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CONTENTdm : At a glance

CONTENTdm at a glance

CONTENTdm makes everything in your digital collections available to everyone, everywhere. No matter the format—local history archives, newspapers, books, maps, slide libraries or audio/video—CONTENTdm can handle the storage, management and delivery of your collections to users across the Web.

CONTENTdm is also easy to install and use, which means you can focus on planning and building collections. An out-of-the-box Web interface lets you get started quickly. Plus, your collections’ metadata can be added to WorldCat for discovery through WorldCat.org and WorldCat Local.

Benefits

  • A complete solution for digital collections—CONTENTdm is the only solution of its kind to offer all you need to manage, store and share your collections on the Web.
  • Easy to use—CONTENTdm is easy to install and use, and many current users have built or converted collections within a few months. They are assisted by templates, batch processing, customizable out-of-the-box Web interfaces, tutorials, Web training sessions and comprehensive Help files.
  • Flexible and fully customizable—CONTENTdm gives you full control over all digital resources, their descriptions, access and display. You can fully customize metadata fields and create predefined queries, as well as all Web interfaces.
  • Serves as an institutional repository—PDF documents, theses, dissertations and reports can all be easily stored and managed in CONTENTdm. With its ability to handle any type of file, using CONTENTdm for an institutional repository brings collections together into a cohesive and accessible Web-based environment.
  • Scalable—CONTENTdm seamlessly grows with your projects, enabling you to upgrade and increase capacity without new software installations. Organizations with small, unique collections to statewide groups with hundreds of collections have selected CONTENTdm for their projects.
  • Open, extensible and interoperable—While most users run the CONTENTdm software “out-of-the box,” it also has an API that allows for custom development. The open architecture supports extensions and the Web interface is fully customizable.
  • Discovery through WorldCat—Your collections’ metadata can be added to WorldCat to make digital items more visible to searchers on the Web through WorldCat.org and WorldCat Local. Those searchers who go to sites such as Google and Yahoo! Search also will discover WorldCat results for library-owned items among their results.
  • World-class support and documentation—OCLC offers world-class support services via phone and e-mail, and comprehensive documentation. Additionally, help is available—anytime, anywhere—through the online User Support Center, which includes Help files, tutorials, a knowledgebase and other tools.
  • Vibrant, global user community—With CONTENTdm, you become part of an active user community of over 1,000 organizations worldwide. Users freely share best practices and locally-developed extensions through the CONTENTdm listserv and User Support Center, regional user groups and other collaborations.

How CONTENTdm works

Your digital collections reside on a CONTENTdm Server, either installed locally or on an OCLC-hosted server. Digital items can be added from anywhere using the CONTENTdm Acquisition Station software, which can be distributed among staff and collaborating partners, and through the Connexion digital import. Additionally, collections can be managed remotely over the Web.

Your digital collections can be searched via the Web using standard Web browsers by any number of users, unless you choose to restrict access. With its ability to handle any file type, CONTENTdm can serve as an institutional repository to bring collections together into a cohesive and accessible Web-based environment. For organizations seeking opportunities for broader collaboration in developing and sharing collections, the Multi-Site Server is an option for cross-collection searching on multiple servers.

Learn more about collection building, management and discovery

Learn more about the end user experience

Learn more about our world-class support

Requirements

CONTENTdm runs on standard systems—chances are you already have everything you need to get started today. For more information, see system requirements.

Contact us with your questions, or if you haven’t tried CONTENTdm for yourself, request a free software evaluation or request a Web information session for your organization.