One of Asset Bank's partners, Archimedia, gives tips on creating a controlled vocabulary for your Digital Asset Management (DAM) system. A controlled vocabulary provides the language to define your assets when you upload them to your DAM system. This means users can easily find assets when they search for them.
2. Controlled Vocabulary
Natural language can prove to be confusing because some words can be ambiguous or
have multiple meanings. A controlled vocabulary is a chosen set of words that removes the
confusion and ambiguity by giving users defined usage for these words.
Using a controlled vocabulary removes typing and spelling errors and provides consistency
to the way compound groups of words are presented to users. The use of the controlled
vocabulary is essential for the workflows for tagging images with key words and displaying
groups of images in a digital asset management database.
A controlled vocabulary is created and tailored to describe the events, activities, and people
surrounding the organization. The words are used to identify the content or the “aboutness”
of your digital photographs, but it can be used to identify all other digital files.
3. Language to describe the assets housed in the DAM
system
Can’t find what you are looking for without a
Controlled Vocabulary (Taxonomy)
Menu at a restaurant
Controlled Vocabulary
4. A Controlled Vocabulary (CV) is the glue that holds a DAM system together.
Base Term 2nd
tier 3rd
tier 4th
tier 5th
tier
World Places (Continent) (Country) (Province/State) (City)
North America
Canada
Ontario
Kingston
Ottawa
Toronto
Controlled Vocabulary
5. Woodworking Magazine example
Keywords added to table saw by their photographers in love with
tools
“Gorgeous”
Controlled Vocabulary -misuse
6. •The unique controlled vocabulary that we create is
unique to each client.
•Based on three attributes, physical, organizational,
descriptive
•Our librarians will review a cross section of the assets to
be keyworded (usually 25%) to start with, then as we add
metadata to the assets, we uncover more needed.
Controlled Vocabulary
7. Unique Controlled Vocabulary Creation - Physical
Campus & Area Infrastructure
Buildings
A. E. Cameron Building (P Building)
A. L. Macdonald Building (D Building)
A. L. Macdonald Building (D Building)
Bernard N. Cain Building (Q Building)
Burbidge Building
Central Services Building
Chase Building
Chemical Engineering (F Building)
Chemistry Building
8. Unique Controlled Vocabulary Creation - Organizational
Academic & Research Units
Faculties (Faculty of)
Architecture & Planning
Architecture (School of)
Community Design
Planning (School of)
Arts & Social Sciences
African Studies
Arabic
Canadian Studies
Chinese (Mandarin)
Classics
Contemporary Studies
Costume Studies
Early Modern Studies
Program
English
Environmental Studies
European Studies
Film Studies
9. Unique Controlled Vocabulary Creation - Distinctive
Descriptive Words
Actions
Architectural Details
Arts & Culture
Body Parts
Clothing
Colours
Documents
Tams
Tartan
Tricolour
10. •Final Product is a txt file
•Can be inserted into many applications
•Ease of tagging for users, touch key-wording in lightroom
/bridge
•Some clients use a CV as a file server folder structure
•Categories –Embedded data mapping
XMP- Hierarchical Subject Asset Bank for auto mapping
to multiple categories. Assets are placed into the base
category or each hierarchal thread on ingest for easier
placement
Controlled Vocabulary
Notas do Editor
An Asset is a digital file with intrensic value to your company.You want to sort out the assets, to just dumping files into a DAM system.
It can be in the form or any of the following files
Controlled Language
Digital asset management is not a software
Systems are like a waiter. They do not know what to bring you unless you have a menu, which is the controlled vocabulary.
Controlled Vocabulary
A Controlled Vocabulary (CV) is the glue that holds a DAM system together. Without a properly created CV, there is no basis for what language is used for sorting, tagging and searching for assets. There are important structures to adhere to for the basis of a CV; and free wording or descriptors can be added afterwards.
A CV is based on common general base terms for categorizing images, for example, World, Continent, Country, Province, City are tier terms are then applied allowing the categorization to become more specific and minutely searchable.
With these base terms and additional tiers in place, standardized descriptors are added allowing for very specific searches: Descriptor categories could include Photographic Terms (low angle, aerial view) Image Descriptions (red coat, medical scrubs)
Once the base terms and descriptors in the above examples are combined, it would become possible to find an aerial photograph taken of a location in Kingston.
Establishing a Controlled Vocabulary for Dalhousie
Currently, Dalhousie University has no institutional controlled vocabulary or thesaurus on which to base a tagging system for the proposed Digital Asset Management System.
Archimedia met with Mr. Michael Moosberger, University Archivist, regarding a source for a university based controlled vocabulary. He was not able to identify one particular source that would be of benefit to this project.
Ideally, we would like to be able to base a controlled vocabulary on one used in the universityユs archives. This type of controlled vocabulary would provide proper names of people, buildings and events important to the university. These people, events and buildings will appear in the many of the current and future images in the DAM.
