The Only Content Management System and Web Development Framework Designed Specifically for Developing State and Regional Digital Encyclopedias

Do you need to develop a robust state or regional digital encyclopedia that brings articles, images and media together into one comprehensive resource for students, teachers, historians and researchers?

Encyclopedia Content Management System (eCMS) is a full-featured application framework that allows you to develop a dynamic digital encyclopedia that includes articles, images, audio, video and multimedia. Content can be organized in various ways, including:

• Alphabet (A-Z)
• Categories and Subcategories
• Topics
• Time Periods
• Georgraphic Regions

eCMS provides you with the ability to create a one-stop resource for information about your state, city or region and provides additional functionality for creating maps, timelines and other supplemental resources for your articles. The system has been developed so that it can be efficiently expanded to suit your needs, or for modifications to be made to the existing modules. Essentially, eCMS can do whatever you want it to. It can make your encyclopedia be whatever you want it to be.

Encyclopedia Content Management System (eCMS) Standard Edition

The standard version of eCMS allows authorized users to create entries, upload images, to create collections and photo galleries and to create complex linking relationships between all content. In the near future eCMS will also feature a set of ecommerce capabilities, along with several other enhancements that are geared towards providing an immersive multimedia experience for visitors and a rich resource for historians, researcher and educators.

Encyclopedia Content Management System Light Edition (eCMS LE)

The Light Edition provides the core functionality of the eCMS system, and is ideal for small museums, historical societies and organizations that want to develop websites with encyclopedias and glossaries to their audience.

Encyclopedia Content Management System Member Portal (eMP)

eMP plugs into the eCMS framework, and allows people visiting the encyclopedia to create member accounts on the web site. In the current version of eMP, members can bookmark content and then collect the content into "scrapbooks," which can be shared with other members of the community, or publicly on the web site.

Commitment to Continuous Improvement

As the eCMS client base has grown, we have developed many new features and modules to meet the needs of our customers. But we are always looking for new ways to improve and expand the product. Recent additions include compatibility with the research tool Zotero and the development of a process for exporting the articles in an encyclopedia to a format that can be read on an Amazon Kindle and other e-readers.

Who Uses eCMS?

The following organziations and websites are using one version or another of the eCMS system:

• Ohio Historical Society for Ohio History Central
• Louisiana Endownment for the Humanities for KnowLA, the Encyclopedia of Louisiana History and Culture
• University of Tennessee Press for the upcoming relaunch of the Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
• University of Tennessee Press for the new Encyclopedia of Appalachia website
• New Whole Earth LLC for Whole Earth Catalog
• German Historical Institute in Washington, D.C. for the upcoming Immigrant Entrepreneurship encyclopedia
• German Historical Institute for the upcoming Transatlantic Perspectives website

Involvement with the American Association of State and Local History

We are a member of the AASLH Internet Digital Encyclopedia (IDEA) Working Group. This group is currently working on the development of standards for state and regional digital encyclopedias. As an institutional member of AASLH, we are honored to be involved in these efforts to help define the best practices for these projects.

Would You Like to Learn More?

Pick up the phone today and call Randal Rust at 614-370-0036 or email us to schedule a free consultation and online demo of the eCMS system. We'll talk about your goals for your encyclopedia, and work up a proposal to help you develop a plan to bring your regional or state encyclopedia to life. You can also visit our Facebook page to see screenshots of our digital encyclopedia projects and other projects that we are currently working on.