[Web4lib] Content management systems

[Cary Gordon]

We put some considerable effort into evaluating open source CMS offerings
last year. Although we were particularly interested in Joomla and Mambo
because of their popularity, Drupal emerged as the standout. We thought that
it offered the best accessibility, the most inbuilt features, a wealth of
contributed functionality, proven scalability, and a very deep user base.
Its downsides were a pretty busy installation, too much bad documentation,
and a confusing administrative interface. In other words, a high startup
"cost" along with a high return on that investment.

Since then, the installation is much improved, the admin interface is
somewhat improved, and the documentation is...well... improving.

Drupal gives you the option of using a lot of contributed functions
(modules) and looks (themes). The functionality that they provide ranges
from WYSIWYG editing to a full-blown digital library system. The caveat is
that there is no certification process, so the only way to tell a diamond in
the rough from a pig in a poke is to do your own evaluation, hopefully on a
development system. Likewise with themes, some of the slick (and
not-so-slick) ones blow away accessibility.

We are using Drupal to replace the custom library CMS that we built about
four years ago, and we are offering hosting, support, training and custom
development for it under our LibrarySite banner.

Almost any modern CMS will help you to make and keep your site consistent,
accessible, and up-to-date. It is time to give Notepad and EMACS a rest.

Cary Gordon
The Cherry Hill Company
http://www.chillco.com

On 3/19/07, Jonathan Bloy <JBloy at edgewood.edu> wrote:
>
> I'm starting to look at adding a content management system to my 
> library's website (yes, I'm still in the era of manual editing).  I'm 
> aware of some of the biggies like Drupal, Joomla, etc., but I'm 
> curious to know what people are using out there in the library world.
>
> What CMS are you using?  What do or don't you like about it?
>
> - Jonathan
>
> --
> Jonathan Bloy
> Web Services Librarian
> Edgewood College
> Madison, Wisconsin
> http://library.edgewood.edu