This volume comprises a selection of the key papers presented at the Eighth European Knowledge Acquisition Workshop (EKAW '94), held in Hoegaarden, Belgium in September 1994. The book demonstrates that work in the mainstream of knowledge acquisition leads to useful practical results and puts the knowledge acquisition enterprise in a broader theoretical and technological context. The 21 revised full papers are carefully selected key contributions; they address knowledge modelling frameworks, the identification of generic components, methodology aspects, and architectures and applications. The volume opens with a substantial preface by the volume editors surveying the contents.