K6213 Term Paper

Comparative Study of Open

Source Knowledge Management

Tools

K6213 KM Technologies – Term Paper

By,

Sesagiri Raamkumar Aravind(G1101761F)

Selvaraju Nirmala(G1101760J)

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Table of Contents

1.0 Knowledge Management and Open Source Systems..............................................................................31.1 Introduction to Knowledge..................................................................................................................31.2 Types of Knowledge............................................................................................................................31.3 Knowledge Management.....................................................................................................................51.4 Open Source Systems..........................................................................................................................5

1.4.1 Benefits of Open Source Software................................................................................................71.5 Requirements of KM from Technological Tools.................................................................................7

2.0 Open Source KM Tools...........................................................................................................................72.1 Explicit Knowledge.............................................................................................................................72.2 Implicit Knowledge.............................................................................................................................82.3 KM Suites............................................................................................................................................92.4 Selection Process for Comparative Study............................................................................................92.5 MediaWiki.........................................................................................................................................10

2.5.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................102.5.2 Features.......................................................................................................................................112.5.3 Benefits.......................................................................................................................................142.5.4 Limitations..................................................................................................................................142.5.5 Commercial Implementations.....................................................................................................14

2.6 Moodle...............................................................................................................................................162.6.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................162.6.2 Features.......................................................................................................................................172.6.3 Benefits.......................................................................................................................................192.6.4 Limitations..................................................................................................................................202.6.5 Commercial Implementations.....................................................................................................20

2.7 FusionKM..........................................................................................................................................212.7.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................212.7.2 Features.......................................................................................................................................242.7.3 Benefits.......................................................................................................................................252.7.4 Limitations..................................................................................................................................262.7.5 Commercial Implementations.....................................................................................................26

2.8 DeepaMehta.......................................................................................................................................312.8.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................312.8.2 Features.......................................................................................................................................322.8.3 Benefits.......................................................................................................................................342.8.4 Limitations..................................................................................................................................342.8.5 Commercial Implementations.....................................................................................................35

3.0 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................384.0 References.............................................................................................................................................39

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1.0 Knowledge Management and Open Source Systems

1.1 Introduction to KnowledgeThomas H.Davenport and Laurence Prusak state that "Knowledge is a fluid mix of framed experience,

values, contextual information and expert insight that provides a framework for evaluating and

incorporating new experience and information. It originates and is applied in the mind of knower's. In

organisations, it often becomes embedded not only in documents or repositories but also in organisational

routines, process, practices, and norms".

Knowledge is about some object or some person that exists within the individual based on the acquired

understanding, information, procedure and process that are perceived through experience or learning. As

per the characteristics defined by Sveiby, a particular type of knowledge is tacit that cannot be expressed

while certain knowledge is action-oriented that will be supported by rules and they constantly change.

1.2 Types of KnowledgeKnowledge is of different types based on its characteristic, nature, acquaintance method and experience.

The various knowledge types are:-

Declarative Knowledge

Procedural/Imperative Knowledge

Causal Knowledge

Relational Knowledge

Tacit Knowledge

Explicit Knowledge

Implicit Knowledge

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1. Declarative Knowledge

“Knowledge about/Know what”

o Zack states “The ability to recognize and classify concepts, things and states of the world”[4]

o Declarative knowledge is assertion-oriented.

o It is about the object or event defined by its characteristics and properties.

2. Procedural/Imperative Knowledge

“Knowledge how”

o The understanding of an appropriate sequence of events or the ability to perform a particular set of

actions (Gioia and Poole 1984) [5].

o Procedural Knowledge is about the procedures, rules or conditions for implementing an action.

3. Causal Knowledge

“Knowledge why”

o Causal Knowledge is the knowledge about the reason behind the occurrence of particular action.

o Causal knowledge can be formally represented by describing the causal links among a set of

factors (Schank 1975)[7], (Weick and Bougnon 1986)[8], but more often is less formally

represented as organizational stories (Schank 1990)[6].

4. Relational Knowledge

o An understanding of the relationship among or between different knowledge types

5. Tacit Knowledge

o Tacit knowledge cannot be easily communicated or diffused.

o Embodied in people’s mind [2].

o Tacit knowledge is ‘What we know’ but cannot be easily explained.

