Digital asset management - core flexibility
As well as the standard functionality you would expect, iBase systems provide the core flexibility to configure a digital asset management system, an online picture library, or photo library software to do what you want them to do - whether managing digital assets, deploying web based digital asset management, providing for federated searching, corporate brand asset management software etc...
Heavyweight functionality with a light touch
iBase digital library and digital media asset management systems are designed for high end professional requirements, and configurable to suit medium and small sized organizations with a price tag to match.
Fully configurable database
Start with a clean sheet to have whatever metadata fields (schema) you need. The schema in iBase digital asset management software can be modified at any time if required, nothing is set in stone. More
Within the same asset management system there might be different types of records requiring different sets of metadata fields. For example, when managing digital assets, trying to use the same database structure for in-depth cataloguing of both scenic water colours and textile machinery might prove too challenging. In the iBase media management software database 'item types' can be created, each having its own set of metadata fields. More
Any field can be made visible or not to any class of user by an administrator. More
Hierarchical keyword structure
With iBase digital asset management software you can create hierarchical keyword / subject / category etc... structures, with as many sub-levels as required. You can see a simple example here, click on the + symbols to expand the lower levels.
Relationships
By relationships we mean the ability to link any record to any other as a 'reference to' or 'reference from' - often called 'parent / child' and 'child / parent' relationships. The relationships created in iBase media asset management software can be used in many different ways, for example:
- - Build multiple views of the same object - for example pages in a book, views of three dimensional objects from any number of different perspectives etc... Here is an example of multiple views of a 3D object on Manchester Metropolitan University's online image and artefact library.
- - Group records into sets for collections, best-sellers, exhibitions etc.... For example, these collections on the iBase demonstration site were created by linking chosen items to collection 'header' records. Click on one of the collection thumbs and see the link for viewing all items within the collection.
Federated search
A federated search is the simultaneous searching of multiple online databases, with the facility to see a list of returns from each source with clickable links that will connect directly to the source database. An iBase database can be included as a source in federated searches. More
Multiple sites from a single source database
Source database records can be published separately to each of any number of website / intranet databases. Each site can look different if required, and present only the records published to it. This can be useful where, for example, all records should be visible to internal users on their intranet, but only a subset appear on the public website. More
Flexibility through configuration
With iBase systems you are not constrained to having things the way that we think is best. Many of the general features can be configured to requirements.
For example you can have the 'standard' approaches to image ordering, payment and fulfilment, or specify non-standard requirements which we will configure. Other configurable features include user login / registration and administration; user feedback on individual items; advanced search using any required metadata; download authorisation by an administrator - and many more.
Fully scaleable and open SQL database
iBase systems are fully scaleable. There is no inherent limit to the number of records or concurrent users, and any routine file size can be handled. iBase systems are in use with individual file sizes as small as a few KBytes and as large as several hundred MBytes.
The underlying database is SQL, and so data can be imported from any ODBC source such as Microsoft Access and Excel. Similarly data can be exported as fixed-width or delimited text files, or directly into other ODBC databases.
Supported file types
Digital assets can be any that has a standard MIME, including all the usual image, video and sound types, Microsoft Office documents, PDF's etc... A list of MIME type and file extensions is at http://www.mimetype.org/
Details of all features
Go to the product pages for details of all the features available from iBase systems.
For further information about iBase products please contact us at sales@ibase.com or call +44 (0) 1943 603636