Bloomsbury Publishing wanted to leverage the growing interest in publishing and distributing e-books. However, the technical and business challenges of a medium-sized publisher distributing, promoting, and updating an e-book seemed overwhelming.

To help establish an electronic channel, the company implemented North Plains’ TeleScope DAM as well as the TeleScope Publishing Platform to streamline its U.S. and UK English language publication operations in the storage, distribution, and marketing of e-books. The new system replaced a spreadsheet-based distribution approach, increasing the publisher’s time to market.

Bloomsbury publishes over 1,000 titles a year and wanted a reputable, online, centralized repository accessible regardless of geographic location. The North Plains system now allows them to see all iterations of e-books, and make real-time corrections and updates. It also automates e-book distribution to partners that include Amazon, Gardners, GoSpoken, Kobo, Overdrive, and Sony.

Another publishing example is Xinet customer Courier Corporation. One of the nation’s largest book manufacturers, Courier found it difficult to search and retrieve files—especially once they were archived—before installing the WebNative Suite. Files archived to tape or CD required reviewing log files to find an image. With no visual search method, the wrong image file was often pulled. The company found that with DAM, documents were viewable along with the names of all images linked to them, so any job could be pulled from the archives and placed on the server within minutes.

Creative Homeowner, part of the Courier family, setup metadata fields to make image searching faster, including rights management information that helps determine which images can or cannot be reused. All images are stored on the WebNative server and tagged with XMP metatdata. They are found using keywords or numbers. Any image used in a particular edition of a book can be located by its ISBN code.

Additionally, Courier reduced expenses and saved time with the ability to upload and download files directly to and from each of the company’s printing plants versus manually shipping them.

Show business is another industry teeming with digital assets. Showtime Networks, a division of CBS Corporation, is a leading premium broadcast cable organization with original productions such as Dexter, Nurse Jackie, and Weeds. The company, based out of New York, NY, features a multi-faceted advertising and marketing strategy.

Showtime uses MediaBeacon to enable the distribution and development of more than 40 terabytes of rich media assets to promote the company’s multiple brands. The assets are distributed using various portals developed to allow the system’s 300-plus users to find assets that fit their individual marketing needs.

"We were impressed with the passion and focus MediaBeacon brings to the DAM space," says Paul Nicholson, VP of technology, Showtime. "In publishing we need that mobility of metadata and workflow that XMP brings by being strongly attached to the assets. MediaBeacon enables that for us," he adds.

In the case of Bloomsbury, DAM provides an opportunity to expand services to stay relevant amidst a changing publishing environment. While Courier, also a publisher, utilizes the technology to improve efficiency and manage current assets. The Showtime case illustrates DAM’s ability to provide access to assets across multiple brands for hundreds of users.

Next week, we conclude our Web series on DAM with a round up of available industry solutions. Find a full-length article on the topic in the July/August issue of DPS.

Read part one of this series, The Expanding Role of DAM.

For more information on companies mentioned in this piece, visit our information resource center, www.dpsmagdirect.com

Companies Mentioned:
MediaBeacon, 615
North Plains, 616
Xinet, 617