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6. Explicit Knowledge

o Explicit knowledge is easy to be codified.

o Can be easily communicated or diffused.

o Explicit knowledge may be object-based or rule-based [2].

o Exchanged during meetings in organizations.

7. Implicit knowledge

o Knowledge that can be articulated but hasn’t been done as yet.(Nickols)[3]

o Can be teased out of a competent performer by a task analyst or knowledge engineer [2].

Fig1: Ascertaining the Knowledge Type

1.3 Knowledge Management”Knowledge Management is the systematic processes by which knowledge needed for an organization to

succeed is created, captured, shared and leveraged” [1].

The effort of capturing the explicit and tacit information and knowledge that exists in an organization is

called Knowledge Management.

1.4 Open Source Systems

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Open Source Software (OSS) has received growing attention in recent years from various perspectives.

To label software as ‘open source’, it needs to have specific characteristics. The Open Source Initiatives

(OSI) is a non-profit corporation that helps in managing and promoting the OSS definition, thus, acting as

the official organization behind OSS. Any software that has the characteristics listed below is considered

to be OSS [9]:-

Access to source code.

Integrity of author’s source code.

Free redistribution.

Derived works allowed under the same license.

No discrimination against persons or groups.

No discrimination against fields of endeavour.

Distribution of licence.

Licence must not be specific to a product.

Licence must not restrict other software.

Licence must be technology-neutral.

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Fig2: Difference between OSS and proprietary software (Crowston and Howison 2005 )

1.4.1 Benefits of Open Source Software

Cost: OSS is free software that has no purchase cost or upgrade fees.

Reliability : Open Source advocates generally claim very less time-to-fix characteristics for their

developed software.

Stability: Changes are contributed back upstream to the main project in open source software.

Flexibility: OSS does not have any lock-in strategy for using any other product unlike commercial

software packages.

Translation: Developers will find it easy to translate the language of the software interface as OSS give

access to the source code.

1.5 Requirements of KM from Technological ToolsThe basic requirement of KM tools is to aid organisations in Knowledge Creation, Knowledge

Codification and Knowledge Transfer. The tools play different roles under each requirement. Internal

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knowledge specific to an organisation and its competitor knowledge are often expected to be captured

and consolidated in a typical KM enabler tool.

2.0 Open Source KM ToolsThe different categories of Open Source tools enlisted under Explicit and Implicit Knowledge as per [11]

are:-

2.1 Explicit Knowledge1. Bookmarking

2. CMS(including Document Management Systems)

3. Blogs

4. Wikis

5. Discussion Forum

6. Collaboration Tools

7. Repository

8. Federated Search

9. Search Engines

10. P2P networks

2.2 Implicit Knowledge1. Virtual Communities

2. Tagging/Voting

3. Social Networks

4. Knowledge Map

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5. Best Practices

The below table provides the available tools in the industry under the various categories

Fig 3: Tools by Knowledge Type and Category

2.3 KM SuitesKM Suites are software packages that are multifunctional in nature. The scope of these packages is broad

in terms of utility to an organisation. Organisations may or may not use all the components of a software

package. These suites are often customized as per need, leveraging the open source content.

Popular KM Suites are:-

1. Egroupware(Community Edition)

2. Moodle

3. FusionKM

4. DeepaMehta

2.4 Selection Process for Comparative Study

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The Selection process of the tools was entirely based on the scope of the study. The intention of the

authors was to review the software tools that serve a broader purpose. KM Suites fall under that notional

purview. The tools/packages selected are:-

1. MediaWiki

2. Moodle

3. FusionKM

4. DeepaMehta

The review process was based on the following factors:-

User-friendliness

Utility

Deployment ease

Scalability and integration ease

2.5 MediaWiki

2.5.1 IntroductionThe authors feel that it is important to define Wikis at this point. [12] states Wiki as a website that allows

visitors to easily add, remove, edit and change available content, and typically without the need for

registration. This ease of interaction and operation makes a wiki an effective tool for mass collaborative

authoring.

