Tip #29

Metadata isn’t just for search!  Leverage your metadata to track copyright and usage information.

Tip #25

Make sure to ask your photographers to synchronize their camera times.  It will ensure users can find images by the date they were taken.

]]> http://www.webdamsolutions.com/digital-asset-management/dam-mondays-digital-asset-management-tip25/feed/ 0 http://www.webdamsolutions.com/digital-asset-management/dam-mondays-digital-asset-management-tip19/ http://www.webdamsolutions.com/digital-asset-management/dam-mondays-digital-asset-management-tip19/#comments Mon, 31 Oct 2011 17:14:59 +0000 Melissa Kelly http://www.webdamsolutions.com/digital-asset-management/?p=2040 Happy Halloween!  For all you ghosts and ghouls out there we have your digital asset management tip for the week.  In a DAM there’s nothing scarier than messy metadata, so don’t let your DAM get out of hand by following this tip.

Tip #19

Create a Metadata Best Practices Guide for your users.  Include information such as when to add metadata, which fields are required, and how to tag assets.

]]> http://www.webdamsolutions.com/digital-asset-management/dam-mondays-digital-asset-management-tip19/feed/ 0 http://www.webdamsolutions.com/digital-asset-management/dam-mondays-digital-asset-management-tip11/ http://www.webdamsolutions.com/digital-asset-management/dam-mondays-digital-asset-management-tip11/#comments Mon, 05 Sep 2011 23:01:24 +0000 Melissa Kelly http://www.webdamsolutions.com/digital-asset-management/?p=1679 Happy Labor Day!  This Monday you get a double treat.  It’s a holiday, plus you still get your DAM Mondays Tip!  To make sure your workflows stay smooth and efficient take my advice…

Tip #11

Communicate with your users regularly to be sure they’re finding what they need in the database easily and quickly.  You may learn that it is time to revisit your metadata strategy.

We’ve received a lot of good questions during the webinar and wanted to post them for everyone as another resource for when you develop out your controlled vocabularies.  If  your question went unanswered, scroll down to find your question and you’ll have your answer.  (The italicized answers are the ones we could not address during the webinar or additions we made to an original answer.)

Q: I didn’t catch what Leigh Ann said when she said some products call controlled vocabularies another name.

A: Keyword Catalog or Keyword List are other commonly used terms

Q: Should I pick a type to use before I start making my list?

A: Well, before you start, you need to determine if your current DAM supports using a controlled vocabulary and what types they support.  You don’t have to select a type. I think the examples shown demonstrate that there is some overlap especially with taxonomy and faceted. So you may actually end up using more than one type. Thinking about this first is definitely a good idea. It will help you create a consistent structure that people can understand. But, you don’t need to commit first to a type. And really, once you start your keywording, you will see a pattern naturally start to develop.

Q: Does Bridge support taxonomy lists?

A: Yes, Bridge supports a taxonomy, or nested keywords.

Q: Didn’t you publish free resources/sites for keywords earlier on, in last webinar?

A: In this webinar (Controlled Vocabulary), we presented the following 3 great resources:

www.controlledvocabulary.com

www.taxonomywarehouse.com

www.keyword-catalog.com

Previously, we published our top 5 favorite metadata resources here: http://www.webdamsolutions.com/digital-asset-management/metadata-resource/

Q:  What is the difference between a taxonomy and a facted vocabulary?

A: The difference is that in a taxonomy, I can search by the parent of the child so in the case I brought up about staples, I can search by chairs or executive chairs and get the same results.  Now, a faceted vocabulary works different in the way that it is not a parent child relationship. So, with the yelp example, I searched by restaurants, they come up and then I can group my results by different characteristics such as price range or neighborhood. The difference is that I would not search by neighborhoods alone and get restaurants, nor would I search by price range and get restaurants. There is no parent child relationship. The restaurants don’t belong to a parent such as neighborhood. If it were a taxonomy, the parent may be restaurants and the child might be different types of food.

Q: What types of digital assets can you keyword?

A: Most often photos and videos but applies to any type of digital asset.

