Best Practices for Building a Metadata Strategy

Metadata is all of the data used to describe an asset. Webdam supports both IPTC and XMP Metadata Standards ensuring interoperability with other tools like Adobe Bridge and Lightroom.

Using metadata will increase the searchability of your assets. Plus, assets downloaded from Webdam retain their metadata. This embedded metadata is another layer of protection for your assets if they leave your DAM.

Keywords are a unique type of metadata, covered separately in the Keyword Best Practices article. Here are some recommended best practices to help get you started in your metadata efforts:

1. Always add ownership or credit information to your assets for identification outside of your DAM.
   
   
2. Add in usage terms for rights-managed assets to prevent any misuse.
   
   
3. Add metadata to your assets as soon as you upload them into the DAM.
   
   
4. Implement predefined drop-down menus for commonly used data to prevent inconsistencies.
   
   
5. Educate contributors responsible for adding metadata in Webdam, on your organization’s metadata strategy.
   
   
6. Communicate to any external vendors your metadata requirements, i.e. “Photos must be submitted with the Usage Terms, Credit, and Location metadata already added.”
   
   
7. Conduct regular audits to ensure metadata is being added properly.

When communicating information on your best practices for metadata and any processes surrounding it, make sure the end goal is made clear as well. Adding metadata can be time consuming and tedious. Structured and consistent metadata is the foundation for building a DAM that is highly searchable, easily browsed, and dependable for archiving.

Updated August 08, 2022 16:51