DAM, CMS and Collections Management Systems – What’s the big dif?.

Every time I talk to someone it necessitates in me the need to blog. It’s clear there is a TON of confusion out there regarding different tools involved in management of digital/physical collections. Dear museums and archives, you’re not that much different. You all need to use the same tools appropriately to get the job done and taking shortcuts (using the wrong solution for the need) are costly.

I think about 90% of people don’t really understand the difference between a digital asset management system (DAM) and a collections management system or even what a content management system is (CMS). I also believe there are people out there that can explain it a lot better than me, but no one really has yet in any succinct (some may say oversimplified) kind of layman way. So here I go jumping off into what is really a super, messy, overlapping sea of applications. I’m going to focus on the difference between a digital asset management system (DAM) and a collections management system, I’ve thrown in content management (CMS) for good measure. Anytime you try to wrap something up in a tiny package, you are bound to overgeneralize. However, I think the risk of over generalization is worth the price in the hopes that out there to get an inkling of an idea about what makes these systems different. You may also realize after reading this, that what you thought you needed might not be really what you need. You may also realize there are some serious gray areas and some systems overlap in scope and try to be all things to all people.

I will first try to explain the difference by using a stimulating example…

Continues @http://lealaabbott.com/wp/archives/185

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