DIGITAL ARCHIVIST

(I want this job!)

The Atlantic
JUN 29 2012, 4:27 PM ET 10

Now everyone can be that crazed Dead fan you once knew in college.

No band deserves an online archive more than the Grateful Dead. As much lifestyle as musical outfit, the Dead influenced millions through their concerts and songs. A few years ago, the band selected the University of California Santa Cruz as the host for its history, and now the first fruits of that decision are available for consumption. The Grateful Dead Online Archive is now live.

The expansive archive has a map of hundreds and hundreds of shows, thousands of photographs and show posters, and — in keeping with the band’s community orientation — tons of fan art.
Even as a very weak Dead fan, this is an impressive monument to one of the banner carriers of 20th century counterculture.

As a sidenote, I’m left wondering what it’s like to be a kid developing her music taste these days. I had a friend in high school who compulsively traded Dead show tapes with people across the country in the early days of the Internet. He loved scoring that ultrarare tape almost no one had ever heard. Now, if you were that same kid, you have the whole culture of the Dead just waiting for you on this one website. It’s amazing, but I wonder if it takes something out of fandom if it’s a little too easy to access. You want to have to work for the knowledge that the best Dead show ever was on May 8, 1977 at Barton Hall on Cornell’s campus.

Learn to design and maintain the perfect digital asset management initiative
– eBook by David Diamond

The Digital Asset Management Survival Guide eBook contains approximately 56,000 words (~250 pages) that are written in a friendly, easy-to-follow style you’ll be able to read in no time. The author’s perspective and experience comes from working in the field of DAM for more than 12 years, during which time he has written educational materials and white papers, hosted webinars and conducting live training sessions.

Thursday, 10th May 2012
By Deb Hunt
posted on Fumsi

When clients contact Information Edge to help them get a handle on their organisational assets, they are usually at a point of feeling crushed under an avalanche of information. Their IT staff are overwhelmed and realise they cannot provide the information organisation needed.

Sadly, I do not tell most of my clients up front that I have a Masters in Library Science degree as I find that limits their perception of what I bring to the table and how Information Edge can empower them to re-find and reuse their content. Despite the fact that my skill set proves highly valuable in digital asset management projects, I usually wait until I’m well into a project before I tell them. They are often shocked to learn this.

Digital librarians bring distinct skills to DAM projects:

• An understanding of audiences: who they are, what they look for and how.
• Expertise in building metadata schemas and taxonomies.
• Recognising the business value that finding information brings to an organisation.
• Experience creating IP policies that address copyright issues.
• Experience and expertise organising assets of all kinds and knowing that you get out of a record what you put into it.
• Knowing how to organise information and assets for findability.
• Generally they are viewed as neutral, working for the good of the entire organisation.
• Having a big picture view
• Can contribute to workflow strategies
• Able to prioritise what needs to be indexed first and why.
• Knowing to start small and let the success of a DAM project speak for itself.

When I started doing DAM, IT folks doubted my expertise and the value I brought to projects. Now, they welcome me with open arms, knowing I bring to the table skills and expertise they may not have. As a team, we provide the solutions our clients need.

Digital librarians are working hard to reshape the librarian stereotype with the deep expertise and value they bring to DAM and other projects. They make sure one’s DAM house is in order.