A DAM great list of Sources

The Museum Computer Network has been having an interesting discussion on Digital Asset Management systems. Among the information posted was some from, Leala Abbott, who has a blog on just this topic and is permitting me to post her suggested list of "great resources" here:

• DAM Foundation (LinkedIn): http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=1952873
• a cross-disciplinary, professional organization, devoted to standardizing and making sense of the world of DAM which would be useful to join and follow. I recently created the DAM List (links below) which is a community contributed list of technical specs on DAM products (which are actually tough to get without jumping through vendor hoops).
• The Real Story Group (leading content technology analyst group): http://www.realstorygroup.com/
• Digital Asset Management (industry Blog): http://digitalassetmanagement.org.uk/
• Createasphere (DAM Conference Series): http://createasphere.com/En/explore-expos-conferences.html
• Henry Stewart - Digital Asset Management Conference Series: http://www.hsconferences.com/dam.aspx
• Early and Associates: http://www.earley.com/
• AIIM: http://www.aiim.org/
• The DAM List (Product Tech Specs): http://lealaabbott.com/wp/archives/423

If you like those check out Leala at her blog Lealaabbott.com

New Digital Preservation Tools

A new free and open source package of digital preservation tools is being developed. It is called Archivematica and is a product of many collaborators.  It brings together several digital preservation tools that would normally be used separately such as JHOVE and DROID and puts them into a workflow system.  

Their description of their process is in itself interesting and while it is still in beta form, it is worth the wander to go and peruse what they say and plan for:

http://archivematica.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main_Page

Copyright , the Digital Library, and More

On March 22, 2011, Google’s ambitious plan to create a universal digital library consisting of every book ever published was derailed when Judge Denny Chin of the US Second District Court in Manhattan rejected the Amended Settlement Agreement which had been hammered out with groups representing authors and publishers. This project which is widely supported within Google is integral to their corporate mission that includes a charge to organize all of the world’s information. Judge Chin citing antitrust, copyright, and other concerns ruled that the settlement was too broad and essentially granted Google a monopoly.

On March 23, 2011, Robert Darnton published an opinion article in the New York Times calling for “a Digital Library Better Than Google’s”—a noncommercial digital public library. Subsequently, on April 3, 2011, the New York Times published an article that discusses the ruling, the ruling’s implications for creating a digital public library, and plans achieving that goal. Whether the Google project will eventually succeed or whether it will be superseded by a noncommercial digital public library such as the proposed Digital Public Library of America, or whether another solution will emerge remains to be seen.

This recent development reminds me of the ongoing copyright and ownership issues pertaining to digital images. These thorny issues swirl around the right to publish and to use digital images in untold ways including in education and as the basis for the creation of new works. We are fortunate to have access to many useful and reputable sites to help navigate these concerns. A particularly useful and interesting site which includes historical as well as current links has been newly updated by Christine L. Sundt. You might want to check it out.