Top 10 metadata attributes for your DAM

Surely digital asset management (DAM) is all about the assets? Not for us. You can have a million assets in your DAM but if they are not organised or tagged with the correct metadata no one is going to find them. It’s all about the metadata, indeed without it, assets are merely files. Here’s our top 10 metadata fields that must be completed for your DAM to be a success.

But first…

What is metadata?

In the context of digital asset management, metadata are the attributes that are tagged against an asset. Metadata describes the content and context of an asset. The main purpose of it is to allow an asset to be correctly categorised and stored so it can be easily and systematically found when needed.

The list of attributes you can assign to an asset is limitless, and some of our clients have over 100 different metadata fields configured for their particular needs. But here we’re just going to look at the basics.

This is our top 10:

1.Title

This is the name of your asset. Use a few words to summarise its contents.

2. Description

A longer sentence describing the contents of the asset, ideally including relevant keywords.

3. Hierarchical keywords with synonyms

Also known as a Controlled Vocabulary, this is one of the most valuable attributes. Once this is defined you can use a keyword picker to allocate relevant keywords to your assets. With the correct structure one tag can automatically generate three or more searchable keywords. See this article for more details.

asset-meta

Examples of metadata on an asset detail page

4. File type

Is it a video, pdf, word doc or image? But also what actual file type is it e.g. GIF or JPG? This data should be extracted automatically.

5. File size

Both in terms of memory e.g. 500KB but also if it is an image, dimensions such as pixel size e.g. 300 x 250. This helps users work out if the content is of high enough resolution for the intended use - e.g. a high resolution file for print.

6. Who uploaded the asset

If for some reason the metadata for an asset is incomplete, knowing who uploaded it in the first instance is very helpful. Also if any issues occur like image right challenges, then knowing who sourced the file is of utmost importance.

7. Date uploaded

This can be very useful with larger collections as users can search for files within a particular ‘uploaded’ date range to find the asset they know was uploaded recently.

8. Usage rights

Like most organisations some of your assets are probably bought from third parties like stock image libraries or photographers. Typically these purchases come with conditions and expiry dates - detailing how and when you can use the asset. It is of vital importance that this information is clearly communicated to staff.

9. Asset usage

It’s very handy to collect data on how each asset is used within your DAM software, allowing users to decide if it has been overused in a particular media channel for example.

asset-usage

Examining asset usage - in pop-up window

10. Unique ID

A unique numeric ID for each of your assets provides an unambiguous reference. This make it easy to be certain you are referring to the right asset when discussing it with a colleague. It’s also often an essential requirement when integrating assets in your DAM with other systems.

So that’s our top 10. Feel free to let us know if we’ve missed something?

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DAM Tech

Paul Mulvee Jan 13, 2016

As product manager here at Asset Bank, Paul’s our in-house product hero. Having been with the team since 2010(!) he knows every inch of our digital asset management software. He’s got a penchant for product success, and is always engineering new features, or updating existing technologies across our DAM platform.

With years of experience helping businesses organise and optimise their digital libraries, Paul’s passionate about enabling teams to work smarter, save time, and unleash their creative potential.

At Asset Bank, Paul works closely with our customers to continually evolve our digital asset management offering, so that it grows with them and increases in value over time.

Paul’s Asset Bank story

Paul joined Bright Interactive (Asset Bank’s parent company) in 2010, after nine years working in various other roles in the software industry. After travelling for a year, Paul relocated and applied for a job at Bright after hearing great things about the company from a recruiter.

He then joined Bright (now Asset Bank), starting as the Support Manager and growing this team, followed by a move to Consultancy where he used his in depth product knowledge to help configure solutions for prospects and existing customers.

From there he took up a role as a senior sales consultant for eight years, prior to moving into his current position as product manager for Asset Bank.

Paul is a major champion for our digital asset management solution. He knows how much positive impact our software has had for the hundreds of organisations he has worked with, and this drives him to continue to make it more powerful, flexible and easy to use.

Paul works with a team of developers, UX, UI, and testing engineers, working together to solve complex technical problems and produce solutions with the best user experience possible.

Paul’s ‘best bits’ of Asset Bank:

“It’s great working in an industry that is always evolving as there is a constant stream of new challenges and new technologies to get stuck into. This keeps everything fresh and enjoyable.”

Why Paul loves to work here:

“I love speaking with our customers and all the other Asset Bank Teams. Gathering requirements, prioritising the roadmap and coming up with innovative solutions. I also like that I’ve returned to my computing science roots, and get to work with the amazing talent in our development team.”

Connect with Paul to learn how Asset Bank can transform your digital asset management strategy!