Free and Open Source Document Management Systems

Anas Tawileh
School of Computer Science, Cardiff University
5 The Parade, Cardiff CF24 3AA, UK
[email protected]

Abstract technological development in computing focused on the

management of structured electronic information, such
Document Management Systems captured the interest as databases and e-mails. However, 80 to 90 per cent of
of academics and decision makers for a long while. organisational information is in documents rather than
Aiming mainly to facilitate the creation, distribution and structured databases [1]. In a study of the value of
collaborative editing of large amounts of documents, different forms on information for managers, participants
many applications were developed to address the rated computer-generated reports as the least valuable,
increasingly critical need to manage information with other forms of information such as meetings, news
efficiently and securely. However, most of these and memos as much more valuable sources [2].
applications were developed in commercial, proprietary In order to facilitate the management of the vast
software development organisations. The Free and Open amounts of documents used on a daily basis in
Source Software development paradigm has been organisations, computerised Document Management
criticised for the scarcity of FOSS applications in the Systems emerged to apply technology to the production,
Document Management domain. This situation has transmission, storage and retrieval of document based
changed significantly over the past few years. Currently, information. The development of these applications was
several FOSS Document Management Systems provide made possible by different technological advances in
functionality that is equivalent to their proprietary areas such as digital image processing, larger and more
counterparts. reliable data storage and higher bandwidth
communication channels.
In this tutorial we will provide an overview of some of While many companies have developed and marketed
the available FOSS Document Management Systems, different flavours of Document Management Systems,
and compare their functionality and maturity. We will the Free and Open Source Software community has been
also describe the main concepts of Document criticised for its failure to build dependable, feature rich
Management and discuss the benefits of implementing a Document Management application. Free and Open
Document Management system. We will introduce the Source Software, contrary to the commercial, proprietary
practical implementation of these applications by software application, are developed in an open
demonstrating the setup and operation of the environment by a large number of contributors
KnowldgeTree Document Management System. We aim distributed all over the world. The software is released
to cover content creation and collaboration, document with its source code to enable used to investigate,
auditing, search facilities, security and access control modify and redistribute the software. However, the
features. Finally, we will discuss the future trends and situation has changed significantly in the past few years,
directions in the FOSS Document Management Systems and different FOSS Document Management Systems are
development. now available with features that match those available
on their proprietary counterparts.
Keywords: Free Software, Open Source, Document In this tutorial we aim to provide an overview of the
Management, KnowlegdeTree. concepts of Documents Management and the value it
provides for organisations, and then we will present
some of the available FOSS applications in the
1. Introduction Document Management domain. The practical aspects
and issues of implementing these systems will be
Appreciation of the importance and value of introduced by demonstrating the setup and operation of
information and its management has been growing at the KnowledgeTree Document Management system [3].
substantial rates with the raise of the so-called We will cover content creation and collaboration,
knowledge economy. Companies and organisations are document auditing, search facilities, security and access
increasingly realising that their most valuable asset is the control. We conclude with a forecast of the future trends
intangible wisdom of the organisation. Less emphasis is and directions in the FOSS Documents Management
being placed upon physical resources as the information Systems development.
content of products and services is escalating, giving the
most knowledgeable firms the competitive advantage
they need to survive in today's fierce marketplace. 2. What is Document Management?
Organisations' knowledge is reserved in the form of
documents, such as product designs, management A document can be defined as a piece of "recorded
reports, memos, contracts, training materials, etc. information structured for human consumption" [4]. This
Managing these documents effectively and efficiently definition is wide enough to embrace many forms of
has become an important necessity. Most of the documents used in organisations, such as books,
magazines, news articles, design drawings, video software to be considered a Document Management
recordings, etc. For our purposes, we identify documents system, it should provide powerful meta-data processing
as any item that can be contained in an electronic file, capabilities. Only few applications have this essential
such as e-mails, video files, audio recordings, scanned feature.
images etc. Some Document Management Systems Certainly, some Content Management Systems are
enable the management of physical items that are not continuously evolving, mainly because of the open,
contained in electronic files, such as the actual hard-copy collaborative nature of FOSS development. These
books in a library, machines and equipment. However, applications may implement enhanced meta-data
this functionality falls outside of the scope of this processing features, which will make the distinction
tutorial. even more difficult.
Documents can be found in almost every aspect of On the other hand, arguments have been made that
organisations' daily activities. They store, transmit and Content Management Systems are much better at
communicate the knowledge of the organisation which managing information as they effectively deal with
distinguishes its operation and processes from its rivals. individual pieces of information. While Document
The premium an organisation can charge for its products Management Systems deal with the document in its
or services is becoming more and more dependant on the entirety (a document may be composed of different
information content embedded in this product or service. pieces of information).
Therefore, managing this information in the most way is Another claim in favour of Document Management
of utmost importance to the long term survivability of Systems criticises the emphasis on the presentation layer
any organisation. in Content Management System, while what is really
