We do quite a bit of consulting around metadata and taxonomy strategies for organizations, and one thing we find is always a topic of discussion is "How much metadata is too much?" The answer from us usually is: "The only metadata you should consider is information that is really relevant for searching, relating, or repurposing content."

Not too long ago (pre-iPhone) we would sit down with publishers to discuss their future content strategies and these discussions would often times include strategies for Mobile content distribution. Major publishers have designated roles and partnerships for delivering mobile content, and usually that meant multi-media text messages, or specially created content exclusively for mobile content subscribers.

One recurring question raised in many sessions at the Henry Stewart digital asset management symposium was, "What about open source DAM?"

Let me start by saying, that is a good question to ask. With the rapid rise in popularity of the open source platform for Web content management systems such as Drupal, couldn't we expect the same thing in the digital asset management space?

Day 2 - Henry Stewart Digital Asset Management Symposium in New York City

A very lively if not heated session with digital asset management vendor CTOs sparring and debating many subjects took place towards the close of day two at Henry Stewart. The Enterprise DAM Vendor Shoot Out must have been highly anticipated as the session was packed and was standing room only.

Just a few quick notes and thoughts on Day 1 of the Henry Stewart Digital Asset Management Symposium.

Overall the show is looking a little smaller this year, with some vendors opting to walk the floor rather than spending money on a booth.

The show seems to be well attended, with a good mixture of organizations that are new to digital asset management and those that have already implemented a solution but are looking to extend it or get more information on best practices.

As publishing companies struggle to COPE (Create Once Publish Everywhere), single source authoring tools look more and more to be the answer.

At the end of February Adobe released Air 1.0, a new RIA (Rich Internet Application) platform. In very simple terms Air lets you develop internet applications that can be run as desktop applications regardless of wether or not you are connected to the Web. Using AJAX, Flex, ActionScript and other Web technologies, applications can be built once and with a few tweaks can be deployed both within a browser and as a desktop application.

The title says it all! Many smaller groups and organizations that publish small magazines, newsletters, or journals are stuck with a cumbersome workflow process using MS Word together with InDesign or QuarkXPress. These organizations would love to get the benefits of an editorial workflow management system like K4, but they simply can't afford this level of a solution.

In a previous blog posting I discussed the new role for editorial departments and the changing content strategies for many publishers. Towards the end of that posting I mentioned that having too many different processes and authoring tools was a great way spell out the demise of a new content strategy.

Right now the publishing industry is going through a wave change in terms of next generation content strategies. Web content management, and syndication of content is the hot topic these days.

One aspect of this change is the role that editors, writers, and journalists are expected to play in their organizations. While some publishers elect to have an online editorial staff as well as a traditional print staff, most publishers are moving towards the goal of a content platform agnostic editorial group.