MediaWiki is a popular open source web-based wiki package written in PHP (server side scripting

language), originally intended for use on Wikipedia. It is now used by several other projects of the non-

profit Wikimedia Foundation and by many other wikis for collaborative document creation and

information sharing. The package supports multiple languages, website user styles, multimedia and

extension features, indexed content items, edit tracking and many more features. MediaWiki is applicable

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for both personal and education use and it is a free software package licensed under the GNU General

Public License (GPL).

The minimal server requirements for using MediaWiki are:-

PHP 5 or higher

MySQL 4 or higher

Apache 1.13.19 or higher

Fig 4: Sample MediaWiki Hompage

2.5.2 FeaturesOrganisations use MediaWiki for the below factors as per [13]:-

Informal Knowledge Sharing

MediaWiki can be used to build a repository of knowledge with high level of customization provided to

end users. It’s a lightweight package compared to commercial content management systems.

Quick Turnaround

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MediaWiki’s intuitive user interface makes it easy for usage. The cognition rate is high with users

spending very less time to search, modify and maintain their content in the repository.

Fostering Communities

MediaWiki is ideal for sustaining Communities of Practice that facilitate informal sharing of knowledge

among company employees. Its multilingual functionality that covers various languages and locales,

make it suitable for global audience.

Ease of Administration

The simplicity of the administration segments in the package requires only a minuscule number of admin

users to support hundreds of production users.

Reliability

MediaWiki is stable and solid software, by popular opinion. New releases go through strenuous beta

testing in the Wiki community before being packaged as official releases.

Multiple Versions

MediaWiki maintains the entire history of changes performed on its pages, thus allowing easy reverts in

case of unnecessary changes.

Multimedia and Caching Support

MediaWiki can manage video and audio files that are stored in its file-system. MediaWiki supports

caching, particularly useful for large implementation of wikis with a huge user-base.

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Fig5: Editing in MediaWiki

Fig 6: Emedding vidoes in MediaWiki

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Fig 7: Embedding images in MediaWiki

2.5.3 Benefitso Easy and fast installation using a web-based form.

o Maximum installation of 20 instances within the organisation.

o Easier user creation through LDAP integration using WebAuth extension apart from the manual

user account management features that is part of the package.

2.5.4 LimitationsThere are certain limitations related to the usage of MediaWiki. As per [13], they are:-

Lack of Strict Access Control

MediaWiki is a public system with openness as its core objective. The software package is not optimized

for restricting access as the wiki grows in size with limited security functionality for restricting access to

a set of pages. Access control methods are considered to be not that secure, at times.

Basic Content Management

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MediaWiki is not the traditional content management system (CMS) by definition. It has no workflow, its

handling of uploaded documents is primitive, and it doesn’t integrate with basic applications such as

Microsoft Office.

Users with a Required Level of Technicality

MediaWiki requires its users to have basic knowledge of Wikitext, a markup language to indicate bold,

italics, links, and so on thereby, with the chances of ending up as a burden for some business users. Non-

technical users often find WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editors to be best suited for their

content publishing needs.

2.5.5 Commercial ImplementationsMediaWiki has footprint in different industries. Some of them have been cited as a part of the study. They

are:-

2.5.5.1 NovellNovel [14], a world renowned software company specializing in Open Enterprises, uses MediaWiki

extensively in dealing with customers and partners, for knowledge sharing. Novell’s implementation of

MediaWiki can be attributed with the below factors:-

Common Platform: MediaWiki is used as the underlying platform for open source project websites for its

reusability

Collaboration: MediaWiki is used as a collaboration tool to complement traditional messaging tools and

as a knowledge repository.

Communities of Practice: Novell Users International, a global association of Novell professionals, uses

MediaWiki to share knowledge and strategies for managing local Novell user groups throughout the

world

2.5.5.2 Intel Corporation

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Intel [14], the world’s leading chipmaker, maintains a customized version of MediaWiki and it is called

Intelpedia. Some of the statistics related to its usage are as follows:-

Registered User Count: 3000 employees

Internal Pages: 10000 pages,

Page Views: 8000 views and 150 edits per day.

2.5.5.3 WikiaWikia [14], the world famous wiki-farm service provider, runs on MediaWiki. Some of its major

characteristics are identified as scalability and flexibility as Wikia has grown to handle 230,000 articles.

