Libraries have been managing content since they came into being. The best example of a content management system is the card catalog, now the online public access catalog - the call number is the address where the item lives, and the subject headings are the various ways you organize the materials so you can find a book or video looking under numerous headings.
I did a quick search of articles and found this one that talks about a system of organizing not just web site content but other internal tools. Don't forget to look into this field before you start developing your own management systems - there may already be something out there! Title: Creating an Internal Content Management System , By: Sennema, Greg, Computers in Libraries, 10417915, Jan2004, Vol. 24, Issue 1 <snip>"In recent years, many libraries have created dynamic Web sites that are database-driven, that is, maintained and populated with content stored within what can be loosely termed a content management system (CMS). In 2001, Jed Koops, the Hekman Library systems programmer, and I created a CMS called Hobbes (library staff liked the play on the words "Calvin and Hobbes"). Since then, Hobbes has grown into a hybrid of CMS and intranet to include not only Web site content, but also a variety of internal tools used by librarians to help them complete some of their daily tasks." .... <snip>"Hobbes is a Web-based tool that uses Common Gateway Interface (CGI) scripts written in Perl to store, query, and return results from data stored in a series of related SQL tables. Because it is Web-based, librarians can easily manage data without knowing Perl or SQL and can be authenticated into the system using the college's existing online directory" Siobhan Champ-Blackwell, MSLIS Community Outreach Liaison National Network of Libraries of Medicine - MidContinental Region Creighton University Health Sciences Library 2500 California Plaza Omaha, NE 68178 402-280-4156/800-338-7657 [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://nnlm.gov/mcr/ (NN/LM MCR Web Site) http://medstat.med.utah.edu/blogs/BHIC/ (Web Log) http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/siobhanchamp-blackwell (Digital Divide Network Profile) -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Taran Rampersad Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2005 8:41 PM To: The Digital Divide Network discussion group Subject: Re: [DDN] RSS: The Next ICT Literacy Challenge? content management Pamela McLean wrote: > Another very basic question from Pam > Stephen Snow wrote: > >> <>(snip) (but I have found a use for the web and for a content >> management system). > > > Content management system? > Does that do what it sounds as if it might do? > Is it a *system* that would help me to *manage* the *content* > (currently stored on my computer in the best way I can figure out - a > rather haphazard way which requires a level of *management* that is > rather over-stretching my unaided mental faculties)... > Is that what it does - manage content? > Is it affordable? > Is it set-up-able, and usable, by a non-techie who wants straight > forward practical help - not a lot of playing around, and steep > learning curves, and coaxing things to work? > If so - how do I become transformed into a person with a (fully > working) content management system? > Pam Hi Pam. You know, you might think it's an easy question that you ask - but instead you're asking a very significant question. I'll get to that. Yes, a Content Management System (CMS) manages content, but it's almost always mentioned with reference to a website. And with a website, it does exactly that - it manages content. And they are very easy to install, though the customizability of the system is directly proportional to the personal investment of installing. A lot of people, even with websites, don't know how they want to manage their content. In the context of the personal computer, I would *love* to tell you that this is exactly what it does, and that it's easy to install for such use, and so on. But it's not there yet, and the question you ask is significant because I think (after you asked) that it should be there. What a content management system does is it stores content in a database - the majority of these databases being a MySQL database, which is available at no cost (or, if you want to buy it...). The majority of CMS tools are available at no cost; I'm a big fan of Drupal and am often tinkering with it because I'm that sort of person. What a Content Management System allows you to do is file the same content under different names without having to store it more than once, which is exactly what I need on my machine! LOL. I think quite a few people could use such a system. Now you have me wondering how to create such a system. I'll take that to the FLOS community. ;-) -- Taran Rampersad [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.linuxgazette.com http://www.a42.com http://www.worldchanging.com http://www.knowprose.com http://www.easylum.net "Criticize by creating." - Michelangelo _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message. _______________________________________________ DIGITALDIVIDE mailing list DIGITALDIVIDE@mailman.edc.org http://mailman.edc.org/mailman/listinfo/digitaldivide To unsubscribe, send a message to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of the message.
