about how to better implement and leverage the wealth of knowledge in modern organizations. ©2007 IEEE.