Wikia notes that “MediaWiki is a very rich and powerful software tool that is enabling Wikia to build a

sustainable business”

2.5.5.4 BOC GroupBOC group [15], one of the world's largest gas suppliers, has deployed MediaWiki to leverage knowledge

across its businesses. MediaWiki is used in the following ways:-

Knowledge Capture: Made available to all users in the company to share information and to get feedback

related to it.

Collaboration: Connecting users from global office locations thereby aiding in process transfer for

outsourcing and in-sourcing

Simple Form: The Company selected MediaWiki after piloting other wiki software. Best features

attributed are the simple user interface that facilitates fast contribution and tracking.

2.5.5.5 Stanford

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Stanford University’s IT division [16] offers MediaWiki for internal departments that need Wiki

solutions for their collaboration and documentation needs. Some example wikis are University Web

Services Wiki and Stanford Open Source Lab Wiki.

2.6 Moodle

2.6.1 IntroductionMoodle (Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment) is an open source e-learning

platform, finding usage as a Course Management System (CMS), Learning Management System (LMS)

and Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) inside organisations. Moodle helps in designing systematic

educational course content, supplemented by rich interaction features. Moodle’s utility range from

education, training, development and business settings [17].

In a nutshell, Moodle’s contents and courses embody 1.) The Knowledge of its Authors, 2.) The

Knowledge of their Teachers and 3.) The Knowledge of its Developers

2.6.2 FeaturesMoodle has several typical features of an e-learning platform with some additional specific features.

Some typical features of Moodle, specific to organisational usage are [18]:-

Discussion forum, for raising questions, peer to peer & peer to expert/instructor communication

File Repository

Instant messaging, for Peer tutoring and synchronous collaborating

Online calendar

Online news and announcement

Online quiz and grading

Blogs, for individual contribution facilitated through Reports, Reflections and Journals

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Wiki, for facilitating collaboration through study guides, glossary and combined presentations

Social Networking features

Podcasting

Slideshows and Video Embedding, for remote teaching

Fig 8: Sample Moodle Homepage

Fig 9: Moodle Features

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Fig 10: Subsection

Fig 11: Discussion Forum

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Fig 12: Survey Page

2.6.3 BenefitsThe key benefits of Moodle [19] are:-

o Knowledge Capture, as a tool for capturing explicit and tacit knowledge.

o Knowledge Sharing, especially if it is deployed collaboratively or across multiple locations.

o Knowledge Creation, through the development of knowledge artefacts by learners (basic users)

and instructors (special users) and also through data mining techniques, particularly in

combination with internal information systems.

o Organizational learning, facilitating Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of employees in

organisations.

o Facilitates Social Constructivism.

o Other benefits include global user/developer community, highly customizable, widely available,

role based access and extensible features.

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2.6.4 LimitationsThere are few limitations related to the usage of Moodle. They are:-

o Reporting is difficult.

o User management can be complicated.

o Users are expected to a bit tech-savvy to handle certain features.

2.6.5 Commercial ImplementationsMoodle finds its implementation in the following companies:-

2.6.5.1 CiscoCisco [20], the leading manufacturer of networking equipment, uses Moodle to deliver entrepreneur

education and business planning skills, partnering with other organizations and governments. Cisco finds

Moodle applicable to its strategies in the following ways:-

o LMS to offer self-paced courses, assessments, and registration options to users around the world,

from students in Latin America to non-profit groups in the EU.

o Serving the community through a free program so that customer can replicate for their own

businesses.

o Seamless integration with other mainstream systems such as Salesforce.com and WebEx.

2.6.5.2 PHSPaediatric Home Service (PHS) [20], a small children’s at-home health care provider in St. Paul,

Minnesota, uses Moodle to deliver, manage and track all of its in-house competency training. PHS uses

Moodle in the following ways:-

o Hosting training sessions

o Tracking regulation data

o Generate reports for tracking status

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2.7 FusionKM

2.7.1 IntroductionFusionKM is a Workflow enabled, Social Network based Knowledge Management Platform [22]

developed using integration of open source technologies. The platform is developed in Java and can be

deployed in Application Servers such as Apache Tomcat and Red Hat JBoss. The platform can practically

run in any standard Relational Database Systems (RDBMS) such as MySQL, MS SQL-Server and

Oracle. FusionKM is touted as the next generation Web 2.0 powered Knowledge Management platform

Fig 13: FusionKM Feature set

FusionKM can be used by an organization in its strategies ranging from content management to retaining

of organisational knowledge and for creating a collaborative environment.

