Why Colleges and Universities Need a Digital Asset Management (DAM) System

Here are a number of unique challenges faced by the global higher education sector when it comes to the effective management of digital assets. Fortunately, there is an answer for colleges and universities around the world – a Digital Asset Management system.

The Challenges:

Content Quantity

Institutes of higher learning generate vast amounts of content, much of it digitized. This content includes large-format images, photos, logos, videos, graphics, special collections, artwork, and marketing materials – as well as course handouts, online and remote learning materials, academic papers, manuscripts, videoed lectures and presentations, and research publications. All of these assets are continuously created, with some of it produced in large quantities in rapid spurts, including the flurry of photos taken at school events such as ceremonies, football and basketball games, commencements, and fundraisers. Each one of these items needs to be easily and quickly available to relevant users – requiring an efficient method for storing, organizing, archiving, retrieving, sharing, and publishing these assets.

Asset Locations

In addition to the quantity and assortment of assets, these files are often located across multiple sites, in diverse departments, often in a variety of languages. At larger institutions, they may be spread across multiple campuses at far-flung locations. Many of these assets are not handled by the IT or Marketing Department of the school, or by a designated asset manager in a department, but are often under the control of unknown individuals who may store them on hard drives on personal computers, using various types of software.

User Numbers & Types

Adding to the complexity for colleges and universities is the number and type of users requiring access to these files. There may be thousands of users on a single campus – including professors, coaches, administrators, and students – each with different requirements. With so many users handling these files, it is difficult to control access or brand consistency – which requires the use of only the most up-to-date, approved version of each asset.

Asset Use

Beyond meeting the needs of myriad user groups, these digital assets are also part of the critical tool kits used by university administrators responsible for marketing activities – including the ongoing recruitment of students and donors in today’s increasingly competitive landscape. These assets are used to develop and maintain warm relationships with alumni – a major source of funding – keeping them updated on school activities with images of campus gatherings. In addition, special attention is often given to the training videos and participation in intercollegiate games of a school’s star athletes, since the provision of videos, posters, and interviews to broadcasters, fans, and sponsors often becomes an additional source of income for the school.

How a DAM Can Help

A DAM can answer all these challenges, creating an efficient and effective centralized library for storing, organizing, managing, retrieving, sharing and publishing all the institution’s digital assets. With a storage capacity of millions of items of all types, a DAM enables the digital preservation of a school’s current activities as well as decades of its history and traditions, and enhances outreach to potential students and donors.

DAMs enable rapid and simplified searches through the use of customized metadata tags that classify and catalog assets and collections of assets, allowing an effective search for any specific item.

Acting as the single source of truth for all assets, DAMs protect brand consistency by ensuring that only the most up-to-date, approved versions of each asset are used.

They enable centralized control of access through designated permissions – assuring asset security. Automating these processes, they enable thousands of users to safely access the system without requiring assistance, thereby improving workflows and saving significant amounts of time for Marketing departments. In addition, downloads can be tracked, clarifying which content is most used and which assets need updating or further promotion.

DAMs enhance collaboration and communication across campus locations and departments and simplify the distribution and sharing of materials. They assist with alumni relations and outreach to donors and potential students by streamlining the process of sharing community news, campus activities, and updates on unique research findings.

DAMs can store content as it is created and make it instantly available for uses such as media broadcasts of games – enabling the efficient licensing of archived materials and the sale of popular clips that improve the school’s bottom line.

DAMs can also work together with Learning Management Solutions (LMS), adding or expanding a rich media functionality.

MasterDAM Could Be the Right Solution for Your College or University

Beyond the usual capabilities of DAM systems – becoming the single, centralized location for organizing, storing, managing, and sharing the millions of a school’s digital assets, being the single source of truth, and enabling simplified searches through AI-based automatic meta-tagging – MasterDAM delivers a unique set of additional benefits.

Integration is quick and painless for all concerned, with the system’s flexibility enabling remarkable adaptability to your institution’s specific needs. MasterDAM’s level of searchability makes every search a productive and positive experience for every user, every time. And, the system’s unmatched ease-of-use means that no training is required, saving time and preventing frustration.

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