Digital Asset Management Forum presentation from the Museum Computer Network 2010 conference

1. Digital Asset Management
Forum
Edward Smith
Product Manager
Extensis

3. What Is Metadata?
“Data about data”
Information (metadata) about files (assets)
Machine or human generated
Examples:
 Informational (The date a picture was taken)
 Index (search keywords)
 Rights (where/how can this file can be used?)
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4. What Is An Asset?
“Anything tangible or intangible that is capable of
being owned or controlled to produce value…”
(Wikipedia)
A media file plus metadata
“They’re only assets if you can find them”
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5. What Is Digital Asset Management?
DAM is the effective management and distribution of digital
assets such as images, documents, creative files, audio and
video clips. DAM solutions allow organizations to centrally
catalog, store, retrieve and distribute large collections of
valuable digital assets.
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6. The Need for DAM
Locating assets
Understanding what assets are available
Providing access to the “correct” assets
Providing access to the “correct” format and size
Reusing assets
Recreating assets
Inconsistent use
Usage and rights management
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7. Benefits of DAM
Improve efficiency
Reduce costs
Increase revenue
Brand consistency
Customer service
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8. Presentation Outline
Preparing for DAM
Evaluating Solutions
Implementation
Daily Use
Maintenance
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9. Presentation Outline
Preparing for DAM
Evaluating Solutions
Implementation
Daily Use
Maintenance
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10. Involve Stakeholders
Indentify and involve stakeholders
 Find champions
 Create a project team
 Involve your IT department
 Obtain director/executive level support
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11. Take Inventory
IT assets
• Hardware and operating
systems
• Software and applications
File assets
• Types (formats)
• Number
• Size (disk space)
• Annual growth
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Existing systems and data
• Spreadsheets
• FileMaker
• MS Access
• Physical information systems
• Other databases?

12. File Limitations
File extensions?
Long file names (more than 32 characters)?
Mac resource forks?
Mac color labels applied?
Files larger than 2GB?
Filenames with anything other than letters (A-Z,a-z), numbers
(0-9), spaces ( ), underscores (_), dashes (-), or periods(.) ?
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13. Making a Business Case for DAM
How does DAM support organizational goals/mission?
Quantify the current pain points
Does the cost justify the outcome? (ROI)
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14. ROI Tool (Beta)
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15. Document Current Workflow
Questions to ask:
Who is responsible for managing the collection?
Who needs access to the collection?
 What are they looking for?
 What formats do they need?
What is the file naming convention (if any)?
What is the folder hierarchy convention (if any)?
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16. Document Current Workflow
Prior to evaluating DAM systems, document “use case”
scenarios that describe how people currently work today,
and how they would work in an ideal DAM system in the
future.
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17. Document Current Workflow
Present Day Scenario
Images are frequently requested by staff for use within PowerPoint
presentations or for print and web use. The person maintaining the image
collection fulfills image requests by browsing through folders on several
different file servers. Once an appropriate image is located, a spreadsheet is
cross referenced for usage rights. If the image does not meet the desired
usage, the search continues. Once an appropriate set of images are selected,
each image is opened in Photoshop and resaved in the correct format and
resolution. The images are then uploaded to an FTP server and download
instructions are emailed to the requesting staff member.
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18. Document Current Workflow
Ideal Scenario
Images added to file server folders are automatically ingested by the DAM
system. The collection maintainer adds search keywords and usage rights
information to images in the DAM system using drop-down menus. A secure
web portal allows staff to search items from the image collection using
keywords and other automatically applied information such as “Date
Created”. The web portal only displays search results for items that have an
“approved” metadata value. Important information such as usage rights
appear next to search results. Staff can download and convert images on the
fly into low, medium, and high resolution formats.
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19. Example #1 - Yale

20. Example #2 – Miami Dade College

21. Example #3 – AMNH

22. 21
Example #4 – National Wildlife Federation

24. Define Schema
Schema is the framework or the structure of
your DAM database
Your schema will affect:
• How people add assets
• How people categorize assets
• How people search for assets
• How people will understand assets, including:
• Descriptive info
• Usage info
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25. Define Schema
Taxonomy (controlled vocabulary)
Classifications that use a predefined and consistent list of available
values.
Folksonomy (unrestricted vocabulary)
A collaborative method to categorize metadata where freely chosen
keywords are used instead of a controlled vocabulary. Many
organizations prefer not to use folksonomy, as it creates
inconsistencies in the classification of information (kitty versus cat;
product SKU versus product part number).
Hybrid vocabulary
Offers users the choice of choosing values from controlled vocabulary
list or entering in a desired value not available in the list.
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26. 25
Prioritize metadata field entry
1. Crucial Info…
Capture device
Asset creator’s name
Date created
EXIF metadata
2. Nice to Have…
Conservation treatment status
Object collection information
Curatorial approvals
3. Can Live Without…
Work order information
Exhibition information
Define Schema