Retaining Organization Knowledge

Knowledge Economy requires the disparate functions within an organization to be interlinked, in the

process of creating and re-generating knowledge structures. As the organization grows in employee count

and revenue, there is deluge of information created by employees, this leads to innovations and this

information in-turn builds a strong Intellectual Property for the organisation.

The Challenge(s) faced by an organisation in the above mentioned scenario are:-

1. Retaining employees with the organization.

2. Capturing knowledge of departing employees

3. Preventing leakage of knowledge into competitors’ catchment area

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Organisations have to deal with these challenges for business sustainment and additionally, they have to

deal with the knowledge economy’s dependence on knowledge sharing within the organisation as well as

external alliances to capture competitive intelligence.

Trainings, Internal promotions and informal meetings are used to capture and disseminate organisational

knowledge. It is observed that there is more information created in this process and this information has

to be accrued and stored and this is generally done through of Minutes of Meeting (MoM) documents.

FusionKM’s central repository helps to index information that gets created within the organisation in a

methodical manner; FusionKM allows teams to collaborate together virtually.

Fig 14: FusionKM Homepage

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Fig 15: FusionKM Communities Page

2.7.2 FeaturesAs per [24], the main components of the FusionKM are:-

Indexing Engine

The document storage and indexing engine is the main constituent of the repository. The entity is

responsible to store and index the content uploaded into the system.

Workflow Engine

The Workflow and Business Process Management (BPM) module enables new processes to be deployed

in the system. It also includes customizable tasks and task details.

Document Management

Document Management module contains all features of a typical document management system such as

upload facility, security, versioning, metadata management, check-in/check-out and document preview.

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Collaboration and Social Networking

Collaboration engine contains Web 2.0 collaboration features such as Wiki, Blog and Discussion Forum.

The platform’s functionalities for Social Networking aid users in collaborating with each other.

Project Management

The platform supports Project and Task Management activities. Timesheet module is integrated with

Workflow tasks and Project Management to provide managers the ability control/monitor their jobs.

Portal

The Portal is the User Interface part of the solution. Portal has the following features:-

o Users, Communities and User Groups

o Library of portlets

o User customizable pages and page web contents

o WYSWYG CMS

o User customizable page layout and design

o Availability of individual workspaces. A workspace consists of pages, documents, styles &

themes, branding and so on.

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Fig 16: FusionKM Architecture

2.7.3 BenefitsWeb 2.0 concepts built in FusionKM, makes it easier for project teams to collaborate and publish content

using Blogs, Wikis and Forums. The users can create automated custom workflows with document

versioning. FusionKM uses instant messaging and bookmarking features thereby making communication

between project teams across geographic locations much faster. FusionKM improves ROI of knowledge

asset management by reusing information. It also reduces time required to complete knowledge intensive

work.

2.7.4 Limitationso Comparatively smaller user/developer community.

o Possibility of bugs due to Open Source nature.

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o Customization may need time.

o Good level of technicality involved.

o High training costs.

2.7.5 Commercial Implementations

2.7.5.1 United NationsUnited Nations Agencies in India [25], use FusionKM for their Knowledge Sharing initiative called as

Solution Exchange, this initiative has personnel from Government, NGOs, private sector and academia

working collaboratively through Communities of Practice around themes related to the Millennium

Development Goals of UN. It provides a service called as “Knowledge on Demand” that offers ideas and

resources that members can put to immediate use to help them in facing individual and group challenges.

Technological and KM needs of Solution Exchange

o A dynamic interactive website for Solution Exchange and its Communities.

o A Knowledge Repository, with indexing and search capabilities.

o Administrator content management modules for managing the various processes and work flows.

o Automation of Consolidated Replies (CR) with suitable workflows.

FusionKM Solution

InfoAxon offered its FusionKM ideology approach to the project by picking the required components

from Open Source Component Library and integrating those components to create ‘UN Solution Stack’

consisting of portal, forums, wikis, central repository and CMS frameworks.

