More on Knowledge Management

Yesterday I mentioned use of a web site for knowledge-management in the context of trying to remember things. Another element worth mentioning is the convergence of the function of fileserver computers and web site computers. It's a simple point really - when we save a document to a fileserver it's typically thought of as only accessible on that fileserver's intranet. Saving to a webserver makes a file globally accessible.

The convergence is happening because documents on Windows fileservers can easily be accessed through the use of webfolders. By enabling webfolders you give yourself access to your fileserver documents over the Internet. There are several differences between webfolders and webservers, notably that webfolders allow you to modify and save your files back onto the server. The advantage to a webserver is the ease with which you can create links between things and the public nature of the web. Because of this capability, I've started using my web site to store information I would previously have put on the fileserver. this lets me link documents not linearly, and makes them easily accessible.

Although I don't know much about it, it seems like Microsoft SharePoint is a technology which sort of brings these two server technologies together. If anyone reading this is a SharePoint user I would be interested to hear your feedback. Would you describe SharePoint in the same terms - as a bridge between fileserving and webserving?