For many businesses and organizations, the achievement of interoperability has proven to be a highly desirable goal. However, without efficient schema mapping mechanisms or models that allow for the storage and management of information from several distinct systems, the goal of interoperability is impossible to attain. Due to the role of XML as a standard in information exchange, considerable research has been undertaken to find effective methods or algorithms for the conversion from XML to database models. This paper reviews leading research in the field – focusing particularly on three novel approaches taken – and proposes an original schema mapping mechanism using a conceptual model which, due its higher level of abstraction, maximizes the preservation of semantics.