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Fig 17: Solution Exchange

Benefits of Solution

Highly Scalable: The system is built using J2EE architecture through integration of Open Source

components; the system provides maximum capability for scalability.

Improved ROI & Value: There was reduction in costs and turnaround time due to the usage of Open

Source framework. The modular design is flexible in including new content types, feeds, workflows and

other features.

Platform Red Hat Enterprise Linux

Presentation Liferay Portal framework

Content Repository Alfresco

Mailing List Manager Lyris

Web / App. Server Apache Tomcat

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Development Tools Eclipse, SVN, Tortoise

Programming Language Java, J2EE, JSP, Servlet

Source Code & Configuration Management SVN, Cruise Control, Ant

Frameworks Custom Exception Handling, Logging (using

Log4J), Custom Audit Framework,

Database MySQL

Table 1: Solution Exchange Technology Stack

2.7.5.2 AidsPortalAIDSPortal [26] is a joint initiative of the UK Consortium on AIDS & International Development and the

International HIV/AIDS Alliance. AIDSPortal uses ICT to increase the effectiveness of community-based

organisations that work with people affected by HIV, exclusively for the vulnerable and marginalised

populations. AIDSPortal wanted to build a common platform to connect individuals with personal and

professional interests in HIV & AIDS, to create awareness about HIV & AIDS.

Business Needs

o Conceptualize and develop a social networking platform that could offer interactive individual

and group profiles.

o Portal with customizable discussion groups.

o Integration with third-party applications such as job listings, videos and directories.

o Provide single point of access to all micro-services.

o Solution that helped in facilitating access to information in a manner critical to organizations

dealing with HIV and AIDS.

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Fig 18: MyAIDSNexus Feature set

FusionKM Solution

InfoAxon (www.infoaxon.com) proposed and designed a solution using latest open source technologies

from its stack, to create a portal called as MyAIDSNexus with the following characteristics.

Social Network Rights Model

The rights model for social network had the following facets:-

1. User Privileges

2. Organization of information

3. User contact details

Micro Services

Micro services serve as the universal containers of information and functionality. The approach helps in

modularizing all information and functionality, to facilitate the users in finding information and

functionality, and to subscribe/publish to those sources. Examples of Micro Services are:-

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• Record personal and organizational details

• Upload a list of documents

• Maintain a list of links to documents, blog and news feed

This solution was labelled as ‘White Label Knowledge Management Platform for Community

Development’ with key features as Social Networking application, Knowledge Community Spaces and

Content Management. It had features that allow integration with third party applications and also a in-

built search feature.

Fig 19: MyAIDSNexus homepage

Presentation LifeRay, ZK, XForm,

XSLT, JSP

Middle Level JBoss, RestEasy, XQuery

Backend DaoLayer/XQuery,

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JDBC

Database MySQL, Exist

Content Syndication XML, ATOM

Application Server JBoss

Operation System CentOS

Table 2: MyAIDSNexus Technology Stack

The solution effectively met the following principle objectives for the MyAIDSNexus portal:

1. Focus on networking

2. Open policy dialogue

3. Country-specific management

4. Easy and faster access to information

Benefits of Solution

o Robust and Scalable

o Easy maintenance

o Economical and cost effective

o Fast delivery

2.8 DeepaMehta

2.8.1 IntroductionDeepaMehta is a software platform for Collaboration and Knowledge Management [27]. Knowledge is

represented in a “Semantic Network” and is handled collaboratively. DeepaMehta is a product of

interdisciplinary research developed using Free and Open Source Software.

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DeepaMehta is a game-changing system that employs a "networked semantic desktop" as a replacement

for traditional computer desktop. As per [28], DeepaMehta doesn’t involve applications, files and

directories. Instead, the users get to use an entity called topic maps. Topics may be projects, emails, and

webpages and so on. The DeepaMehta desktop is a visual representation of the user’s needs and actual

work context.

