Get more out of your digital assets with a good taxonomy and metadata
PIM, DAM, taxonomy, metadata
A designer who needs to create a publication needs product information and digital assets.
- The product information is collected in a PIM or Product Information Management system
- Digital assets (photos, videos, logos, illustrations etc.) are managed in a DAM or Digital Asset Management system
Taxonomy and metadata are the keys to success in these solutions. They speed up the designer’s workflow and ensure that you get the most out of your digital assets.
- Taxonomy is a form of classification. For example, look at biology, where animals are classified into species and subspecies. The subspecies have all the characteristics of the species, but differ from each other. So too in computer science. Taxonomy defines a classification and a hierarchy, making information from different systems easier to exchange.
- Metadata is data about data, about digital assets in this case.
Types of metadata
For proper understanding, it is important to distinguish between the different types of metadata. It can be descriptive, structural, administrative or technical in nature.
Let’s take The Milkmaid by Vermeer as an example.
- Descriptive metadata provides basic information about this work specifically. For example, the title, the painter’s name, or the year of production. It is information that you can place with this work, but not simply with any other work by Vermeer or from that same year.
- Structural metadata provides information about how this work can be categorized. For example, this is a Baroque (style) work from the Golden 17th Century (period). This information allows the work to be placed in its proper context. Structural metadata determines the taxonomy of a DAM.
Administrative and technical metadata in this example can tell something about the purchase of the work or the conditions in which it should be kept such as humidity and temperature. In digital files, it might be about copyright or file size, for example.
Investing in taxonomy and metadata pays off
So the major benefits of a good taxonomy and metadata are that you:
- find the right digital assets faster
- get a much higher ROI from your DAM because you can use the digital assets much more effectively.
“Do I have to provide all those digital assets with metadata manually?! Another tedious job…”
Well, no! Catena Company analyzes your data and digital assets and together we determine the optimal taxonomy and metadata strategy for your DAM. The assignment of metadata to your digital assets can then be automated to a large extent, just like the management of these assets.
Thanks to this automation, we can apply metadata at a much deeper level, without it costing you any extra effort.
Whitepaper "Get your digital assets rendered with metadata"
Looking for even more information around metadata? Download our whitepaper here.
We explain more about the types of metadata, what options are important when setting up keywords or tags, and what type of keywording you use.
Download the whitepaper
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