Honing your DAM strategy? Here’s why a librarian is crucial to maximizing ROI

Digital asset management (DAM) systems are a key component of a successful brand and content strategy, but they need dedicated attention to reach their maximum potential

Creative and marketing teams are constantly adding new assets, metadata needs to be defined and updated, and content licenses are silently expiring. While all that is happening, teams of people are depending on DAM tools for brand assets, product images, and videos to build compelling customer experiences. Without someone in charge of managing the content in your DAM site, you won’t be getting the full benefit of your investment.

That’s where digital librarians and library science principles can help. In many ways, digital libraries are like the physical libraries we’ve all used in communities and universities. They act as a form of information management, storing a large variety of content formats – everything from videos and images to books and magazines. And every library asset has to be easy-to-find for a wide range of users with many different purposes. But a physical library doesn’t organize itself, and neither will a DAM system. Librarians have been making sure people get the content they need for thousands of years and they’re continuing to do so in the digital space.

Here’s a closer look at why you should include a librarian in your DAM strategy.

The role of digital librarians in DAM

It might appear that digital asset management tools and libraries are vastly different, but they have more in common than it seems. DAM systems started being used in the 1990s and by the mid-2000s, brands realized they could borrow a lot of organization insights from traditional librarians. While librarians keep content organized using the dewey decimal system, digital libraries rely on metadata.

And this is just one overlap. Library science is filled with principles that DAM admins can benefit from. Let’s take a quick look at the five laws of library science proposed by S.R. Ranganathan in 1931.

1. Books are for use

2. Every person his/her book

3. Every book its reader

4. Save the time of the reader

5. The library is a growing organism

The language is a bit odd and outdated, but the values are clear. Let’s translate it into DAM principles. Digital assets are for use and need to be accessible and easy to find. Every user is looking for what they need and every asset is labeled correctly to be found. Make all content easily searchable and accessible to save the time of the users and your whole company.

Or, more formally:

1. Digital assets are for use on any channel

2. Every user has assets they need to find

3. Every digital asset has its users with privileges to access it

4. Save the time of the user (save time of the company)

5. Treat DAM as a growing organism (it needs consistent care)

A digital librarian’s work makes all of these things possible. They empower everyone to find what they need, when they need it, without having to ask for it or waste time looking for it. One of the biggest roles for digital librarians is deciding what to do with old content. Does it need to be updated to remain relevant/usable or simply deleted? This helps clear your DAM system from redundant, outdated, or trivial content and reduces fatigue for users who are searching for content.

Digital librarians also use content analytics to manage a DAM site and make decisions about which assets stay and which go. Based on internal downloads, shares, embeds, reach, and other engagement metrics, librarians can identify which content assets are being used and which ones may be considered for retirement. This helps them remove content that doesn’t fit current quality or brand standards.

When you start looking for a digital librarian, look for people with experience in these areas:

• Content management
• Governance
  
• Process and strategy
• Organizational communication
  
• Technical understanding
• Data analysis
• Brand management
• System admin
• User education

And if you can’t find a traditional librarian with those attributes looking for a new career in DAM, find a content pro who has librarian tendencies. Someone who is process driven, detail oriented, and strategic.

How do you know if you need a digital librarian?

Too often teams without a DAM platform rely on one or two people to search and provide the assets teams need. These unofficial “finders of content” spend too much of their time searching for images, videos, logos, etc. for everyone else instead of doing meaningful work. That’s because there’s an underlying problem – your approved content isn’t easy to find. Even with a DAM solution in place, you can’t just set it and forget it. A usable system requires active maintenance and you’ll likely benefit greatly from having someone in a digital librarian role.

Seek out a digital librarian or a DAM admin who understands library science. With someone dedicated to the task, they can ensure that your whole company has easy and appropriate access to the files they need at any time. A digital librarian also takes care of business-critical tasks that unofficial “content finders” won’t have time for – like managing licenses on images so you don’t expose your business to digital rights infringements.

Here’s a quick list of other signs that indicate you should consider hiring a digital librarian:

• You store your most recent brand assets on your own computer
• Your DAM library isn’t organized well and content is hard to find / people aren’t using your DAM site regularly
• You don’t have a strategy for content governance (expired licensing, archiving content, etc.)
• You have multiple teams who want to manage your DAM site in different ways
• You don’t have any documented standards for metadata

When it comes down to it, you need someone to focus on these issues and a digital librarian can provide a lot more value than just being a “finder of content.”

Digital librarians empower people

The best DAM system in the world can’t organize itself (though artificial intelligence is making metadata easier to manage). You need a human being to bring it all together and a digital librarian is a key to empowering your DAM system users. With someone at the helm of your DAM site, content stays organized, approved, and everyone gets what they need, when they need it.

Look for digital librarians with a background in library science to be your DAM admin. Someone who has managed a library and cares about end users has a unique perspective that can help grow your brand. With someone like this on your DAM team you can positively impact system adoption, return on investment (ROI), and brand consistency. And if you can’t hire a digital librarian, then you can still bring library science principles into your DAM governance.

Want to learn more about DAM or talk about how adding a digital librarian to your organization can get you the most out of your investment? Get in touch with our team, we’re excited to talk about it.