How do you communicate your metadata standards?

Look at what standards possibly apply to the asset types that will be housed in your DAM. For example, all Adobe applications allow for embedding metadata with the file and many other properties are embedded as metadata automatically. While the format of the Adobe data is generally XMP, it generally supports definitions contained in standards groups such as Dublin Core, IPTC, RDF etc. Most DAMS can then extract that metadata on ingest. Having support for these standards in your DAM greatly helps drive consistency in the syntax used by content creators.

But to be more specific, we are not talking here about your broad DAM goals. Of course, your content architecture—of which your meta-data is part—should be aligned with those goals, but that happens before coming this close to the ground. Having said this, the goal of communicating metadata standards is to create a shared understanding and, as Erin Evans calls it, a UBIQUITOUS language or model that can be used throughout the organization. This will foster collaboration and governance in your DAM. Meta-data standards will pass the test of time if they make sense to those managing the assets and those using them; otherwise, they will be a slideshow or a wiki page lost somewhere. Make it meaningful, but most importantly, make it useful.

Try to understand, at a high level what metadata is currently used within the DAM. Then from there, you can determine what fits/what doesn't. Also something else to consider is what the platform can handle - for example it might only take finished assets as PNG.

While some metadata may be specific or unique to an asset type or user role, it may be meaningless to others. Most users only want to see metadata that is curated to match the user role they are assigned to or possibly a unique group. The metadata an author is interested in, is much different than the metadata a base user is interested in. Have a set of roles and/or groups that match your user base needs so you can tailor what metadata each role can view. Some DAMS allow individual multiple schema you then assign to these roles/groups. You can also use permissions to control which groups/roles or can view specific metadata fields.

Ask the people who are both ingesting and using the content. If most people ingesting are not doing editing from finding content on the DAM, then you only need to request the photographer/videographer to ensure the correct metadata is on each asset. If the user wants to see metadata, what do they want to see and why? Are they looking for something specific or can it be found another way? i.e. filters, searching etc

Create guides, examples and tips on how to ensure standards are upheld. Depending on your organisation and its cleanliness you might need to become the DAM police. Get the guides out into the hands of the users, if you don't communicate, they won't know.

Standardising to industry or to best practice in agreement with customers or 3rd party providers will save a lot of headaches in the long run.

Keep in mind that metadata can be used to drive workflows, so put thought into what metadata would benefit those functions. What your DAM supports as far as workflow management will vary greatly by vendor so you may need to use third party workflow engines to accomplish this. I am in the boat that believes if metadata is available, grab it! You will use it someday. Metadata is knowledge, don't ignore it.