Fig 20: DeepaMehta Semantic Desktop

2.8.2 FeaturesThe DeepaMehta platform integrates concepts from the fields of Software Engineering, Information

Visualization, Human Computer Interaction, Semantic Web, to form a platform facilitating collaboration

and knowledge management. The DeepaMehta platform comprises of the following parts [28]:-

Mind Maps/Concept Maps

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The semantic desktop combines the virtues of mind map and concept map in a congenial manner, the

cognitive virtues and computational virtues respectively

Visualization/Workspace

The workspace does not create any distinction between graphic visualization of content structures and the

actual work environment. Content is created and edited in the same place. There is no separation between

file-level actions and application-level actions.

Brain Storming/Structuring/Processing

The platform handles the information handling process by providing an environment for creating

information in a brainstorming mode, to structure the information and building models followed by

processing of information by implemented logic

File Level/Application Level

The platform replaces the file-application process by content and operations. Manipulative operations can

be performed by typed content objects.

Network/Local Machine

The uniform user interface for viewing personal and shared content is a welcome shift from the existing

system of local desktop and the network. The user experience is consistent whilst working with both

personal and shared content.

Topic Maps/RDF

The platform integrates the Topic Maps concept with RDF, to leverage the features of Semantic Web.

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Fig 21: Traditional Computing Setup vs DeepaMehta Setup

2.8.3 Benefitso Knowledge Representation, by establishing relationships.

o Complex problem solving through a lucid user interface.

o Mapping techniques.

o DeepaMehta Unified Process enables smooth transition between content, structure and logic. The

process is efficient for development as the platform copes up with visual, verbal and virtual

modalities simultaneously.

Fig 22: DeepaMehta Unified Process

The DeepaMehta software is primarily intended for knowledge work, in schools and research

environments. Its vision is to replace the contemporary ‘application-centric’ desktop with a more content-

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centric viewpoint so that user can concentrate on his/her work instead of worrying about organizing

information in the computer.

2.8.4 Limitationso Highly abstract concept

o Steep learning curve for users

o Potentially confusing as it opposes the current desktop structure used in computers

The question on whether DeepaMehta will succeed in replacing standard desktop applications is not the

main criterion to evaluate the platform as it has brought with it, promising approaches to personal

knowledge management and user interaction design. Furthermore it offers a solid web service based

back-end for collaborative creation and use of knowledge bases ranging from informal collections of

notes to fully fledged semantic networks [29].

2.8.5 Commercial Implementations DeepaMehta has been successfully deployed in varied domain commercial sites.

2.8.5.1 Kiezatlas Verband fur sozila-kulturelle Arbeit, the German umbrella organization of settlements and

neighbourhood centres, was the first to deploy the DeepaMehta application called as Kiezatlas [28].

Kiezatlas is a GIS based CMS system. Kiezatlas works for the visitors with any web browser. The users

will need a Web browser with Java support to work in DeepaMehta topic map interface. The system

distinguishes between four types of users:-

Web surfers get information about any "spatial objects"

Editors, update via a password-protected access their own information.

Neighbourhood administrators, place on any maps of social facilities and shops.

General Administrators to develop scenarios and support new neighbourhoods.

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Web surfers, the actual users of the system retrieve information about e.g. social facilities, parks or art in

public space.

Information objects are found in several ways:-

o By name

o Through a variety of criteria such as expression

Type of offer

Age of the target group

o By the geographic proximity

Fig 23: Kiezatlas Homepage

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Fig 24: Kiezatlas Topic Map Frontend

2.8.5.2 German Amina FoundationThe German Amina Foundation [28], use DeepaMehta platform for promoting Corporate Responsibility

(CR) projects through collaboration between companies, universities and independent bodies. It is used as

a live-mapping tool.

DeepaMehta is used as a live-mapping tool at the Amina events. In fig 23, relationships between Amina

Corporate Responsibility topics (blue balls) and suitable university courses are shown in pink.

Amina actors and their affiliations to corporations and universities are displayed alongside their

Mentorships (blue associations) for the Amina topics. Every Amina topic is related to a shared

workspace for the students and mentors collaborative work.

