A newsletter to learn about practical ways to decolonize your research and data work-lives with byte-sized drabbles about the daily life of a data professional.

Different Sectors Use Different Words

Go search for a job that asks you to make metadata (data about data) for digital assets. What words do you see?

Research-oriented job ask you to “catalog MARC records” or “catalog audiovisual materials using Dublin Core.” In corporate or private sector gigs you’re more likely to see “tag image assets” or “tag digital content using keywords.“ Aren’t they all the same thing?

It’s mostly semantics and different expectations. The words we use to describe metadata work are industry specific and come with assumptions of what systems, assets, metadata standards, and job titles that you should expect. I made a chart to illustrate:

The bigger point I see across sectors is that this type of nuanced data work is valuable to all industries. Knowing the difference between tagging and creating metadata is valuable for starting a career, changing sectors, or identifying what to upskill in.

How To Demonstrate Your Expertise in Metadata, DAM, and Cataloging

Remember to take job ad requirements with a grain of salt. Most job postings will ask you for experience in a specific software (e.g. AEM) or with a specific standard (e.g. LCSH) and everyone knows you won’t have experience in those tools unless you’ve already gotten a job that used it.

You demonstrate you’re an expert in that tool or standard by:

• talking about a similar system. If you know how to work one database, you know how to work them all. Every system has a learning curve and will get system updates that force even experts to relearn how to use the tool.

• watching a YouTube tutorial, or go attend a webinar, or sign up for a class on a specific tool. A lot of places across industries want you to know: AEM, Bynder, and Preservica. Someone somewhere has something instructing you on how to use it. You can then bring up what you saw in an interview.

• making a fake project. Take some screenshots of a Library of Congress or IMDB asset and pretend that you’re cataloging it with MARC or in Dublin Core and use subject vocabularies like LCSHs. Slap that example record in a blog post and talk about your process to tag/catalog that asset.

Educational Opportunities

A short list of things to explore!

[Paid On-Demand Webinar] Learn What Tools Catalogers Use

While I didn’t touch on it, cataloging is also a distinct term used in more formal cultural heritage settings (think library, archive, art gallery). The data landscape across industries is shifting more towards metadata creation because we have a lot more digital assets that we’re collecting. But it’s good to know the foundations of tagging and metadata. The webinar is $79 for non-ALA members. It has a unique presentation on cataloging electronic theses and dissertations too.

[Online Professional Certificate] Get a Post-Grad DAM and AI Certificate from Rutgers

Rutgers is one of the few formal programs for DAM (digital asset management) and I saw this interesting 12 week certificate program that teaches you how you can use AI to automatically tag assets, help with search and discovery, and other DAM functions. It’s listed as $3,285 USD and starts in 2025. If you can afford it, this program gives you: a formal certificate (employers love those), portfolio projects, and builds your network.

[Thinking Fuel] Learn the Basics of DAM

In this 30ish minute YouTube video you hear someone explain the basics of DAM and how the database works. Use this knowledge to talk to your IT and show off on job interviews.

Let’s Create!

I’m open to collaborations, freelance gigs, and conversations about the ideas I shared. Feel free to get in touch and comment on the newsletter.