[Web4lib] DocMan-like plugin in for WordPress?

[Gilman, Mark]

Hi,
 
I am thinking of setting up a Wordpress install to serve as a kind of
portal for certain categories of librarians.  What I'm chiefly looking
for are:
 
1) simple, intuitive administration in a multi-editor environment
2) ability to upload and manage a reasonable number of PDF's, word docs,
spreadsheets, PowerPoint files, etc.
3) minimal need for intermediation by me or anyone else - end users
should be able to generate / structure their own content
 
I've played around with many different CMS's and wikis, and I've about
concluded that WordPress has the right combination of 
features, especially the just released version (2.7) which features
automatic upgrades to subsequent versions (like Firefox) and
a completely customizable administrative interface.
 
Never having used WordPress in anything but incidental ways, there's one
area where I'm seeking your help; namely, the question
of how to manage a document store.  Ideally, these documents would be
easy to upload, name,  categorize, search and retrieve.
If there were a plugin similar to Joomla's DocMan, that might be just
the ticket. The plugin library for Wordpress is very large, but
I haven't found anything that seems comparable.
 
Does anyone know of  a Wordpress plugin similar to DocMan? Any other
ideas about how to approach this issue of needing to
create a small, but easily navigated document store?  (I'm thinking this
could grow to no more than, say, 500 or so documents, over time.)
 
I realize that WordPress is natively a blogging product and that bending
it to function like a CMS may strike some as being a somewhat
eccentric path to follow.  However, that said, it's robust and simple
and I very much like those traits. Also, blogging is a large part of
what I want to use this portal for.  Thanks!
 
Regards,
Mark Gilman
 
Municipal Reference Librarian
Urban Information Center
Dallas Public Library
1515 Young St., 6th floor.
Dallas, TX 75201
214-670-1482
http://dallaslibrary.org/cgi/cui.htm
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