It is recommended that when building the controlled vocabulary for this DAM system there be two parallel controlled vocabularies developed and then merged:
・ The first should be limited to specific subjects portrayed in the images.
・ The second should be limited to peopleユs names, corporate names and geographic names.
Communications and Marketing identified the need for a set of tagging terms, similar to those used by Getty Images (http://www.gettyimages.com) or iStock Photo (http://www.istockphoto.com). These stock image sites use terms such as WHITE SHIRT, BLACK SHIRT, RED SHIRT. These large databases can use very specific terms and can provide this level of specificity or granularity because they are so large. It is recommended to the client that the specificity of the terms be developed only as needed by the present collection.
It will be possible to use the Photovault Keywords Worksheet as a starting point for some terms for tagging images in the database. This worksheet will provide a good starting point for the deep and detailed preferred terms, which have been requested for the controlled vocabulary. Development time for the controlled vocabulary would be shorter if all terms from these worksheets were available in a spreadsheet or other digital document.
If Dalhousie is able to provide digital files of terms then they will be easily reformatted to create a streamlined hierarchy of terms for the chosen DAM system. (Note: a preferred term is a word that chosen to represent other terms that are similar. A non-preferred term is a term like that usually means the same thing as the preferred term but is a synonym, variant spelling, homograph or abbreviation. For example: AUTOMOBILE might be the preferred term chosen over CAR because メcarモ is defined by the dictionary using the term automobile.)
It is recommended that a workflow be developed and implemented for two staff members, a designated database administrator and image processor, to be responsible for updating and maintaining the controlled vocabulary for the DAM system. It is recommended this update and maintenance should be done in the minimum every 4 to 6 months.
An Asset is a digital file with intrensic value to your company.You want to sort out the assets, to just dumping files into a DAM system.
It can be in the form or any of the following files
Controlled Language
Digital asset management is not a software
Systems are like a waiter. They do not know what to bring you unless you have a menu, which is the controlled vocabulary.
2.3.1. Image Bank Components
An image bank that will meet the needs of organization’s current and future stakeholders will include the following:
A properly created controlled vocabulary for the tagging, sorting and search of all assets to be ingested. This is the backbone of any DAM system.
2. A fluid and functioning photographer workflow, from shoot to ingest of images into the new image bank. This workflow will include editing of images, metadata application from the controlled vocabulary, file naming and processing of images (if adopting RAW or whatever sizing considerations are to be used in the image bank). Workflow must also consider process for stale dated images and a process for sending images to the Library Archives for final archiving in Dspace.
3. Sorting and tagging of all legacy images to be incorporated into the new system.
4. Proper IT support and housing for the integrated system, with redundant protection of data and quick, flexible hardware support.
5. An integrated software system which offers both a robust software which will meet the needs of the users, and be able to adapt to the needs of the users. 6. Effective and efficient administration.
2.3.1. Image Bank Components
An image bank that will meet the needs of organization’s current and future stakeholders will include the following:
A properly created controlled vocabulary for the tagging, sorting and search of all assets to be ingested. This is the backbone of any DAM system.
2. A fluid and functioning photographer workflow, from shoot to ingest of images into the new image bank. This workflow will include editing of images, metadata application from the controlled vocabulary, file naming and processing of images (if adopting RAW or whatever sizing considerations are to be used in the image bank). Workflow must also consider process for stale dated images and a process for sending images to the Library Archives for final archiving in Dspace.
3. Sorting and tagging of all legacy images to be incorporated into the new system.
4. Proper IT support and housing for the integrated system, with redundant protection of data and quick, flexible hardware support.
5. An integrated software system which offers both a robust software which will meet the needs of the users, and be able to adapt to the needs of the users. 6. Effective and efficient administration.
2.3.1. Image Bank Components
An image bank that will meet the needs of organization’s current and future stakeholders will include the following:
A properly created controlled vocabulary for the tagging, sorting and search of all assets to be ingested. This is the backbone of any DAM system.
2. A fluid and functioning photographer workflow, from shoot to ingest of images into the new image bank. This workflow will include editing of images, metadata application from the controlled vocabulary, file naming and processing of images (if adopting RAW or whatever sizing considerations are to be used in the image bank). Workflow must also consider process for stale dated images and a process for sending images to the Library Archives for final archiving in Dspace.
3. Sorting and tagging of all legacy images to be incorporated into the new system.
4. Proper IT support and housing for the integrated system, with redundant protection of data and quick, flexible hardware support.
5. An integrated software system which offers both a robust software which will meet the needs of the users, and be able to adapt to the needs of the users. 6. Effective and efficient administration.
An Asset is a digital file with intrensic value to your company.You want to sort out the assets, to just dumping files into a DAM system.
It can be in the form or any of the following files
Controlled Language
Digital asset management is not a software
Systems are like a waiter. They do not know what to bring you unless you have a menu, which is the controlled vocabulary.