Central information management:
Internet platforms are ideally suited for the central storage and management of documents. Moreover, documents are made available from any Internet access point. Access takes place via a permission system which ensures that only authorized persons are granted access to the information.

The difficulties caused by the sending of files via e-mail (see chapter IV.a. "Email") are avoided.

In order to enable work on shared documents, special functions are available which are usually summarized under the terms document management and content management. Of course, the usage does not require programming skills and can be handled by any user.

Basically, the following functions have proved indispensable for central information management:

• version control:
  Each version of a text or file is provided with a version number under which it remains available. The history of the text or file is thus traceable. The possibility to either link to a specific version or to the most current version of a document has proven practical.
  
  
• development of a file system in a tree structure:
  Documents can be assigned to specific positions in a structure.
  
  
• search funtion:
  All texts should be available in full text in order to allow those who are not familiar with the file structure to quickly retrieve documents.
  
  
• up- and download of files in different formats (.doc, .xls, .pdf etc.)
  
  
• possibility to reference:
  Good software solutions provide link management which allows you to either link within platforms or from outside (e.g. in e-mails) to specific information. Moreover, link management guarantees that links remain intact or at least inform the user in case the referenced object has been moved or deleted.
  
  
• permission system:
  Access to information is limited. Read or edit permissions can be either assigned to individual users or to user groups.
  
  
• meta data:
  Each piece of information is provided with metadata which is either created automatically or by the author and facilitate the retrieval and management of documents. At least the author of the document and the publication date should always be indicated obligatorily.
  

Knowledge exchange/communication:
Within an Internet platform different applications for the communication in a group as well as with the public can be integrated. They constitute a major supplement to the, otherwise overstrained (see chapter IV.a. "E-mail"), e-mail.
The most important applications are discussion forums (see chapter IV.c. "Discussion forum") and chat (see chapter IV.d. "Real-time communication"). Sometimes, instant messaging systems (see chapter IV.e. "Instant messaging") and video conference solutions are included. Via comment functions (i.e. comments on individual texts as is the case in many news portals) or poll services, some systems offer further possibilities to participate.

Website:
The possiblity to use Internet platforms as a website is moving to the center of interest among inernational research projects. As already mentioned in chapter I.a., this function has a significant meaning for the dissemination of results of research projects.

When it comes to choosing a suitable software for an Internet platform, some further aspects need to be considered:

Application Service Providing (rent model):
Application Service Providing (ASP) helps to avoid the need for development and operation in one's own company. Instead the application can be rented from a central Application Service Provider. This alternative offers serveral advantages and increasingly asserts itself – though under another name – on the market:
The application is already developed, is ideally used in many places and tested in advance. You do not buy a pig in a poke.

• The software is available. Delays in delivery are not anticipated.
• The costs (“total cost of ownership“) can be calculated.
• No high initial investment for hard- and software needs to be made.
• Extension and reduction of functionality is possible at any time for good products.
• The guaranteed standards regarding availability and security are usually hard to achieve in one's own system environment.

The Application Service Provider takes care of hard- or software, backup and updates.
What needs to be taken into account is that a product offered in an ASP-model is standard software. Many systems can be adapted to one's wishes to a certain degree. However, there are limits.
In principle, it is not advisable to develop one's own softare solution or to let develop. If one does not seek exhausting adventures, it is better to make use of the advantages of the division of labour in economy and to consult specialists with tested software. Tasks relating to content and organisation during the development of a platform are usually challenging enough.

comptability of browser, operativeness on PC and Mac:
Good software solutions support all prevalent browsers (Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Opera etc.) and run on PC as well as Mac.

Notification:
A central tool for the operation of Internet platforms is the notification of content-related changes via e-mail. The notification has proved decisive for the usage of a system provided that users are informed in a personalized way about the latest changes on the whole platform. If the changes can be accessed directly via a link in the e-mail, users do not need to actively visit the platform and inform themselves about changes, which practically never happens anyway. Instead, they are “picked up“ where they usually look, in their inbox.

fitted for search engines:
The most common method to search for information in the Internet is the usage of search engines (e.g. Google or Yahoo). Those who are not present there will not be found. This aspect needs to be considered during the content-related and technical development of Internet platforms and, above all, during the planning of the dissemination. With regard to technical aspects, it is vital that the used software supports so-called “robots“ (automatic programmes which read web content). Unfortunately, this is not the case for many technologies.