What is a Metadata Model?

A comprehensive Digital Asset Management (DAM) system is the best tool available to help you consolidate all your digital assets in one place. But given that most medium- and large-scale organizations today have literally millions of images and other digital assets they need to understand, organize and be able to find, getting a DAM system in place is usually only the first step.

No matter how powerful or advanced your DAM system may be, you still need to make sure your digital assets are organized and searchable in a way that is meticulous, seamlessly intuitive, and adaptable to the way you do business.

That’s where our Metadata Models come in.

How does it work?

A Metadata Model is the core organizational structure that categorizes and describes all the assets in your Digital Asset Management system. It is the foundation, or “information architecture,” that determines how well – or even whether – your DAM system works.

The metadata in a Metadata Model is the engine that makes your assets searchable, and tells your users the information they need to know about the assets they find. Good metadata design lets you find the assets you’re looking for quickly and efficiently. Bad metadata design can make your DAM system hard to use, erode user confidence, and cost you time and money.

If you’ve ever shopped online, searched a library catalogue or used a digital media service, you’ve already encountered Metadata Models. The searchable categories of things like cast lists, release dates and movie titles that you see when you login to iTunes or Netflix are all the individual metadata elements that make up their Metadata Models.

There are also many different ways to construct a Metadata Model. Online retailers, for example, commonly use a faceted taxonomy model, which lets their customers search for different product features, or “facets,” such as size, colour, price or brand name.

Another common approach is the hierarchical taxonomy model, where the metadata terms are a set-up in parent-child relationships. This model is frequently used in online catalogues or libraries, where vast numbers of assets can be categorized in increasingly narrow silos based on things like geography, format and genre.

What are the benefits of a good Metadata Model?

A well-planned Metadata Model lets you:

• Manage and retain your DAM records more efficiently and effectively.

• Improve the search experience for your users by generating more accurate and targeted results.

• Customize your metadata with the terms your users prefer and capture the information your organization deems most important.

• Create simple reference points to make it easier to find and access non-text assets such as videos, images and audio files.

• Ensure consistency in spelling, formatting and asset descriptions through a unified, agreed-upon set of terms (e.g. no more trial-and-error guessing over whether to search for “U.K.,” “UK” or “the United Kingdom”).

• Allow assets to be discovered, grouped and crosscut using flexible search capabilities to ensure you find the same information in the same place each time.

• Extend and adapt your DAM system to meet changes in your business, clients or needs over time.

What are the risks of bad metadata design?

The risks of a poorly designed Metadata Model, on the other hand, can range from simply annoying to outright catastrophic. Just a few of the impacts of bad metadata design we’ve run into over the years include:

•  Confusing or counterintuitive terminology that keeps your users from finding the digital assets they need, or even knowing where to look.

• Irrelevant, ambiguous or unfocused search results that lead users to give up their search before they find what they’re looking for, or assume the assets they need don’t exist.

• Cluttered or chaotic keyword lists that can cause extensive administrative headaches and often require a huge investment of time and resources to clean up.

• Lack of guidance or controls on the correct use of assets, which could seriously tarnish your brand and result in potential copyright issues, penalties or even lawsuits.