AIATSIS is digitizing its large collection of sound recordings to preserve them and needs a digital asset management system (DAMS) to track and manage these digital assets. The DAMS will act as a database to store metadata about the digital objects and their provenance, a storage system to preserve the digital files, and a search interface to allow users to find and access the collection. However, not all materials can be freely available due to cultural sensitivities or unclear ownership, so the DAMS must implement access controls to restrict access to authorized users.

1. AIATSIS Digital Asset Management Solution Doug Moncur <doug.moncur@aiatsis.gov.au>

2. What’s digital asset management? Basically it’s a database Database holds information about the assets – metadata Metadata describes object – can include provenance, ownership, description as well as technical information

3. What’s a digital asset management solution? A database to tell you where everything is and what it is A storage system to hold and preserve the objects A searchable front end to allow you to search and view the holdings.

4. What’s a digital asset? A digital asset is either A digital copy of an existing object, eg scanned photograph A born digital recording, eg a digital photograph

5. What’s AIATSIS doing? Already holds huge collection Busy digitising the existing sound recordings to preserve them Needs an asset management system to track and manage these assets Something equivalent to a library catalogue

6. State of play Currently in the middle of procurement 2 candidate software products selected and undergoing extensive trial Designing storage and backup solution to maintain integrity of digital collection System planned to be online Q3 2005

7. It’s digital, it’s a database… Collection will also be online and accessible over the web Not everything can be freely available Some culturally sensitive Some ownership unclear Need access control to objects

8. Access control It’s difficult Need to be able to say who people are and can access (Assertion) Need to be able to say what the access rights are on the object (Authorization)

9. Access Control … Got to be pragmatic Can only automate simple queries 60% would be good enough Need to involve communities in process of saying who can get access Need to record access restrictions in metadata

10. Experience elsewhere ALLIA Central American database Database of Mayan language resources Some sensitive material As communities became more used to idea of using the internet became more open to putting material online

11. And? DAMS should help preserve material Online access should help communities regain access to the material Some material will always be restricted Access too complicated to ever completely automate