Q: In WebDAM, when you upload a list of keywords to build a controlled vocabulary, when you upload another list does it overwrite the initial list or add to it?

A: You can choose replace or append when you upload.

Q: How many words should be on my controlled vocabulary list?

A: It will vary by your industry and your needs. The ski image for instance had 50 words or so attached to it. It is subjective. But, if you’re maintaining a database with a narrow scope, you may only need 50 words on your list all together. On the flip if you in a scientific industry, while your audience may be very specific or even small, your vocabulary list may be enormous because a specific and known naming convention already exists.

Q: Where is the Controlled Vocabulary tool within WebDAM?

A: It can be enabled and uploaded from the Preference page.
We also have a great Feature in Focus article about controlled vocabulary in DAM-it! The Blog and you can find it here and see a step by step guide for implementation. http://www.webdamsolutions.com/digital-asset-management/controlled-vocabulary/

Q: Could you give an example of the Types of keywords used on a graphic? Such as a website banner, a quote graphic, or any other website graphic

A: Example – a quote graphic – client who quoted it, product name it is in reference to, or any important/key terms from the quote itself.

Q: What is the price rang of lists for purchase?

A: This varies quite a bit. I have seen lists that cost 75 dollars and others that are thousands.

Q: [When you do a keyword search] does happy also find happiness?

A: Not in most search engines.  Therefore, either keywording with both terms or standardizing your forms of words (preferred) is important.

Q: What’s the best way to keyword a person’s name?  John Doe or John, Doe?  Are caps needed?

A: John Doe (no comma).  Searches are case INSENSITIVE so using upper case won’t change your search results.  However, it does make it easier to read so we recommend using upper case for proper nouns only.
Q: So if a searcher types just John or just Doe, it will return assets with that particular name?
A: Yes it will – depends on the tool but in WebDAM and many others it will work that way.

Q: Who should be involved in creating the list?

A: The people involved need to understand the business goals and the data. In the case of my personal example of keywording the garden images. The business goals were not understood nor was the data. Which is why, the keywords were all over the map and definitely not a controlled vocabulary. But, it would have been easy to create a controlled vocabulary had the right people been involved. One person who understood the data is the horticulturist. She would have been a great person to involve. In your own businesses, product experts would be good. Also, maybe a set of people who will be accessing the data. Now, you don’t necessarily need to involve them in the entire process, but maybe just send a draft of the list to them and ask them what these terms mean to them.

Q: how do you get the sales and marketing to participate in helping the DAM manager get all the info to apply keywords? Ex.: if it’s a sales brochure and others call it sales sheet – how do you get others to tell the DAM what these other names outside sales or education call it?

A: This is where your Controlled Vocabulary is key.  If Sales Sheet isn’t in the keyword list, then the keyworder will select Sales Brochure.  Likewise, it is important to involve a few stakeholders across the business in the development of the vocabulary.

Q: Can I download the slides?

A: They will be made available after the presentation.
Yes, our Webinar Page, http://webdamsolutions.com/summer_webinar_series.php has links to download everything webinar related.  You can now download the slides, webinar materials (like the Controlled Vocabulary Worksheet), and webinar recordings.

All these questions were a great, thanks again for taking part in our webinar!  If you just watched the recording and didn’t get a chance to ask any live questions or if any other questions come up, about controlled vocabulary or even just DAM related, feel free to comment here or send us an email at info@webdamsolutions.com.

Tip #9

Avoid copying or duplicated assets at all costs.  Duplications lead to redundant data, inconsistencies in metadata, and a lot of extra work.

In this webinar we will explore the topic of controlled vocabulary and how it applies to selecting, implementing, and managing a digital asset management system.  Attendees will gain the insight they need to develop a keyword library for use within their digital workflows and metadata efforts. Join WebDAM’s customer success manager, Leigh Ann as she hosts this valuable webinar that will help you use controlled vocabulary to enhance the search-abilty and usability of a digital asset management system.

What: “Controlled Vocabulary: Implementing a library of keywords to improve consistency and search-ability.”