Documents Management can be described as "a needed in a Document Management System is the
systematic method for storing, locating and keeping support of scalable management of large documents [8].
track of information that is valuable to a business" [5]. In For the purposes of this tutorial, we will identify
order to provide such functionality, a Document Document Management Systems according to the
Management Systems use meta-data, which are pieces of definition of document presented in the previous section
information that describes the content of the document, in its wider form that embraces all documents that can be
such as the author's name, date of creation, summary and saved electronically.
subject. Meta-data is used to classify documents into Critics of the FOSS community have argued that
useful groups to facilitate its retrieval at later stages. while it produced software in different application
When applied and implemented properly, Document domains that were able to compete against commercially
Management Systems can transform the workplace into developed software, it failed to provide appropriate
a paperless office, by storing all the required documents alternatives to proprietary Document Management
in electronic, easy to manage formats. This will Systems. However, this situation has changed over the
eliminate the need for physical documents unless kept past few years, and currently, different Document
for regulatory compliance requirement. In any case, Management Systems are released under a Free or Open
managing the documents electronically will be much Source license. We present few examples of FOSS
easier and cost effective. Document Management Systems.
The basic functionality required from Document CPS Project [9]: Collaborative Portal Server is
Management Systems include: document creation, designed to handle documents and web based
version control, security, document sharing, presentation formats such as pages and news items. It
collaborative editing, workflow support and flexible has a robust role based framework to enhance document
search facilities. Different Document Management security. CPS supports basic meta data for most content
Systems satisfy each of these requirements to higher or types, and additional attributes can be added through its
lesser degrees. The selection of the appropriate software easy to use web interface. It includes a powerful
depends on the specific needs of the organisation and the versioning system to track document changes, and has a
information management environment it employs complete workflow framework (CPSWorkflow).
However, CPS does not support the WebDAV standards
3. FOSS Document Management Systems [10] which allows users to collaboratively edit and
manage files on remote web servers.
The concept of what constitutes a Document OWL [11]: the development of owl is totally driven
Management System has been the subject of much by the community. Its main feature is simplicity, though
debate. Some argue that Content Management Systems at the price of an unattractive user interface. The system
(CMS) used to build and manage information content has basic versioning capabilities and a simplistic
(such as Drupal [6] and PostNuke [7]) can be considered permission system. Documentation of the project is
Document Management Systems because they facilitate flimsy and standards support is rather weak. However,
the management and collaborative creation of the project's community is highly active and major
information. The second point of view rejects this claim contributions are built around the project.
on the grounds that Content Management Systems Open sTeam [12]: this project, with its roots
usually deal with structured data software in databases. originating in academia, has a fairly rich feature set. It is
This limitation prevents the accommodation of other developed around the idea of virtual rooms, where
forms of documents, such as video recordings and design uploaded documents are organised and stored. This
drawings for example. They also argue that for a approach allows for great flexibility in connecting rooms
and facilitates collaboration. Collaboration is further successful test and evaluation of the pilot project, the
enhanced through a shard whiteboard to aid visual system can be rolled out to the whole organisation.
communication. The system interface is simple and user We will demonstrate the setup and operation of
friendly. On the other hand, the search capabilities of the Document Management Systems by using
system are not very powerful. KnowledgeTree as an illustrative example. Installation
Plone [13]: is originally a Content Management of KnowledgeTree is fairly easy and straight forward. It
System but has good document management capabilities. will require the existence of MySQL Database Server
The main distinct feature of Plone is the large size of its [15], the Apache Web Server [16] and the PHP Scripting
active community, which is accelerating the evolution of Language [17]. Each of these packages can be installed
the software. The interface is very intuitive and user independently and configured so they can function
friendly, and the underlying access control mechanism is properly together. However, a much easier way is to use
quite flexible. Plone has a strong support for meta data the XAMPP [18] package which will automatically
and its workflow features are robust. It also has powerful install and configure all these applications with minimal
search features. On the down side, Plone does not have user intervention.
an integrated versioning system, which may prevent it Once the required applications are installed and
from being implemented in scenarios where versioning configured, KnowledgeTree can be downloaded freely
support is very important. Add-on solutions for and installed using the integrated installer. The
versioning are still immature and can not be relied upon. installation process will ask the user for few
KnowledgeTree [3]: probably the most Document configuration parameters. When installed, the user can
focused' FOSS application. It enjoys a relatively high log in into the system using the default password
users ' base, and a good deal of simplicity and ease of provided with the installation (which should be changed
use. Because of its strong focus on Document as soon as the user starts using the system) from the
Management, the workflow model and versioning system's main login web based interface.
capabilities implemented in KnowledgeTree are very KnowledgeTree's Dashboard is shown in Figure 1.
useful in facilitating the management of large numbers
of documents. Security is provided through a robust role
based model and the software has an advanced search
feature which enables the user to construct complex
queries. The main disadvantage of KnowledgeTree is its
poor standards support which can be overcome through
the proprietary product Baobab developed by Jam
Warehoue [14].

