The purpose of this study was to conduct a literature review on data mining (DM) technique in the LILACS and SciELO databases and specialized books. A broad data literature search using the words data mining (in English) and/or "mineração de dados" (in Portuguese) and limited to publications between 1999 and 2008, was conducted. The exclusion criteria were the keywords mining industry, mines, mineralogy, and publications that did not describe the methods and the tasks related to data mining. Of 123 publications retrieved, 38 were selected to review. Findings suggest that the existent amount of stored data is titanic and it continue to increase considerably. Thus, the process of knowledge discovery in databases and DM have developed tasks and methods for the retrieval of useful knowledge that may be of interest and necessary for just-in-time decision making in different areas of knowledge.
Information storage and retrieval; Pattern recognition, automated; Knowledge bases; Medical Informatics