Within the NODES European e-Learning project (Creation of a European network of multimedia
resource centres for adult training) we have done research and developments based on open source
tools. One of the aims was to select those open source components which are suitable for creating
the network for using multimedia knowledge to improve competitiveness employability and
mobility of different target groups, such as rural people and farmers. In creating the architecture
of the NODES project there were more tasks which were coordinated and carried out by our expert
group. The selection criteria of open source LMS was set up by the consortium. Our studies’ Survey
on the existing systems consisted of the following parts: The basic elements of e-Learning Systems,
The complements and integration of the e-Learning Systems, The specification of interface. The
result of our research work was that we selected the Moodle LMS. The Moodle provides a reliable
platform that supports social and collaborative learning. It is highly configurable and extensible. It
implements new features and fixes rapidly, it is free of licensing costs. The members of the project
(from France, Spain, Ireland, Hungary, Czech Republic and Romania) implemented the Moodle
system creating the LMS. To integrate the different contents we had to develop the EU-index, which
is the central, common and shared index database (a metadatabase). Another important function is
the multimedia content management. One of these parts is the AutoView Presenter from the about
200 modules which allows putting video on-line with synchronised slides. The NODES system is
used in graduate, postgraduate PhD, adult trainings programmes and it is a very successful system
as an educational portal system for our faculty too
