INFO 282-11
Digital Asset Management
Fall 2017 Syllabus

John Horodyski
E-mail
Office Hours: Via email, and telephone advising can be arranged.


Syllabus Links
Textbooks
CLOs
Competencies
Prerequisites
Resources
Canvas
iSchool eBookstore
 

Canvas Information: Courses will be available beginning August 23, 6 am PT unless you are taking an intensive or a one-unit or two-unit class that starts on a different day. In that case, the class will open on the first day that the class meets.

You will be enrolled into the Canvas site automatically.

Course Description

This course is designed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts, terminology, practice, and application of digital asset management in the public and private sector. It will feature discussions on metadata, workflow, taxonomy, data security, and preservation of digital assets.

Course Requirements

Canvas Site
This course will include participation via the Canvas site.

DAM Reading Briefs
There will be readings assigned for seven (7) of the units with a one (1) page summary brief required.

Online Participation
There will be ongoing online participation on the INFO 282 SJSU Canvas Discussion Board.

Blogs to follow (RSS feeds preferable):
Follow the two blogs listed below, preferably using RSS feeds.  Over the course of the semester, please comment on three posts from three separate blogs by submitting a paragraph of 100-250 words to the Canvas Discussion Board.  Be prepared to speak to the class briefly about the posting and your comment. Copy and paste the original posting on the assignment and be sure to include your name, date and “blog comment assignment” with the title of the blog in the upper left corner of the page.

Projects
There will be three projects starting with:

  • Project #1 (Supports CLO #1, #3)
    • A metadata analysis of an online digital collection of photographs with the intent to identify vocabulary design, retrieval requirements, and licensing issues. You will use Flickr http://www.flickr.com/ and post a digital collection of 15 – 20 images from your personal collection, each of them applied with metadata (tagging in Flickr terms).
    • Format will be a 3 -4 page report detailing your metadata analysis and organization of your digital collection emailed to me including a link to your Flickr site.
    • Due by end of day (EOD) Friday, October 6, 2017
  • Project #2 (Supports CLO #1, #3)
    • An analysis of a digital video collection to identify issues related to its access, content, format, and eventual repurposing by users as well as a metadata analysis.
    • Format will be a 3 -4 page report and metadata fields for the video clips.
    • Due by end of day (EOD) Friday, November 3, 2017

  • Project #3 (Supports CLO #1-4)
    • The third project will build upon the experience of the previous two projects and will be to create a project plan for a digital asset management implementation. This project plan will be up to you to decide what the DAM system will be comprised of and what its objectives will be. You will need to determine what the assets would be (i.e. images, videos, graphics, etc.), how many you will use, etc. for this imaginary DAM system.
    • Format will be a 12 - 14 page report.
    • Due by end of day (EOD) Monday, December 11, 2017

Course Calendar
These are the weekly topics that will be covered in reading and Blackboard discussions.

  • Week 1 - Unit 1: Concepts and Terms
  • Weeks 2 – 3 - Unit 2: Image Databases / Collections / DAM Systems
  • Weeks 4 – 5 - Unit 3: Metadata
  • Weeks 6 – 7 - Unit 4: Workflow
  • Weeks 8 – 9 - Unit 5: Taxonomy
  • Weeks 10 – 11 - Unit 6: Data security
  • Weeks 12 – 13 - Unit 7: Preservation of digital assets
  • Weeks 14 – 15 - Unit 8: Project Management

Course Grading

  1. There will be no “extra credits” available for this course.
  2. Percentage weight assigned to class assignments
    1. Discussion Board / Blog Participation - 10%
    2. Unit Readings Summary Brief - 10%
    3. Project #1 - 20%
    4. Project #2 - 25%
    5. Project #3 - 35%
  3. I will not accept any late assignments. If the assignment is submitted late, then there will be no grade assigned and you will receive “0.”

