Open source Tools for Knowledge Management

1. K6213 Term Paper
Comparative Study of Open
Source Knowledge Management
Tools
K6213 KM Technologies – Term Paper
By,
Sesagiri Raamkumar Aravind(G1101761F)
Selvaraju Nirmala(G1101760J)
Page 1 of 43

2. K6213 Term Paper
Table of Contents
1.0 Knowledge Management and Open Source Systems.........................................................................3
1.1 Introduction to Knowledge...............................................................................................................3
1.2 Types of Knowledge........................................................................................................................3
1.3 Knowledge Management.................................................................................................................5
1.4 Open Source Systems.....................................................................................................................5
1.4.1 Benefits of Open Source Software............................................................................................7
1.5 Requirements of KM from Technological Tools...............................................................................7
2.0 Open Source KM Tools.......................................................................................................................8
2.1 Explicit Knowledge...........................................................................................................................8
2.2 Implicit Knowledge...........................................................................................................................8
2.3 KM Suites........................................................................................................................................9
2.4 Selection Process for Comparative Study........................................................................................9
2.5 MediaWiki......................................................................................................................................10
2.5.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................10
2.5.2 Features..................................................................................................................................11
2.5.3 Benefits...................................................................................................................................14
2.5.4 Limitations...............................................................................................................................14
2.5.5 Commercial Implementations..................................................................................................15
2.6 Moodle...........................................................................................................................................17
2.6.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................17
2.6.2 Features..................................................................................................................................17
2.6.3 Benefits...................................................................................................................................20
2.6.4 Limitations...............................................................................................................................21
2.6.5 Commercial Implementations..................................................................................................21
2.7 FusionKM......................................................................................................................................22
2.7.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................22
2.7.2 Features..................................................................................................................................24
2.7.3 Benefits...................................................................................................................................26
2.7.4 Limitations...............................................................................................................................26
2.7.5 Commercial Implementations..................................................................................................27
2.8 DeepaMehta..................................................................................................................................32
2.8.1 Introduction.............................................................................................................................32
2.8.2 Features..................................................................................................................................33
2.8.3 Benefits...................................................................................................................................35
2.8.4 Limitations...............................................................................................................................35
2.8.5 Commercial Implementations .................................................................................................36
3.0 Conclusion........................................................................................................................................39
4.0 References........................................................................................................................................41
Page 2 of 43

3. K6213 Term Paper
1.0 Knowledge Management and Open Source
Systems
1.1 Introduction to Knowledge
Thomas 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 Knowledge
Knowledge 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
Page 3 of 43

4. K6213 Term Paper
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.
Page 4 of 43

5. K6213 Term Paper
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
Page 5 of 43

6. K6213 Term Paper
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.
Page 6 of 43

7. K6213 Term Paper
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 Tools
The 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
Page 7 of 43

8. K6213 Term Paper
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 Tools
The different categories of Open Source tools enlisted under Explicit and Implicit Knowledge as per [11]
are:-
2.1 Explicit Knowledge
1. 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 Knowledge
1. Virtual Communities
2. Tagging/Voting
3. Social Networks
4. Knowledge Map
Page 8 of 43

9. K6213 Term Paper
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 Suites
KM 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
Page 9 of 43

10. K6213 Term Paper
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 Introduction
The 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
Page 10 of 43

11. K6213 Term Paper
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 Features
Organisations 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
Page 11 of 43

12. K6213 Term Paper
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.
Page 12 of 43

13. K6213 Term Paper
Fig5: Editing in MediaWiki
Fig 6: Emedding vidoes in MediaWiki
Page 13 of 43

14. K6213 Term Paper
Fig 7: Embedding images in MediaWiki
2.5.3 Benefits
o 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 Limitations
There 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
Page 14 of 43

15. K6213 Term Paper
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 Implementations
MediaWiki has footprint in different industries. Some of them have been cited as a part of the study. They
are:-
2.5.5.1 Novell
Novel [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
Page 15 of 43