27. Metadata Planning Tool

28. 27
A folder hierarchy is a structure of folders and
subfolders.
Folder hierarchies are used for:
 Browsing assets (instead of searching)
 Access outside of a DAM system
 Applying metadata (keywords from path)
Folder Hierarchy

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Folder Hierarchy Example

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Resources
 Do I Need a Digital Asset Management System?
 Presenting a Convincing Case for DAM
 Metadata Planning Tool
 Tips for Advanced Metadata Management
 5 Tips for Setting Up An Organized Folder Structure
 How to Create a Logical and Manageable Folder Structure
Preparing for DAM

31. Presentation Outline
Preparing for DAM
Evaluating Solutions
Implementation
Daily Use
Maintenance
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32. 31
Focus on solving problems, not features
• What problems do you want to solve?
• What problems are the most important?
• What problems can be solved later (phase 2)?
Evaluation of DAM Systems

33. 32
Types of DAM systems
• Commercial, open source, or custom
• Location
• Centralized onsite
• Distributed onsite (multiple locations)
• Cloud based (hosted)
• Licensing
• Per server
• Per named user
• Per connection
• Subscription
• Scalability
Evaluation of DAM Systems

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Give vendors your notes and documentation
Ask to see how the system would work with your
assets, processes, and data instead of generic data
and demos.
• Use cases
• Sample assets
• Metadata schema
• Folder structure example
Evaluation of DAM Systems

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Ask vendors:
• For a web demo
• For trial software
• For customer referrals
• How long have they been in business?
• What other organizations like yours are using their
software?
• “How does your system…?” not “Can your system …?”.
• What other questions can you think of or have you
used in evaluating?
Evaluation of DAM Systems

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Resources
 ROI Calculator
 The Digital Asset Management Market
Evaluating Solutions

37. Presentation Outline
Preparing for DAM
Evaluating Solutions
Implementation
Daily Use
Maintenance
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38. 37
Project team
Catalogers – dependant on cataloging strategy:
• Who will add files?
• How much time for initial cataloging?
• How much time for ongoing cataloging?
Server admin
Training and documentation
Assign Responsibilities

39. Miami Dade College Training Manuals
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40. Example of File Standards

41. DAM Implementation Summary
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42. 41
1. Preliminary discussions
2. Installation
3. Configuration
1. Configure
2. Test
3. Review
4. Documentation
5. Training
6. Post-implementation evaluation
Installation Steps

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Resources
 Summary Document
 Miami Dade College Example Documentation
 DAM Learning Center
Implementation

44. Presentation Outline
Preparing for DAM
Evaluating Solutions
Implementation
Daily Use
Maintenance
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45. 44
The process of adding files to a DAM system is also
known as “ingesting”, “uploading”, or “cataloging”.
The process may be invoked or automatic (“watch
folders”)
The process may involve:
• Addition of metadata by user
• Automatic extraction of embedded metadata
• Automatic generation of derivatives like
thumbnails, previews, or video proxies
Adding Files

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• Automatic generation of keywords from file and
folder names
• Extraction of metadata from files
• Embedding of metadata to files
• Batch editing
• Import or export of metadata to or from other
systems and databases
Metadata Management

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Freeform Text
Faceted Search
Search

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Batch processing can change one or more of the
following attributes on a selection of assets:
• Format
• Color mode
• Dimensions
• Resolution
• Filename
• Image content/pixels (image scripting)
Processing

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After previewing an asset on screen, a user may
need access to:
• Download a high-resolution original file
• Download a low to medium-resolution file
• Download a watermarked file
• Playback time-based media (video streaming)
Download

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Users maintaining digital asset collections typically
use client applications to add and maintain the digital
asset management system.
Other “outside” users that are not familiar with the
collection may benefit from self-service web portals
that provide:
• Access to approved assets in the correct formats
• Insight into collection contents
• Instant and remote access via the web
• Intuitive user interfaces and search forms
Self Service Web Portals

52. Media Sets

53. The Solution: Portfolio Server
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56. 55
Resources
 Core application versus corollary applications in DAM
(Real Story Group)
 Example web portal
Daily Use

57. Presentation Outline
Preparing for DAM
Evaluating Solutions
Implementation
Daily Use
Maintenance
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58. Archive != Backup
Types of DAM workflows:
• Production/Work in progress
• Archive/Distribution
Back-up your files!
• RAID is not backup
• Invaluable in terms of recovering
files accidentally lost
• Get backups out of the building!
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Image source: http://www.flickr.com/people/roadhunter/

59. Software Updates
Major updates (version 2.0)
Minor updates (version 2.1)
Hosted solution updates
Maintenance contracts
Customization
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60. Support
Internal support
Vendor support
• Email
• Phone
• Web/KB
• In house vs. outsourced?
Consultants
The community
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61. More Information
DAM Learning Center:
http://www.extensis.com/damcenter
Extensis Portfolio Server:
http://www.extensis.com/portfolio
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