CONTENTdm Overview
CONTENTdm Digital Collection Management Software is the result of
years of development and collaboration with archivists. A flexible,
multifunction software package, CONTENTdm provides tools for all
aspects of digital collection management.
"With over two million objects on the server we have
long-term expansion plans and are confident that CONTENTdm
technology will continue to grow to support our
efforts."
Kenning Arlitsch, Head of Information Technology,
J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah
Functionality
By handling virtually all media types, CONTENTdm meets the needs
of a wide range of users. Current users include universities, public
libraries, museums, commercial and government entities, and
nonprofit organizations. Collection items include newspapers, maps,
photographs, yearbooks, transcribed diaries, rare books, oral
histories, audio and video clips, poster art, and more. Check out
our users'
collections to see how others have implemented CONTENTdm or view
our media
samples.
CONTENTdm functionality allows you to create collections quickly
and easily using a simple point and click interface. Our software
also provides tiered access to administrative tools so you can
maintain collection integrity. For a more detailed explanation of
CONTENTdm functionality, check out our features.
Flexibility
CONTENTdm is 100% Web compatible, so servers and collections can
be administered from remote desktops. Item and metadata entry can
occur at as many as 50 remote locations using the Acquisition
Station. Collections are readily accessible to end users through
standard Web browsers.
CONTENTdm's flexibility has fueled creative solutions among our
customers. Customers have formed partnerships so that the
independent online collections of multiple organizations can be
simultaneously searched and viewed through one seamless CONTENTdm
Web interface. Customers with extensive scanning expertise and
hardware have partnered with other organizations that lack hardware
and scanning experience to maximize their investment.
Collection Sharing
For many organizations, the drive to digitize collections is
spurred by an interest in sharing unique collections with a wider
audience. CONTENTdm technology and features make it easy to share
collections and collaborate.
-
Collections can be added to OCLC WorldCat so that your unique
special collections become part of WorldCat's 60 million record
global catalog. Descriptive metadata is added to WorldCat but
collection owners retain complete control since individual items
are served from your local server.
-
CONTENTdm Servers support OAI harvesting by functioning as OAI
repositories for customers who wish to make their metadata
available for harvesting.
-
CONTENTdm
Multi-Site Server enables users to query multiple CONTENTdm
Servers from a single search interface. Organizations can build
and manage collections locally while allowing access to a wider
range of users.
Affordability
With CONTENTdm, there's very little demand for internal technical
resources because the software is easy to implement, learn, and use.
CONTENTdm features and product support resources help keep the cost
of personnel and training low by offering easily understood user
interfaces, ample online help, and tutorials to accelerate training.
CONTENTdm's pricing structure allows users to minimize their
initial investment by offering a range of storage capabilities to
meet changing needs, so the software grows as your collections grow.
Customers who subscribe to our Annual Maintenance Agreement can
develop collections incrementally with CONTENTdm without
re-installing the software. Plus, you'll gain additional value from
CONTENTdm with our product upgrades and ongoing technical
support.
Fast and Scalable
CONTENTdm retrieves search results in less than a second from
collections of more than a million objects without any degradation
of speed as collections grow. Our technology and pricing structure
allow seamless growth for your digital collections.
For organizations that want to maintain their own collections and
collaborate with others to provide access to a broader range of
materials, CONTENTdm offers the Multi-Site Server. Users can search
collections located on multiple CONTENTdm Servers in diverse
geographical regions from a single search interface, yet each
collaborating partner with a CONTENTdm Server can maintain its own
collections and local identity. Learn more about the CONTENTdm
Multi-Site Server.
Common Standards
DiMeMa's adherence to commonly accepted standards allows
CONTENTdm to provide functionality that consistently meets a wide
range of needs.
CONTENTdm is Z39.50 compatible through a free open source
software product called ZCONTENT developed by the University of Utah
Marriott Library. ZCONTENT provides access to digital collections on
CONTENTdm servers from library portals and local catalogs and can be
downloaded for free from the CONTENTdm User Support Center.
CONTENTdm Servers support OAI harvesting by functioning as OAI
repositories for customers who wish to make their metadata available
for harvesting. Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata
Harvesting Version 2, or OAI-PMH v2, is an emerging standard that
allows harvesting of metadata across a network.
Use of the Dublin Core and the Visual Resource Association Core
within CONTENTdm allows for a common language when describing media
and searching across collections. Collection Administrators can
still apply their own field descriptions and map back to either
standard to provide flexible searching to end users.
XML is used for all internal structure description. CONTENTdm
also offers custom XML export of metadata that supports user-defined
fields and formats for greater compatibility with local catalog
systems and other applications.
Technical Support
Our staff provides prompt and informed support to CONTENTdm
evaluators and licensed users. We track user feedback and channel
users' requests into our future development plans. CONTENTdm users
often support each other by sharing both their general and specific
experiences with digital collection development. We assist by
providing contact information (with approval) for those with similar
collection interests and technical environments.
If you're ready to explore CONTENTdm for yourself, simply
complete our evaluation
request form to begin your free 60-day trial. | 
