Output
All EDM and content management systems should provide users with facilities to view, print, fax and save to disk selected content/documents. They should also allow users to attach content/documents to e-mails and send them as attachments.
Content management and web content management systems should support the delivery of content via Internet, extranet and intranet web sites and user browsers. They provide facilities to support the development of web sites. You need facilities for the development of content-based Web applications, supporting both code and content elements. You need to create Web pages that are reusable and index and manage them in the repository alongside the content. One of the key functions of a WCM system is that it can be used to check all the links between pages and content and hence guarantee the integrity of all the links within a specific website.
A web content management system will support the use of templates. A Web designer can then create and edit templates which are applied to the content submitted by authors to ensure the content on a web site follows a house style. WCM systems support workflow and processes designed to pass content from authors to editors where it is reformatted or transformed ready for publishing and where it is reviewed and approved for publishing on the Web. The approval process is ideally controlled via a flexible workflow management package.
The core function supported by all Web content management systems is web publishing or delivering approved content to the correct live web server and ensuring that the correct content appears on the right site in the correct format. This can be a static or dynamic process. WCM software will also monitor the usage made of content and incorporate archiving software for pulling inactive content off a web site.
A WCM system will also provide personalisation software which allows the content to be personalised to meet the needs of the individual who is searching the Web site. There is a developing range of personalisation options available which range from translating content into different languages, selecting content that suits the age and level of expertise of a user, reacting to user expressed preferences etc.
Sophisticated WCM systems should provide tools that address the needs of multiple web site deployments. These simplify issues such as synchronisation, localisation, branding and content delivery. You may be creating content that is to be delivered on the corporate Web site, the corporate Intranet and on an Extranet. The content may be customised, reformatted etc for each site. All this should be automated as far as possible as soon as the content is approved for publication.
A true content management system should support multiple delivery channels so content can be captured and indexed and managed and then processed and delivered to multiple channels including paper publishing; Web site publishing; publishing via mobile devices; publishing on DVD etc. One of the key features supported by content management systems is assembly - the ability to assemble a document from all its component content objects and render it on screen or on paper or however it is required to be rendered in future.
Most education organisations are major publishers in their own right so it would seem likely that education organisations would need a system that can support all of the above output options.
