5+ Things Thursday: Library of the Future, DAM User Metrics, Metadata Games

Here are some things to consider this week.

1. Jill Hurst-Wahl imagines the library of the future over on Digitization 101. I like the Starbucks-like, adult atmosphere of the concept. Let kids and teens get their own libraries!
2. Better sign up soon for InfoCamp Seattle October 13-14. I am thinking of breaking out my favorite presentation on taxonomy, tagging and crowdsourcing called "You Say Tomato, I Say Aardvark." Don't miss it.
3. Stock photography curators at Evolve Images make an unprecedented move to actually publish their photographer roster complete with contact information in case you'd like to commission the photographers. In the past, savvy art producers had to find this information for themselves and before Al Gore invented the internet, that was a task!
4. Here are the top 5 Digital Asset Management system user adoption metrics. This is a great start for anyone (like me) that seeks to quantify the value of DAM.
5. I love metadata games and here is an article about a couple at Dartmouth. I think I mentioned Alum Tag before, but wait, there's more...
6. Bonus post all about Dartmouth metadata games http://www.scholarships.com/Blog/college-news/dartmouths-new-metadata-game-makes-tagging-archives-fun/2642/.
7. While Al Gore did not create the hashtag, Chris Messina did. Read all about it here. Pretty #interestingstuff on the organization of the formerly chaotic #Twitter experience.
8. Steve Cronan wins a DAMMY. Steve is CEO and founder of 5th Kind, has been awarded the 2012 DAMMY of the Year. 5th Kind is a Los Angeles-based company that provides digital asset management software to view, track and secure digital files and a platform to distribute and communicate.

5 Things Thursday: Lightroom, DAM, Rock and Roll, Scholarly Journals

Admittedly, this week I wanted to write about my awesome new Origins Ginzing mascara and the crush worthy Stuart Weitzman boots at Nordstrom, but this is a blog about information damn it.

1. For photographers, how to better utilize Adobe Lightroom as a digital asset management tool by using Smart Collections.
2. Hysterical article by David Diamond on the DAM disconnect when it comes to humans searching. Features some of my favorite lines from the perspective of the DAM system "What the hell are you really looking for? I hate humans. Find your own damned file."
3. Adam Wead from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame archive talks about their systems. Yummy catalog records and stuff.
4. Please contribute answers to this question "What are the most important considerations when planning the introduction of a DAM system?"
5. Wonder what scholarly journals you should read or where you should aspire to publish?

Kodachrome: The Cushman Archive

There was an amazing story on NPR last week about the Charles W. Cushman Kodachorme slide collection and its discovery. Here is a link to the feature on NPR as well as the official Indiana University information.

Cushman's work captured the United States at particular times in a particular medium.

 

5 Things Thursday: Swiss National Library, DAM Shootout, Metadata Registry

Here are 5 things that you will enjoy:

1. Check out this video on whether DAM should be in the cloud or onsite. There are pros and cons to both methods. For instance, we host onsite due to security concerns although this may or may not be valid. This "shootout" explains it all. Hosted by David Diamond.
2. Did you hear that the Swiss National Library has gone open data? They have started making all the metadata from the 'Helveticat' catalog available as a Creative Commons 0 licensed open data API.
3. Do you know about the Open Metadata Registry (supporting metadata interoperability). Set up a sandbox and play with it yourself. Pretty nifty.
4. What is a digital asset? Ed Smith of Extensis explains it astutely here. And remember, they are only assets if you can find them...
5. Revel in this vintage fashion photography from the archives of the International Center of Photography and Magnum Photos.

What Does a Digital Asset Manager Need to Know?

Here's a great article on CMS Wire by Henrik de Gyor that explains what a good digital asset manager needs to know. Since I am a DAM, I was particularly interested to see the proposed skill set which includes some likely and unlikely qualities such as:

• Resourcefulness
• Willingness to help people
• The ability to explain the system and processes to users in their terms, not techy elitist terms
• Accountability
• Proactiveness
• Enthusiasm and being an "agent of change"
• The ability to speak up
• How to create, impart and implement processes
• Being able to track performance, accuracy of metadata and errors
• How to use the LAMP Solution Stack
• A love of information
• Knowing how to say no

Also, there is some useful information on determining DAM maturity which can really help roadmap future growth and goals for your system. I am going to dive into this and also brush up on my LAMP - starting by learning mySQL in October. I was happy to see that I already exhibit many of the other qualities listed.

 

More Than 5 Things Thursday

I've been collecting a lot of stuff for you this week, but I just haven't had a second to write it up. Including some bonus information to make up for the oversight.

1. Would you like to check out that webinar on taxonomy I mentioned as well as some other great ones? Check out the Picturepark Webinars page.
2. Here is a great project from the New York Public Library to collect metadata on their vintage menu collection. Talk about crowd sourcing genius. Take a few moments and transcribe a menu for them, please!
3. Why did Google buy Frommer's? Metadata. Specifically, travel metadata. Brilliant.
4. Check out some thought provoking ideas from the always astute Micah Vandergrift on the library as publisher. What if the university press was rolled into the library or at least in cahoots?
5. Interested in DAM industry trends? Here is an article on CMS Wire on that very subject. From proliferation of assets due to user generated content to ingestion automation, DAM is morphing from the silo of the creative department into an enterprise-wide solution more than ever.
6. Learn about 5 super cool future technologies, ranging from energy and food production to medicine. Thanks, Digital Tonto!
7. What are the true hidden costs of a DAM system? One of my favorites - training and training materials.
8. How can you capture the history of New York with 50 objects? Try an artichoke, a bagel, a Greek coffee cup and a Silence=Death button to start...
9. Finally, the Search Engine Academy has a little blurb on metadata and controlled vocabularies which I think you'll like.