Asset Management Systems

Asset Management Systems are tools that help content owners manage their content for storage and retrieval. As Alan McCord writes in a white paper providing an overview of Digital Asset Management Systems (DAMS), “a DAMS infrastructure can ingest…assets, store and index assets for easy searching, retrieve assets for use in many environments, and manage the rights associated with those assets.”

Some helpful general resources include:

Change Management: Best Practices for Digital Asset Management

Briefly discusses the adoption of a digital asset management system and the steps that should be taken.

EContent Digital Content Strategies and Resources

Good resource to stay abreast of current developments in the Asset Management Systems arena.

Heinsohn, Hugh R. Need for Integration of Physical and Virtual Media Asset Systems. Paper presented at the 143rd SMPTE Technical Conference and Exhibition, New York, New York

Discusses how you can have it all in one system – "The most effective systems will support well-organized, searchable and controlled libraries of physical assets with a combination of appropriate [Digital Asset Management] systems for their particular applications."

McCord, Alan. 2002.Overview of Digital Asset Management Systems. EDUCAUSE Evolving Technologies Committee

This article answer the basic question, “What is DAMS?” It also touches on the relevance of Digital Asset Management Systems in higher education, as well as the challenges of implementation.

The Global Society for Asset Management

An independent, self-funding trade and professional organization representing the broad interests of the entire Asset Management industry.

Requests for Proposals

A Request for Proposal (RFP) is a tool used by agencies to communicate their requirements and needs in a ‘new system’ to multiple vendors in hopes of receiving competitive and relevant proposals in response. It is part of a responsible purchasing decision.

Helpful resources for writing RFPs include:

Porter-Roth, Bud and Ralph Young. 2001. Request for Proposal: A Guide for Effective RFP Development. Boston: Addison-Wesley Pub. Co.

Offers a systematic, comprehensive, and professional approach to writing RFPs. Guides you step by step through the RFP process, from initial planning through selecting the winning proposal, demonstrating the most effective ways of structuring the document and expressing technical, administrative, and financial requirements.

Request for Proposals (RFP) Resources

RFP resources and tutorials.

White, Martin. 2002. Managing Content Management System Selection

An article from EContent about system selection. Touches on pitfalls of the RFP process.