Course Workload Expectations

Success in this course is based on the expectation that students will spend, for each unit of credit, a minimum of forty-five hours over the length of the course (normally 3 hours per unit per week with 1 of the hours used for lecture) for instruction or preparation/studying or course related activities including but not limited to internships, labs, clinical practica. Other course structures will have equivalent workload expectations as described in the syllabus.

Instructional time may include but is not limited to:
Working on posted modules or lessons prepared by the instructor; discussion forum interactions with the instructor and/or other students; making presentations and getting feedback from the instructor; attending office hours or other synchronous sessions with the instructor.

Student time outside of class:
In any seven-day period, a student is expected to be academically engaged through submitting an academic assignment; taking an exam or an interactive tutorial, or computer-assisted instruction; building websites, blogs, databases, social media presentations; attending a study group;contributing to an academic online discussion; writing papers; reading articles; conducting research; engaging in small group work.

Course Prerequisites

INFO 200, INFO 204

Course Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

  1. Evaluate a digital collection of different media assets to determine their value in their current and long-term roles within an organization.
  2. Describe how the professional skill sets of librarians and archivists are converging with the practice of digital asset management, from content classification and organization to records management and long-term access and preservation of digital assets.
  3. Critically think about how metadata, including descriptive keywords and taxonomies, can be used to organize digital content in a constructive and valuable format for users.
  4. Demonstrate good project management skills, from project design through implementation and training.

Core Competencies (Program Learning Outcomes)

INFO 282 supports the following core competencies:

  1. D Apply the fundamental principles of planning, management, marketing, and advocacy.
  2. H Demonstrate proficiency in identifying, using, and evaluating current and emerging information and communication technologies.
  3. I Use service concepts, principles, and techniques to connect individuals or groups with accurate, relevant, and appropriate information.

Textbooks

Required Textbooks:

  • Austerberry, D. (2013). Digital asset management (2nd ed.). Focal Press. Available through Amazon: 0240808681. arrow gif indicating link outside sjsu domain
  • Horodyski, J. (2016). Inform, transform, and outperform: Digital content strategies to optimize your business for growth. Advantage Media Group. Available through Amazon: 1599327554.arrow gif indicating link outside sjsu domain

Recommended Textbooks:

  • Krogh, P. (2006). The DAM book: Digital asset management for photographers. O'Reilly Media, Inc. Available through Amazon: 0596100183. arrow gif indicating link outside sjsu domain
  • Mauthe, A., & Thomas, P. (2004). Professional content management systems: Handling digital media assets. John Wiley & Sons. Available through Amazon: 0470855428. arrow gif indicating link outside sjsu domain

Grading Scale

The standard SJSU School of Information Grading Scale is utilized for all iSchool courses:

97 to 100 A
94 to 96 A minus
91 to 93 B plus
88 to 90 B
85 to 87 B minus
82 to 84 C plus
79 to 81 C
76 to 78 C minus
73 to 75 D plus
70 to 72 D
67 to 69 D minus
Below 67 F

 

In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:

  • C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
  • B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work or undergraduate (for BS-ISDA);
    For core courses in the MLIS program (not MARA, Informatics, BS-ISDA) — INFO 200, INFO 202, INFO 204 — the iSchool requires that students earn a B in the course. If the grade is less than B (B- or lower) after the first attempt you will be placed on administrative probation. You must repeat the class if you wish to stay in the program. If - on the second attempt - you do not pass the class with a grade of B or better (not B- but B) you will be disqualified.
  • A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.

Graduate Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a 3.0 Grade Point Average (GPA). Undergraduates must maintain a 2.0 Grade Point Average (GPA).

University Policies

Per University Policy S16-9, university-wide policy information relevant to all courses, such as academic integrity, accommodations, etc. will be available on Office of Graduate and Undergraduate Programs' Syllabus Information web page at: https://www.sjsu.edu/curriculum/courses/syllabus-info.php. Make sure to visit this page, review and be familiar with these university policies and resources.

In order to request an accommodation in a class please contact the Accessible Education Center and register via the MyAEC portal.

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