Content Management – linking documents and knowledge
by Hal Robinson

Recent concern among developers and users of content management systems has focused on the limited editorial capabilities of most systems. It is as if the emphasis in development has been too much towards ‘management’ and too little towards the ‘content’ itself. Librios has approached content management from the opposite perspective – that of publishers, for whom content and what can be done with it has always been the highest priority. The key publishing term for manipulating content is ‘editing’, and the solution Librios has adopted is the complete integration of editorial and design tools within the same database environment as the content management system itself. The logic behind this approach depends on a clear identification of what ‘content’ really is.

Distinguishing Content from Documents

Managing documents is the long-established domain of archives and libraries and the sophistication of electronic document management systems enhances this, with indexing techniques, classification systems and the development of metadata providing some of the most powerful tools. Nevertheless, it is useful to distinguish between documents and the information they contain – their content. The word ‘content’ not only implies the thought that lies behind the information a document contains, it also implies the potential to do more with it, and this is where the crucial distinction between content management (CM) and document management (DM) lies.

Whereas DM systems collect, sort and organise documents, CM systems must enable users to use the information contained within documents. One criterion for a good CM system is reflected in the phrase: ‘create once, use many times’.

Making Content Work

The value of a content resource increases the more it can be re-used, and its re-usability is enhanced the more it can be modularised. Modular content can be used and re-used like the players in a team, who can function as individuals as well as in the team context, and can also operate in other teams, with different collective skills and functions. The usefulness of modules increases if they can change (or be changed) according to context – for instance, if they can be changed to suit different levels of readership.

One thing that distinguishes a CM system from a DM system is the inclusion of effective editorial tools. Comprehensive word-processing features are important, as are multiple output (or publishing) options – such as simultaneous web and print output, and output in whole or part to other systems. Typographic design and layout tools are also needed for the output to look convincing. A system intended to manage content must also be able to control all features and functions centrally. Without central controls, the principle of ‘create once, use many times’ is inevitably undermined.

A CM system also needs to enhance, not inhibit, its users’ skills – especially their editorial, design, planning, analysis, customer-awareness, marketing and other communication skills. Its purpose, after all, is to do more with content than just organise and retrieve it – it needs to be able to turn an archive into a usable and re-usable resource. For this an intuitive interface is an essential component.

From Content to Knowledge

With a powerful, easily used, multi-faceted and fully integrated CM system in place, the question arises: where can we go from here? After data and documents evolve into content by applying the right manipulation and management tools, content can then evolve into knowledge by the way it is interpreted.

Enhancing content by interpreting it, automatically or intentionally, particularly in terms of its context and importance, takes a step towards the more abstract concept of knowledge in a way that has immediate practical commercial benefits. Interpretation helps analyse content – for instance, in terms of who is interested in it, what its purpose or significance is, when it was last modified, where interest in it comes from, why it is important and how it relates to other content. More powerfully, it can also make the system learn and so generate new information automatically, based on associations such as context, importance and usage.

Although the science of Knowledge Management extends far beyond this, the transition from storing, through using, to developing resources of information provides a practical and solidly commercial foundation on which knowledge can be built.

Documents, Content and Knowledge Combined

In implementing this theory, Librios has developed a content management system with integrated, scalable, easy-to-use, and commercially viable content and knowledge management solutions that no other comparable system provides.

The company’s initial, strongly product-oriented focus on electronic and print publishing has ensured its solutions are efficient, reliable, easy to use and cost effective. The thinking behind the software enables it to extend beyond this product focus towards more general corporate applications. Internal and external communications in different media and channels, as well as in multiple levels or contexts, are of ever-increasing importance in the Knowledge Economy of this Information Age.