"We hold these truths to be self evident, that all content is created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
I am obviously having some fun with the language from the Declaration of Independence but it seemed timely as we approach the 4th of July holiday in the US and relevant to the responsibilities of digital asset managers. DAMsta's are nothing if not liberators of content allowing for the happy pursuit of access and re-use...aka content life).
But is all content created equally?
I've posted on this before in different forms and the answer is no. In reality, content is managed in a caste system that effects how, when and to what depth it is managed and then ultimately appears in a DAM environment. Some assets are more important than others. The importance is defined by the business rules around the process and can be driven by rights, shelf life or timeliness, format, location, and the topic and context of the content, etc.
All content is not created equally.
Lets pause for a second for my archive-centric brethren to stop hyperventilating and then explore this concept further.
This caste system is less prevalent in a completely digital workflow from capture to production and distribution but it still exists. In a digital workflow, we can be better at managing data (but sadly lots aren't) and assets as part of the workflow to avoid additional processing just for archiving to the DAM for the future. The digitized assets travels thru the workflow make the processing that much more efficient which makes it less likely to be a second or third class citizen. The data snowball has grown thru the process to be robust and complete as part of the process enhancing the potential value.
The same can't always be said for physical assets making the transition to a digital environment. That process dictates selective content management based on a set of prescribed priorities, be it overall condition, age, rights, format, content subject, etc. It's what we do...we are making decisions on who's getting into the lifeboat first.
So, if all content is not created equally then whats with the post title of Democracy in DAM...do I think this is democratic?
Yes, I think the real democratization is in the access and the user experience. There are no gatekeepers blocking the way to content (at least there shouldn't be). DAM is about a flattened digital experience which enables access, creativity and purpose. That may be happening via a corporate internal tool or via the web, or both. It is agnostic to the why and who (with some exceptions that we are going to ignore for now) and acts as a window presenting options.
I've been reading "FREE,"by Chris Anderson and there is a point made in relation to Moore's Law where he states that thanks to the wasteful throwing of transistors against the wall the world was changed. Specifically, the computing world changed when it stopped being about the mainframe defining the access and the experience but instead the experience defining the CPU. I think this salient point applies in many way to a lot of the DAMsta and media archive world. We are not gatekeepers as mainframe system admins were in the 60's and 70's. Meting out access and defining in a limited way how and who access is given (granted, we admin access into our systems but humor me I'm making a more abstract point).
When I was a teenage in high school in NYC it was a novelty to go the the Museum of Broadcasting(now The Paley Center for Media) in midtown and view old TV programs and other rarities. I did a paper on early TV and the trip to the museum was the best way for a teenager in the late 70's - early 80's to see this content. It was a very formal experience. You had to go the museum, do some research, fill out a card with your request, wait your turn, get set up at a viewing station in a dimmed room with other viewing stations (no food or drink) and then the tapes would be prepped for you by the librarian. I think there may have been a time limit on the viewing station too.
I can do all of this online via YouTube now.
There are no barriers to this access beyond my ability to get online and search YouTube. I'm not limited by the cost, time and hours of availability dictated by the old gatekeepers. THIS is the democratization of the experience. DAM allows for users access of the content. Basically, we build efficient sandboxes and let the users define the experience and in turn the value. The value can be in the content, the service, the access or a combination. But, users will define the value equation and shine light on strengths and weaknesses you couldn't have fully expected.
"The sacred rights of mankind are not to be rummaged for among old parchments or musty records. They are written, as with a sunbeam, in the whole volume of human nature, by the hand of the divinity itself; and can never be erased." Alexander Hamilton
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