Here be dragons/ Navigating the uncharted waters of digital initiatives in cultural institutions

Abstract

Many cultural institutions are implementing digital asset management (DAM) systems to fulfil internal needs or to meet patrons’ demands. The native metadata schema for most DAM systems do not accommodate the needs of cultural institutions and prevailing literature fails to address implementation planning needs in non-profit environments. This paper presents a case study of such an implementation and concludes by suggesting that in order to smooth the implementation of future digital initiatives, organisations should centralise potential assets, assess the collection, document information about the assets and standardise naming conventions and workflow before beginning the planning process.