4. Implementing FOSS Document

Management Systems
The best starting point for the implementations of a
Figure 1: KnowledgeTree Dashboard
Document Management System is a precise and clearly
defined set of requirement. These requirements should
4.1. Document Creation, Auditing and
be based on a careful analysis of the organisation's needs
Collaboration: Documents are usually added to the
and work processes. The importance of eliciting and
system through the Add Document web based user
defining requirements can not be over emphasised.
interface. KnowledgeTree has the ability to upload
Different Document Management Systems have
multiple documents simultaneously in a zipped format.
different characteristics, as presented in the previous
After the document is added to the system's repository,
section. Without a clear vision of what the organisation
the system asks for details of the document to be stored
really needs and what it wants to achieve with the
as meta data. When the document is added to the system
implementation of the Document Management System,
for the first time, it will be assigned the version number
selecting the most appropriate software will be a difficult
0.1, this number will be increased by 0.1 increments
task. The ultimate benefits that would be obtained by the
each time the document is checked in after editing.
organisation depend on the best possible fit between the
The Document Details page is the main interface to
organisation's requirements and the implemented
interact and work with the document. It includes all the
Document Management System.
actions that can be performed on the document, such as
After the requirements are identified and formulated
download, check out, check in, edit meta data, delete,
clearly and unambiguously, and the appropriate
move, version comparison, archive, etc.
matching FOSS Document Management System is
The transaction history of any document provides a
selected, it is advisable to commence the implementation
complete account of all the actions performed on the
in small increments. Ideally, the implementation should
document since its submission to the repository. Version
start with a low scale pilot project to test the
history facilitates the comparison of different versions of
applicability of the design decisions and to identify any
any document's meta data in order to facilitate auditing
possible problems and area for improvement. Upon the
and change control.
 One of the most useful features of any Document Transitions describe how documents are moved from
Management System is workflow management. This one state to another. Usually, transitions can only be
feature enables the user to determine the processing performed by people with a specific role or part of a
steps of any document in the organisation during its specific group.
complete lifecycle. Workflows are usually designed by
administrators, with users having the ability to assign 6. Conclusions
specific workflows to documents they have control over.
The Document Details interface provides information Information has become the most valuable asset for
about the current status of the document in the almost any organisation or individual. Dependence on
workflow. The Document Details interface is shown in valid, easily accessible information is increasing at
Figure 2. substantial rates, and enormous amounts of information
are being produced by almost every human activity.
However, technological developments over the past few
decades have focused only on a specific form of
information: structured data organised in databases or
other special configurations. Unfortunately, the vast
majority of useful information is stored in different
formats, such as word processed documents, video
recordings, project schedules, design drawings, etc.
Therefore, the need for an effective and efficient way to
manage this information became an obvious necessity.
Document Management Systems are software
applications that were designed to address these needs
by managing documents that fall outside the structured
Figure 2: Document Details Interface data domain. Many Document Management Systems are
available from different software vendors. However,
4.2. Security and Access Control Features: most of these applications are proprietary, and developed
KnowledgeTree has a robust permission management within commercial settings. Some people arguer that the
and security model based on roles and groups. The Free and Open Source Software community did not pay
system administrator can use the Document much attention to the Document Management domain,
Management System (DMS) interface to create or and that they failed to develop applications with decent
manage groups, users and roles. User groups are functionality to compete against the commercial
allocated to roles on a per-directory basis and are offerings.
inherited from the root folder of the DMS. Roles can be We showed that this situation has changed
assigned to users or to groups. Permissions assigned to dramatically lately, and that many Document
roles or groups include: Read, Write, Delete, Add Management applications that are released under a free
Folder, and Manage Security in addition to other custom or open source license are currently available. We
values. The system also has the capability of assigning reviewed different examples and explored each strengths
dynamic permissions to users and groups based on and weaknesses. We then selected a particularly focused
certain rules. These rules may be applied to the application on Document Management for use as an
document's metadata, contents, or transactional illustrative example of the implementation and operation
information. of the FOSS Document Management Systems.
Access control and users permissions can be applied Each application presented has unique features.
according to the state of the document in the workflow. Selection of the most appropriate Document
For instance, a specific group of users may not be Management Systems should be based on a
allowed to view certain documents until they are comprehensive requirements elicitation and analysis.
approved by a manager. The ultimate success of any Document Management
System implementation relies on the fit of this system to
4.3. Workflow Management: Administrators can the organisation's needs and current environment and
configure the workflows that should be followed by processes.
specific documents during their lifecycle. These The FOSS development process has a completely
workflows should reflect the current business processes different set of mechanisms governing the evolution of
implemented in the organisation. Workflows consist of its resulting software that those encountered in the
states, which describe where in the lifecycle the commercial software development organisations.
document is, and transitions, which indicate the next Availability of source code and the freedom to review it,
steps within the lifecycle of the document. The system modify it and redistribute it will stimulate the interest of
allows the administrator to determine the groups or users many talented developers to contribute and enhance
to be notified when the document reaches a specific state these applications. Therefore, the feature set and
in the workflow. For instance, everyone assigned the functionality of FOSS Document Management Systems
role of the finance manager may be informed when an is expected to get richer with the increasing appreciation
invoice has reached the state (submitted) and it required of the value of information and the need to manage data
his review or approval. stored in unstructured formats. Another interesting trend
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