Requiring a MLIS degree for a Digital Asset Manager or Librarian role

A question I've asked myself occasionally the past 5 years working as a digital asset manager is why some companies put MLIS as a "must" requirement in their job description for a digital asset manager or librarian role. In search for an answer, I look to the experts in the recruitment field for possible reasoning and conducted some light research on what this degree offer.

I took on the digital asset management responsibility when I was a project manager for a mobile game publisher. I'd coordinate with game developers to receive creative assets so our team can create marketing material for game launch campaigns or ongoing effort in supporting titles. Organize raw game captured assets, run them through the market creative process and distribute assets to multiple stakeholders are my responsibilities.

Speculations - these were formed with my own experience and conversation with a Senior HR manager with experience across all functions in human resource including recruitment.

1. Having a degree in general speaks to a person's ability to stay focus and on task until the job is done. Earning a degree through long duration of hard work through various sorts of obstacles.
2. Holding a MLIS degree provides foundational understanding to information organization which will expedite this person's role in digital asset management. With additional training to a particular system the onboarding process is easier.

If my speculations are correct, then the hiring managers are putting too much fate in the MLIS degree and people who hold degrees. I often don't apply for jobs that have this as a must requirement for this role because, well, I don't have this degree and it is a signal to me that these hiring managers may not know much about digital asset management and what they actually need. From my research into the MLIS degree, while it has some aspects that relate to digital asset management, it should not to be a must requirement.

With that said, I have applied to jobs requiring, must and preferred, a degree and it is also advised by the Sr. HR Manager I conversed with to do so; apply for opportunities even when it insist applicants to have degrees or skills they may not have. You can never be sure who is reviewing the application and resume; your experience can still speak volume when being considered for the role. I've gotten job offers where I did not have all of the things listed in the job description.

Here are some job descriptions I've come across with various level of requirement and preferences.

MLIS degree

MLIS stands for Master of Library Information System which is different than MIS, the Management Information Systems most business majors may be familiar with. Looking at the courses for the MLIS degree, it seems to be heavily leaning on the theory of what it is (different types) and how they can / should be organized (closer to computer science and programming).

Many of these courses will have little to no use to a digital asset manager or librarian role in the real world all except maybe the course that "covers the design, querying, and evaluation of information systems, from web hierarchies to controlled vocabularies" which will let them know they are out of their depth if they were hired and they should have taken a few more courses in coding than just a course that "covers" this subject.

SJSU School of Information listed out many possible opportunities for this degree. Some of the employment opportunities listed are:

• Catalog and Metadata Librarians
• Electronic Resource Librarians
• Data Management Coordinators
• Data Curation Librarians
• Knowledge Management Analysts
• Schema Architects
• Taxonomists
• Technical Services Directors
• User Experience Architects
• Information Architects
• Vocabulary/Information Architecture Directors
• Digital Content Managers
• Search Analysts
• Discovery Platform Coordinators
• Linked Data Strategists
• Content Strategists

The two opportunities, Catalog and Metadata Librarian and Taxonomist, are come the closest to the responsibilities of digital asset managers and librarians. I wrote this long post just to say that having a "must" requirement of a MLIS degree for digital asset management role is unnecessary. 😃

DAM Systems!

As companies grow, the amount of assets grows with them. The difficulty of organizing them increases. Different departments/groups use their own methods of file naming convention, labeling and organizational structure to house their valuable assets. Technology companies took notice and have started developing platforms and software to capitalize this challenge.

Some provide better solutions than others. This post is my 🔥 hot takes 🔥 on the ones I've worked with in the past as a system admin, digital asset librarian and manager (experience are based prior to end of 2023). I am not a developer and I do not have behind the scene knowledge. My recommendations can be found below 👍👎. 

Here is a list of common features clients look for in a DAM system:

1. Search by Keyword and Filters
2. Organize / Collection / Metadata
3. Gatekeep / Permission / Share
4. Report

Bynder - A good system with many useful out of the box solutions; it has a clean brand forward UI design. Desired features can be expressed to account managers and be considered for future roadmaps. My experience with this system is the oldest so they most likely won't be applicable to their latest version.

BrandMaker - A basic system with potential once more features are fully realized. UI design is simple and clean. Desired features can be expressed to account managers and be considered for future roadmaps. 

• It has the ability to use auto generated tags. Accuracy needs improvement.
• It incorporated search within each menu which is user friendly especially filters and tags tend to grow continuously.
• Some functionalities are made available to users but they don't work appropriately. Such as marking an asset being used in particular project (project management is another module the company provides) in the DAM but doesn't show up in the project management module.
• It lacks administrative tools to make adjustments and corrections to metadata.

BrandFolder - A great system with many useful out of the box solutions; it has a clean visually pleasing brand forward UI design. Desired features can be expressed to account managers and be considered for future roadmaps. 👍This is the one I would recommend to use 👍.

• Along with the basic features listed above, it has useful tools for admins to make changes and correct user errors efficiently. Example, consolidate or correct tags with multiple spelling (Smiling and smiling).
• Since DAM systems lean heavy on visuals, much like the ones listed here, it too lacks the ability to view assets simply as file data. Think of the detail views in Windows or Mac. When naming conventions are followed, one of the best way to weed out errors is through sorting through details without the need of any image thumbnails taking up monitor real estate.

Adobe Experience Manager - A deep and complex system with huge potential. It has brand name recognition backed with little development resource. 🚫I do not recommend this for any organization unless they plan on spending millions and years of development 👎.

• Search is its best attribute with keyword search and filter search methods. Other systems have caught up to this and have made better iteration of this combination.
• It has many out of the box solutions users look for but sadly they don't work well. Common things I've heard from users are the system is very clunky on both functionalities and its UI.
• It has a lot of potential but it requires a lot of development time to get it to work.
• Support team is slow which affects communications and requires a lot of follow up creating back and forth.
• Latest iteration, AEM Cloud, maintenance update may be made across for all clients who use this cloud based system. Example, client A requested an updated to a feature that they had a problem with or an opinion on how it should function for their particular use. A change is then made across the entire system which now affects client B's process.
• Knowledge base is vast, convoluted and outdated. There are articles upon articles to help you understand the system and how to use it but it is often written in technical terms and structure. It is so dry you will be dehydrated after a few articles. Some of the information is outdated because changes are made fast and furious. My guess is no one can keep up with the changes to make updates to their documents/articles.