Libraries in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0

Many users wonder what the difference is between simply continuing to store their files in a file share on a network server, keeping them on their local hard drives to make sure they are close at hand, or emailing them to people when needed. Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 document libraries offer a variety of features that have proven to be useful to a wide range of users and projects and that empower the site administrators to customize the storage and collaborative features of the library and enhance user productivity. Some of the advantages provided by a SharePoint document library include the following:

. The administrator of a document library can customize who can add, modify, and delete documents in a document library, or just read them.

. Versioning can be turned on for a document library that keeps a complete copy of previous versions of the documents for reference or recovery purposes.

. Alerts can be set on a document within the library or for the entire library so the user receives an email notification if a document is modified, added, or deleted.

. Documents can be checked out, and the name of the person who has the document checked out can be listed in the library, so that other users can’t modify the document and know who has it reserved.

. A template can be stored in the document library that can be used to create a new document in the library.

. Metadata can be added to a document library that enables users to better describe what the document contains, by, for example, clarifying which client it belongs to, key words in the document, or pretty much any other kind of textual or numerical information.

. Views can be created that group documents by certain criteria, sort them by any of the columns in the library, or only display documents that meet certain criteria.

. The library can be searched for text contained within the document, a feature often not available on a corporate network. In addition, the metadata associated with a document can be searched.

. If the organization decides on certain standards for the customization of a document library, it can create a template that can be used in other sites.

In Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, the standard document libraries provided are as follows:
. Document library
. Form library
. Wiki page library
. Picture library

Source of Information : Sams - Windows Server 2008 R2 Unleashed