Fisheries Cast Digital Net
Fisheries Cast Digital Net
Frustrated staff at the research division of the Department of Fisheries in Western Australia used to have to search under people's desks for vital paperwork and images relevant to high priority government projects. But that all changed after it introduced a digital asset management solution, which is being used to centralise information so it can be easily retrieved from an intranet. Rodney Appleyard reports.
The Department of Fisheries takes care of Western Australia's fishing resources, aquatic life and pearling industry from an ecological, economic and social perspective. Its philosophy is based around the belief that the aquatic environment, with its inherent resources, is one of Western Australia's most valuable sustainable assets.
"Its value is not only in what can be harvested from the ocean, but also as a physical environ-ment that shapes the lifestyle and culture of the people of Western Australia," reads the Department's web home page.
The primary function of the research division is to provide scientific advice to the government during the formulation of management policies for developing and sustaining Western Australian fisheries.
But staff in this division often used to feel like they were swimming against the tide of future development when they tried to find assets needed for these projects. On too many occasions they would have to search under the desks of people and turn offices upside down to find the relevant material. The old system of gathering images and information for research was far too scattered and disjointed. That was before Canto's Cumulus 6.0 was introduced.
The department is still in the middle of fully implementing this solution, but they have already managed to increase the efficiency of their organisation hugely and motivate their staff through this new user-friendly system.
Under the old regime, too many images required for both scientific and public relations purposes did not have any formal categorising or recall methods in place. Information would arrive in the form of video, digital camera stills, flyers and many other media formats, but they did not end up in one place where data could be recovered instantly. A decent reference system for these materials was not in place because many of these assets would be lying around in random places. These items would often go missing without anyone knowing how to locate or identify them. It would be rare for people to find commonly used images or materials very quickly.
So far, the new Cumulus 6.0 solution is being used by the department to house all scientific images of fish species and ëboat taken' images (photographs taken on boats), as well as commonly used logos, videos and PDFs. They have only managed to incorporate current material, but they are looking to include all of the historical assets over the next coming year. Each asset has to go through a series of compliance tests as it is processed into the system, including applying name tagging conventions and copyright details.
In the future, the department will also house PDFs of publications by the Department of Fisheries and head office images (1,000s), which will be available to regional offices. Later down the track, this information will also have limited public access.
It has been a huge advantage to the fisheries having all of the assets stored and managed in a central repository. Java scripting has been incorporated into the library too, so that lists can now be imported and utilised through an Intranet without the need for extra typing or searches. Relevant material linked to the key wording is automatically pulled up.
The Publications Officer for the Research Department of Fisheries, Sandy Clarke, outlines the changes in the system.
"There was no formalisation of historical data when I first came here. I didn't realise it was going to be such a phenomenal task. Files were being duplicated for no reason. For instance, you'd have the same picture of a lobster named numerously. That's just a waste and serves absolutely no purpose. The system was also very cumbersome and slow so it would take so long to get hold of key information.
"Each individual section is now categorised and divided into different areas. All the staff have to do is simply type a keyword into the Intranet for it to pull up images, graphics, maps, and a whole range of data relating to that particular subject. This happens pretty much instantly because the Intranet searches for information from a centralised place.
"For example, somebody could type in "Shark Bay", and that will bring up a whole range of details relating to this subject, including jpegs, file reports and word documents, which are also printable. The staff have much more control over what they are giving to their clients, and this has made them very enthusiastic about using this new system too."
The ongoing implementation of images into this digital asset management system will reap benefits for the fisheries in the long-term. Each item old and new will be properly referenced with metadata, so that these items will always be brought up instantly if they are in the system, whereas before, somebody would have to remember where assets were physically placed. Video footage will be transformed into a digital format for archiving purposes. This will provide further longevity to material stored on the original of a tired VHS tape, which could easily get damaged. The transformation could be compared to going from rowing a boat to driving a catamaran.
This Canto Cumulus 6.0 solution allows system integrators to build a DAM solution as either a stand-alone; part of a workflow; overall Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system or portal. It has allowed the Fisheries Department to create a digital library without it being such a difficult and costly exercise.
NSW fisheries have been so impressed with this implementation that they have already been in contact with Sandy Clarke about her managing their image library with Cumulus 6.0 as well. In the long run, Sandy believes that if an image can be sourced via the Intranet with a few clicks, rather than an email and a jog around the office, then this small step in the direction of improved productivity marks a major leap towards increased efficiency for the whole department.
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