  The search for information on the web is faced with several problems, which
arise on the one hand from the vast number of available sources, and on the
other hand from their heterogeneity. A promising approach is the use of
multi-agent systems of information agents, which cooperatively solve advanced
information-retrieval problems. This requires capabilities to address complex
tasks, such as search and assessment of sources, query planning, information
merging and fusion, dealing with incomplete information, and handling of
inconsistency. In this paper, our interest is in the role which some methods
from the field of declarative logic programming can play in the realization of
reasoning capabilities for information agents. In particular, we are interested
in how they can be used and further developed for the specific needs of this
application domain. We review some existing systems and current projects, which
address information-integration problems. We then focus on declarative
knowledge-representation methods, and review and evaluate approaches from logic
programming and nonmonotonic reasoning for information agents. We discuss
advantages and drawbacks, and point out possible extensions and open issues.
