About DAMS Time! Asset Management to Streamline & Achieve Strategic Institutional Goals

Anne M. Young; Tascha Mae Horowitz

Anne M. Young Indianapolis Museum of Art
Tascha Mae Horowitz Indianapolis Museum of Art

Keywords: digital asset management, document management, copyright, metadata, image management, content distribution, KE-EMu and Piction

Abstract

Through a digital asset management system (DAMS), institutions can more efficiently retain and supplement critical rights information in the image files’ metadata as well as manage multiple image sets, such as museum objects, non-collection images, archival content, and document management (DM) collection. Implementation of a DAMS can streamline image management and in turn expand partnerships with external distributors of collection images, by drastically decreasing the amount of additional work for both parties. However, further efficiency can be achieved if an institution also has a document management system in place. Through document management, all non-media IP content generated by an institution can be retained in an organized, central, and efficient system that numerous staff members can reference and utilize. This article outlines the process by which the Indianapolis Museum of Art (IMA) researched various DAMS and DM options, eventually partnering with Piction for the implementation of both, and undertook a major copyright research project, which in conjunction with Piction increased content distribution and the introduction of Open Access (OA) imagery via the IMA's website.

Acknowledgements:

The authors would like to thank Maureen Burns, content editor, for the invitation to write for the VRA Bulletin

Author Biographies

Anne M. Young, Indianapolis Museum of Art

Anne M. Young has been with the Indianapolis Museum of Art since 2010 where she heads the rights and reproductions department. She currently serves on the IMA's Piction task force and co-led the DM task force. Young was formerly the photographic archivist for The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University and worked for the Art Gallery of Ontario and George Eastman Museum. She received an M.A. in photographic preservation and collections management from Ryerson University and a B.A. in art history and studio art (photography) from Indiana University. Young is the current chair of the Rights and Reproductions Professional Practices committee of the Registrars Committee of the American Alliance of Museums and the editor of the 2015 publication Rights & Reproductions: The Handbook for Cultural Institutions.

Tascha Mae Horowitz, Indianapolis Museum of Art

Tascha Mae Horowitz is the assistant director of photography at the Indianapolis Museum of Art. She joined the museum in 2008 after previously serving as senior photo editor at Jupiter Images and a photo editor at the LA Times. At the museum she leads the photography team and is responsible for overseeing the creative direction of all visual materials for publications as well as serving as the photo editor of the IMA Magazine. She oversees all things photography related from the production and art direction in the creation of imagery to the archiving methods and standards used. She led the DAMS task force and currently serves on the Piction task force. Horowitz holds a B.F.A. in photography from the Art Center College of Design.