By Gayle Pellizzer, LAC Group
Are you a tech-savvy problem solver? Do you enjoy organizing content in multiple forms in order to improve access across different business lines and units? Perhaps a career in digital asset management, or DAM, is in your future. Digital asset management is an exciting, rapidly growing field that is eager to hire the best and brightest information pros who are not afraid of change and willing to think “big picture” in order organize, manage, and deploy digital assets throughout a company or organization. Take a quick look at the speakers featured at the 2010 Henry Stewart DAM Conferences that took place in New York, London, Chicago, and Los Angeles. These leaders in digital asset management have diverse backgrounds and multifaceted skills-sets. Not simply metadata experts or archivists, these individuals are skilled professionals who understand that managing digital assets requires both business and technological acumen, as well as a firm understanding of how information, particularly different forms of digital content, are effectively organized, classified, and accessed by the user.
Although DAM may not be in your current job description, it is an area worth exploring. As new opportunities for information professionals continue to move away from the traditional research and reference role, it is imperative to understand what skills, both soft and hard, are required of those who handle “everything digital” or “everything media related.” Companies and organizations from all sectors, including web, film, and broadcast media, recognize the tremendous value of their digital assets, and are continuing to ensure that they remain secure, accessible, and preserved over time. If you are not already involved in this exciting area of information management, take some time to explore DAM related blogs, podcasts, and websites. Searching for DAM related opportunities on various online job sites is another way to learn about the skills required by companies currently hiring DAM experts. Once you begin your search, you just might be surprised what you discover.
Gayle Pellizzer is a recruiter at LAC Group. Gayle is a member of SLA’s Business & Finance and Knowledge Management Divisions.
I think many of us are running into this issue of maintaining and archiving “everything digital,” and if we aren’t involved in it, our organizations are at risk of losing a lot of valuable information, or at the least, they are at risk of not being able to find this information even if they know it exists “somewhere.”
Working with DAM would be a good career move as there is potential for growth in this area.
I agree this is a huge opportunity. I work in marketing (primarily online) and virtually everything we do is saved in a digital format, but it is incredibly hard to manage. There’s no cohesion in file naming or folder structure, having an expert who could ensure that all old assets were properly stored and easily accessible would be a life-saver. There have been numerous occasions where that would’ve saved hours and hours of work.
Info pros need to think outside the box and realize they have or can learn the skills to do DAM, ECM and more. This opens up an entire new field of work/career that is growing with many opportunities for exciting work.