1 ) An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; a memory coupled to the at least one processor; a repository residing in the memory that includes a plurality of objects; and a content management system residing in the memory and executed by the at least one processor, the content management system managing the plurality of objects in the repository, the content management system comprising: an external data mechanism that processes a document with a query to a data source external to the repository, executes the query, and creates from data returned from the query at least one object in the repository that is separate from the document.