Digital
Asset
Management
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About DAM
What We Do
Aaron Cohen Associates LTD (ACA) provides specifications for IT systems including digital collections, collection development and digital asset management software. We specialize in digital asset management software requirements specifications and planning, business software integration and user requirements analysis — our DAM staff support the development of knowledge management around the corner and around the world.
Our team produces DAM studies, specifications and documentation. This is based on our librarian knowledge of catalogs, systems and services, unique to our industry. We can apply our big pharma, medical marketing and systems knowledge experience to your project.
Core Capabilities
DAM Expertise
Our work spans the full lifecycle of digital asset management: from initial requirements gathering and system selection through implementation, metadata architecture, staff training, and ongoing evaluation. We bring librarian-grade rigor to every engagement, whether the client is a research university, a pharmaceutical company, or a government agency managing large-scale digital collections.
Our Work
DAM Services in Depth
From Requirements to Implementation
A DAM engagement with ACA begins with a structured discovery phase. We interview stakeholders, audit existing workflows, and document how digital assets are currently created, stored, retrieved, and retired. That analysis becomes the foundation for a requirements specification that is precise enough to drive a vendor selection process or an in-house build.
We understand the catalog. We understand controlled vocabularies, authority files, and the metadata standards that make assets findable years after they are ingested. That librarian knowledge is what separates our specifications from those produced by generalist IT consultants. When we write a DAM specification, it reflects how information professionals actually work — and how they will need to work as collections grow.
Our experience in big pharma and medical marketing means we have worked in environments where asset governance, rights management, and audit trails are not optional. We carry that discipline into every project, regardless of sector. For more on how we approach digital transformation of the library, see our dedicated overview.
Training Labs
Digital Asset Management Training Labs
Selecting and implementing a DAM system is only part of the work. Staff need to understand how to ingest assets correctly, apply metadata consistently, manage permissions, and retrieve materials efficiently under time pressure. ACA's DAM training labs are designed to close that gap.
Training is structured around the actual workflows of the client organization, not a generic product demonstration. We work with the system your team will use, with the metadata schema your collections require, and with the real assets your staff will manage. Sessions can be delivered on-site or remotely, and we produce written documentation that remains useful long after the training day ends.
For organizations building out broader digital planning and preservation programs, training is most effective when it is integrated with the planning process from the start rather than added at the end of an implementation.
Knowledge Management
Around the Corner and Around the World
Knowledge management is not a technology problem. It is an organizational problem that technology can support — if the technology is chosen and configured correctly. ACA's DAM staff have supported knowledge management initiatives in institutions ranging from single-site special libraries to multi-campus university systems to global pharmaceutical companies.
In each case, the challenge is the same: how do people find what they need, when they need it, without depending on a single expert who holds the institutional memory? A well-implemented DAM system, built on a sound metadata architecture and supported by trained staff, is one of the most reliable answers to that question.
Our strategic planning practice and our DAM practice reinforce each other. When an organization is rethinking how it delivers services, the question of how it manages its digital assets is almost always part of the answer. We bring both conversations into the same room.
To understand how DAM fits within a broader library consulting engagement, or to discuss a specific project, we welcome the conversation.