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Fig 25: Amina Homepage

3.0 Conclusion

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Feature MediaWiki Moodle FusionKM DeepaMehta

Knowledge Creation

Knowledge Codification

Knowledge Transfer

User Interface Web Web Web Hybrid

Technical Expertise Basic Basic Intermediate Advanced

Blogs

Wikis

Forums

IM

AI/Data Mining

File/Document Repository

CMS

Search

Social Networking

Bookmarking/Tagging

SemanticsGraphical Representation of networks

Widely Used

Ease of Deployment

Scalability Level Medium Medium High High

Facilitate CoPs

Facilitate Mashups

Mapping Oriented

Fig 26: Tool Comparison

The tools discussed in this report signify the utility of open source ideology in implementation of KM

systems in organizations. The thriving Open Source community offers multiple benefits to organizations

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in terms of high scope for customization and scalability, reduced costs and integration with existing

systems. Commercial software packages will always have wider reach as most organisations do not have

time to implement an open source KM system. OSS KM implementation need proper planning and

visioning with a broader perspective. It offers complete ownership of the solution to the organisation, in

totality.

4.0 References[1] Melissie clemmons Rumizen,Ph.D (2001), The complete Idiot’s guide to Knowledge Management

[2] Lee et al (2006), Nanyang Techonolgical University,Journal of Information & Knowledge

Management Vol. 5, On the concept and the type of knowledge

[3] Nicholas, F (2000), The Knowledge management yearbook 2000-2001, The Knowledge in Knowledge

management

[4] Michael H.Zack (April 2001), Knowledge Management and Business Model Innovation, Idea Group

Publishing, If Managing Knowledge is the Solution, then What's the Problem?

[5] Gioia, D. A. and P. P. Poole (1984), Academy of Management Review, Vol. 9, No. 3, 1984, pp. 449-

459, Scripts in Organizational Behavior

[6] Schank, Roger C. (1990), New York: Macmillan Publishing Company, Tell Me a Story: A New Look

at Real and Artificial Memory

[7] Schank, R. C. (1975), Representation and Understanding: Studies in Cognitive Science, (New York:

Academic Press), pp. 237-272, The Structure of Episodes in Memory

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[8] Weick, K. E. and M. G. Bougon (1986), The Thinking Organization (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,

1986), pp. 102-135, Organizations as Cognitive Maps

[9] Miltiadis Lytras and Ambjorn Naeve (2007), Idea Group Publishing, Open source for Knowledge and

learning management Strategies Beyond Tools

[10] (2011) Benefits of Using Open Source Software http://goo.gl/7CaX9 and http://goo.gl/PVYus

[11] Carlos Mendez (2011), Open Source Tools for Knowledge Management presentation

http://goo.gl/ds393

[12] J Valenti (2011), Wky Wiki William http://goo.gl/WDgR9

[13] Daniel J. Barrett (2008), O'Rielly Publications, MediaWiki

[14] MediaWiki Testimonials http://goo.gl/ANx60

[15] BOC deploys Open Source knowledge management tool http://goo.gl/Qu2Ri

[16] MediaWiki on the Stanford Web Service http://goo.gl/1LQjZ

[17] Miles Berry (2011), Knowledge Management in Moodle http://goo.gl/PTn2H

[18] Retrieved 2011-03-01, Information Technology Unit (itu), E-Learning Features, http://goo.gl/RcG9J

[19] Miles Berry (2011), Can Moodle Be considered a Knowledge Management Solution

http://goo.gl/UpBsB

[20] Sarah Fister Gale (October 2008), Moodle Goes Corporate http://goo.gl/7fpWf

[21] Sheilla Norton (2007), Why Moodle http://goo.gl/KzjBG

[22] (2011), FusionKM http://goo.gl/rJrzC

[23] (2011), FusionKM datasheet http://goo.gl/3M5iI

[24] (2011), FusionKM homepage http://goo.gl/69iJq

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[25] (2011), UN (United Nations) ‘Solution Exchange Knowledge Repository’ Case Study

http://goo.gl/rfY1h

[26] (2011), MyAIDSNexus Social Network Based Community Portal Case Study http://goo.gl/avUSQ

[27] (2011), DeepaMehta Product Homepage http://goo.gl/Cxidn

[28] Rech et al (2008), Information Science Reference, Emerging Technologies for Semantic Work

Environments Techniques, Methods and Applications

[29] Jens-Christoph Brendel (2009), Linux Magazine, DeepaMehta: Pioneering Knowledge Management

in Linux

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