When: Thursday, August 18, 2011 at 10am PT

Want to get a little more familiar with controlled vocabulary before the webinar?
Take a look at our  blog post “Feature in Focus: Controlled Vocabulary” where Leigh Ann briefly highlights this WebDAM feature… http://www.webdamsolutions.com/digital-asset-management/controlled-vocabulary/

Other Upcoming Webinars:

Building the Framework: Organizing your digital assets for any business

Thursday, September 15 at 10 am (PT)

User Adoption: Engaging your team with a communication plan

Thursday, October 13 at 10 am (PT)

Previous Webinars:

Make sure to take advantage of these great DAM resources!

Tip#3

Create a custom metadata schema to tailor metadata fields for the needs of your organization.   Create custom fields, disable unused fields, and change field names to be more familiar to your users.

So if you want to continue doing things the difficult and slow way, well, stop reading this article right now. (To make things extra difficult and slow, try dividing 4,921 by 1.884 in your head…then stop reading this article.)

Now, if you’re like most people and want to simplify things, let’s look ahead at how we can improve search in your DAM…

Folder Structure

A good folder structure is important for quick searches because it’s the backbone of your DAM. For instance, most DAMs allow you to filter searches by folder or simply browse through the folders.  It’s good to make the folder structure something that the people using the DAM are already familiar with, like how the structure of your organization works. (Hint: Don’t randomly name folders after zoo animals. That will confuse people.) Some like to organize based on departments or project names, for instance.  Completely customizable, apply what works best for your organization.

Controlled Vocabulary

A controlled vocabulary is a list of pre-defined terms used to describe the assets in your DAM; it includes any terms that are important for organizational or descriptive purposes. Everyone has a different set of controlled vocabulary because of the ability to tailor your own needs. Keywords range anywhere from photographer names to specific industry terms or even objects in pictures. When many team members are contributing to your keywording efforts, a controlled vocabulary is particularly useful in preventing typos, misspellings and duplicate keywords.

File Names

An asset’s file name is just as valuable as the keywords attached to it. If you already have a file-naming convention, stick to that and stay consistent. As long as everyone maintains that consistency, filenames might be the easiest way for your organization to find what they need at times.

Metadata Process

Metadata is critical to search in any form, be it DAM or on the web. In order to make this work, a defined metadata process must be implemented (along with proper training for everyone on board). It’s important that contributors know what metadata should be included for every asset.  A variety of fields exist in EXIF and IPTC/XMP, such as copyright notice, creator information, date taken, photographer, location, usage terms, and you can often even make your own customizable fields.  Talk with your team about what metadata is important and figure out a simple process that outlines how this will be accomplished.  Associating complete metadata with your digital assets will benefit everyone.

Camera Settings

Digital photos have the adding benefit of containing automatically embedded camera information, such as date and time stamps.  However, this information relies on the photographer setting their camera clock correctly.  Incorrect dates or times can create all sorts of confusion during a search.  With an accurate time stamp, photo shoots and event photos can practically organize themselves by date and time.

If you follow these guidelines when implementing or maintaining a DAM, you’ll be on your way to achieving DAM success. For more information on any of these topics, browse through some of our other related blog posts: Metadata Demystified or Feature in Focus: Controlled Vocabulary.  For even more information, join us for our Summer Webinar Series!  The first webinar is Thursday July 14 at 10am (PT) and its featuring metadata. See you then!

Leigh Ann will start off the series with “Metadata 101: Building a Solid Foundation” on Thursday, July 14 at 10am PT featuring our very own industry expert, Jody Vandergriff.  All the webinars in this series are perfect for users across all levels of experience.  To reserve your spot today, or to get a closer look at this webinar, register for free here.

To check out the whole series and uncover the topics that will be presented in the upcoming webinars, visit the Summer Webinar Series Schedule.  Space is limited so save the dates and make sure to reserve your seat as soon as the registration pages become available.

Fresh off the press, read this press release that reveals more information about the series at: http://webdamsolutions.com/press_summer_webinar_series.php

Join us in our Summer Webinar Series and have fun learning about Digital Asset Management!