n. (abbr. DAMS)information technology that provides for centralized management of digital objectsGilliland-Swetland 2000a, 27Whereas digital libraries are built around assumptions about current and potential uses but with few hard data, digital asset management systems are created organically out of organizational activities and the need for agility sufficient to respond to emerging institutional priorities.Ross, Donnelly, and Dobreva 2003, 17Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems support the acquisition, description, tracking, discovery, retrieval, searching, and distribution of digital assets.Kaplan and Arenstein 2005, 31This mass of images would have been virtually useless without the implementation of a digital asset management system, a database that facilitated organization and allowed the association of data to ensure that the images are searchable and retain their context for future use.DeRidder, Presnell, and Walker 2012, 150A 2009 comparison of finding aid access versus CONTENTdm for item delivery with a mixed user group indicates more satisfaction with the contextual and descriptive information in the finding aid, but a preference for the usability and layout of the digital asset management system.Bromley, Christman, and Page 2015, 32–33The Electronic Records Workgroup explored two options limiting access to dedicated computer terminals in the library’s reading room or allowing anyone with an Internet connection to view the emails through the library’s online digital asset management system, DigiTool.Cocciolo 2016a, 133Although both groups acknowledge that a DAM system can provide convenience to staff users, it does not replace the need for a digital archives nor does it mean that items deemed “assets” should not be placed in an archives. Some may assume that placing assets into a DAM [system] is sufficient for creating a historical record of an institution’s activity. The problem is, most items interpreted as assets, such as photographs and exhibition catalogs, are designed for the public and are the tip of the records iceberg. Information about why things developed the way they did is contained in other records (e.g., email collections, caches of documents for nonpublic consumption, etc.). Thus, although providing functionality for quick and efficient reuse of media assets via a DAM [system] is a worthy goal, it should not replace the need to create digital archives that document institutional activity.Gentry et al. 2021, 62Digital consolidation of existing digital collections coincided with the migration to a new digital asset management system and presented its own challenges, including legacy descriptions, metadata transformation, digital preservation, and dealing with existing metadata shared on the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) and other multi-institutional digital content aggregators.Kim and Irwin 2021, 360However, this current access policy will change when UNLV SCA completes the development of a new digital asset management system (DAMS). The new DAMS, built upon Islandora 8 and using Fedora as a backend repository, will allow users to download born-digital media in their native formats.McDonald, Lanctot, and Fernandez 2021, 13The next steps for this project include completing interviews and transcriptions and uploading the entirety of the project onto YCA’s digital asset management system for long-term preservation and access.
