Ode to the Knowledge Worker
This is a field with a million different ways to interpret or apply something. It’s a field with a million different answers to one question and it is a field with a million questions that have no true answer. It’s hard to master this topic and it is even harder to keep pace with how quickly it moves and changes. It has a million rabbit trails and “areas of specialization,” and even more that are no longer relevant or applicable. It’s dynamic and yet somehow manages to woo you in with creature comforts. It’s never stationary, but sometimes focuses on staying power. You can’t put your finger on it, yet we have to put OUR finger on it to do our jobs. You often work alone, but your presence is felt by many. Everything is always different around you, yet you have to make it consistent. There is so much… Read More »
What kinda ‘Who’ do you need to make DAM work?
Digital Asset Management is not just an application, but it is a business practice requiring certain roles in place for success in any organization. For the most part the profession of Digital Asset Management is not fully understood, except for by those in the ‘know’. This is due in part to the maturation and growth of the field in just over the last few years. Have you taken a look at the landscape of content management technologies recently? This is no longer a one-trick pony in a one-horse town, but a process that requires support from a skilled selection of professionals and has touch-points across the organization. To quote one of my favorite bloggers on DAM, H. de Gyor, “Digital Asset Management is a business need, not just a technology or another database”. Many institutions who have systems that were implemented over 4 years ago are now facing the challenges… Read More »
Content Technologies: DAM, CMS and Collections Management Systems – What’s the big dif?
Every time I exchange some educational dialog with someone, it necessitates in me the need to blog. It’s clear there is a TON of confusion out there regarding different tools involved in management of digital/physical collections (i.e. content technologies). Dear museums and archives at the end of the day you’re not that much different than that advertising agency. Yes, some of your collection needs are more complicated (longer asset lifecycles etc). At the end of the day though, you all need to use many of the same technologies, tools and best practices appropriately to get the job done and taking shortcuts (using the wrong solution for the need) and not clearly understanding those technologies is costly. I think about 90% of those working with cultural institution collections don’t really understand the difference between a digital asset management system (DAM) and a collections management system or even what a content management… Read More »
FAQ – My Thoughts on MLIS and MY Background
Here’s a list of questions that people frequently email me regarding folks in my line of work (digital asset and content management): 1. About me and the Rutgers MLIS program: Since I had already been working in the field for 6 years (digital archives and digital asset management) when I entered the program, my advisor let me take whatever classes I wanted. He told me to get in and then get out. I honestly can’t even remember what classes I took. Since I was in the process of transitioning from non-profit digital archives work back to advertising (corporate knowledge management) work, much of the curriculum was either a repeat of what I had been practicing in the field or I took the course just to get the credits. I do recall taking metadata, records management, interface design, information visualization and a class on web 2.0 (which was pretty funny). The… Read More »
About me:
Metadata and Taxonomies are my thing. I spend an awful lot of time drinking coffee and having existential dilemmas on how to categorize what the hell I do for a living.
Recent Posts
What I’m Reading Now
- The Milky Way's black hole may spring to life in 2013 December 15, 2011 (author unknown)
- Book Deals: Blogging team Blondie and Brownie got... December 14, 2011 Amanda Kludt
- Twitter hits the big time with its new Art Deco headquarters (pics) December 8, 2011 Jolie O'Dell
- Apparently The Internet Is A Complete Waste Of Time December 2, 2011 Jon Mitchell
- Startups Are Hard. So Work More, Cry Less, And Quit All The Whining November 28, 2011 (author unknown)
- Man With 15 Kids by 13 Different Women Isn't Done Making Babies Yet [Uk] November 27, 2011 Lauri Apple