Thursday 31 January 2013

Digital Asset Library year in review - 2012

Christmas decorations at City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square skating rink, by Jose San Juan
Waaaaaay back last January, I wrote about my DAL priorities for 2012.  It was an ambitious list, focused on improvements and foundational work to support expansion.  In completely biased fashion, I'll review our work on each count and provide a grade.




1. Managing Working Files

The large majority of design products and working files are not yet managed in DAL.  Early in 2012 we began a pilot in Information Production and City Planning, Graphics & Visualization, to import these file types and gather feedback before a comprehensive roll-out.  Participating staff from both units uploaded and described Adobe Illustrator and InDesign files with the raw art files of images and graphics.  As part of this pilot, we also tested plugins which maintain the connection between the layout files and art files.  The pilot results and feedback were very valuable - while the tool was technically capable, the information model and workflow for describing files was too complex.  The feedback from this pilot lead me to develop two new projects, the Embedded Metadata Standard Project and the Workflow and Metadata Review Project, with a goal of simplifying DAL to make content reuse and description easier.  Significantly, the review has resulted in a 30% average reduction to each group's visible fields.   This will enable faster description of files while still capturing the most important information.  With these projects nearly completed, we are in a much better position to plan for Phase 2 in 2013 - using DAL to manage all design products and working files.  Final grade: 3/5

2. Embedded Metadata

Feedback from the working files pilot made clear we needed to make assets easier to reuse.  Embedded metadata, or descriptive information stored inside the file, has huge potential to enable asset reuse, exchange of files between systems, and improved workflow.  In consultation with representatives from all groups, we developed an Embedded Metadata Standard so that a preferred set of descriptive information (such as creator, keywords, asset credit, headline, etc) can be stored in the file itself.  This means assets only need to be described once.  Assets can be downloaded from DAL, resized, modified and/or repurposed, then uploaded again, saving the designer's time by reusing the same descriptive information.  We also secured funding to implement the standard in DAL.  Our vendor, North Plains, is currently completing this work.  The functionality should be available by early January 2013.   Final grade: 5/5

3. Ownership and Copyright

Other priorities over the course of the year meant that we couldn't give a review of our approach to copyright the attention it deserved.   Our biggest success on this front was wider recognition that copyright management is important, especially for enabling legal reuse of content.  Further, DAL should be the tool to help the City better manage it.  Our approved DAL program and steering committee recommendations includes a goal to "Establish DAL as the tool to manage copyright and related rights management information of the City's digital assets."  I have begun to scope out a DAL "Access, Rights & Reuse" project to provide an improved model with clear advice on reuse attached to each asset.   Final grade: 2/5

4. Collaboration with other City Information Projects

The most significant update here concerns DAL program ownership- the program is now the responsibility of the City of Toronto Archives, Information Access, Corporate Information Management Services (CIMS).  This move takes advantage of Archives' long experience managing metadata and collections.   DAL is a significant new service initiative for CIMS, but has many links to our existing business.   This move better aligns DAL for increased cooperation with other CIMS services, particularly in lifecycle management of content, metadata, copyright, information policy and standards, access and privacy.
We have also begun discussions with the Web Content Management team, agreeing on a number of shared goals and next steps to improve our cooperation in reuse and management of City images.  Final grade: 4/5

5. Partnership and resource sharing in the City

In 2012, access to DAL was extended to Strategic Communications staff, who often facilitate jobs between designers, photographers & divisions.  Training was provided for 26 communicators, with more to follow in 2013.  I also continued discussions with a number of new divisions that create and use images and design products regularly.   More information is coming in a separate blog post for 2013 plans.

Finally, to support our expansion to new divisions and transition from project to program, I'm very happy to share our  recommendations for program goals and steering committee, recently been approved by CIMS Executive Director, Daphne Gaby Donaldson.   The goals and steering committee will guide our future plans and development of resources for DAL.  Final grade: 5/5

Final Thoughts on 2012

On the implementation side, the working files pilot of early 2012 re-inforced the need to simplify DAL.  This pilot and the subsequent  projects delivered necessary improvements to streamline file description and reuse.   Completing these projects were prerequisites to full adoption of DAL for design products.  Looking at import statistics, we have a huge opportunity to take advantage of these improvements and expand our use of DAL in Information Production and City Planning, Graphics & Visualization in 2013:

Assets imported by group

On the management side, I am very happy we now have an approved set of goals along with a steering committee model, which will include senior staff from CIMS and partner divisions.  This steering committee will help ensure DAL continues to meet the needs of current and future partners.   I have already had some excellent preliminary discussions with other divisions in the City on their digital asset management challenges and goals.

I look forward to working with my colleagues in CIMS and all participating groups to make the City's digital assets easier to manage, share and reuse in 2013.

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