16. K6213 Term Paper
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 Wikia
Wikia [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 Group
BOC 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
Page 16 of 43

17. K6213 Term Paper
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 Introduction
Moodle (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 Features
Moodle 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
Page 17 of 43

18. K6213 Term Paper
• Blogs, for individual contribution facilitated through Reports, Reflections and Journals
• 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
Page 18 of 43

19. K6213 Term Paper
Fig 9: Moodle Features
Fig 10: Subsection
Fig 11: Discussion Forum
Page 19 of 43

20. K6213 Term Paper
Fig 12: Survey Page
2.6.3 Benefits
The 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.
Page 20 of 43

21. K6213 Term Paper
2.6.4 Limitations
There 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 Implementations
Moodle finds its implementation in the following companies:-
2.6.5.1 Cisco
Cisco [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 PHS
Paediatric 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
Page 21 of 43

22. K6213 Term Paper
2.7 FusionKM
2.7.1 Introduction
FusionKM 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
Page 22 of 43

23. K6213 Term Paper
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
Page 23 of 43

24. K6213 Term Paper
Fig 15: FusionKM Communities Page
2.7.2 Features
As 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.
Page 24 of 43

25. K6213 Term Paper
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.
Page 25 of 43

26. K6213 Term Paper
Fig 16: FusionKM Architecture
2.7.3 Benefits
Web 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 Limitations
o Comparatively smaller user/developer community.
o Possibility of bugs due to Open Source nature.
Page 26 of 43

27. K6213 Term Paper
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 Nations
United 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.
Page 27 of 43

28. K6213 Term Paper
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
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
Page 28 of 43

29. K6213 Term Paper
Log4J), Custom Audit Framework,
Database MySQL
Table 1: Solution Exchange Technology Stack
2.7.5.2 AidsPortal
AIDSPortal [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.
Page 29 of 43

30. K6213 Term Paper
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:-
Page 30 of 43

31. K6213 Term Paper
• 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, JDBC
Database MySQL, Exist
Content Syndication XML, ATOM
Page 31 of 43

32. K6213 Term Paper
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 Introduction
DeepaMehta 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.
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.
Page 32 of 43

33. K6213 Term Paper
Fig 20: DeepaMehta Semantic Desktop
2.8.2 Features
The 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
The semantic desktop combines the virtues of mind map and concept map in a congenial manner, the
cognitive virtues and computational virtues respectively
Page 33 of 43

34. K6213 Term Paper
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.
Fig 21: Traditional Computing Setup vs DeepaMehta Setup
Page 34 of 43

35. K6213 Term Paper
2.8.3 Benefits
o 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-
centric viewpoint so that user can concentrate on his/her work instead of worrying about organizing
information in the computer.
2.8.4 Limitations
o Highly abstract concept
o Steep learning curve for users
o Potentially confusing as it opposes the current desktop structure used in computers
Page 35 of 43

36. K6213 Term Paper
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.
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
Page 36 of 43

37. K6213 Term Paper
• Age of the target group
o By the geographic proximity
Fig 23: Kiezatlas Homepage
Page 37 of 43

38. K6213 Term Paper
Fig 24: Kiezatlas Topic Map Frontend
2.8.5.2 German Amina Foundation
The 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.
Page 38 of 43

39. K6213 Term Paper
Fig 25: Amina Homepage
3.0 Conclusion
Page 39 of 43

40. K6213 Term Paper
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 Mapping
File/Document Repository Oriented
CMS
Search
Social Networking
Bookmarking/Tagging
Semantics
Graphical Representation
of networks
Widely Used
Ease of Deployment
Scalability Level Medium Medium High High
Facilitate CoPs
Facilitate Mashups
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
Page 40 of 43

41. K6213 Term Paper
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
Page 41 of 43

42. K6213 Term Paper
[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
Page 42 of 43

43. K6213 Term Paper
[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
Page 43 of 43