For teams with a product information management system(PIM), or collections management system (CMS), the thought of having to reenter all of their data into a digital asset management tool is a daunting task. The data has already been correctly inputted into the CMS or PIM, it seems like there should be a quick way to sync all of that data to your DAM platform. NetX had that same thought, and through our work with many museums over the years, we built the Data Source Sync tool.

With NetX’s Data Source Sync tool, we can easily map your existing data from a CMS or PIM system, to your NetX DAM platform. This allows you to take advantage of data that’s already in an external database by pulling it into NetX, either in a large batch, or one-by-one as new items are added to the main collection, ensuring everything remains in sync.

The process is simple: each asset has a unique identifier that exists in both systems and works as a key. When that key is entered into the DAM platform, a search query finds where the metadata lives in the external system, then adds it into NetX.

This can be done as an initial query to get all the records that need to be updated in NetX in a batch, and afterwards a query can trigger data to be updated in NetX in order to keep everything in sync.

It’s a fast, seamless way to make sure your metadata is synced up, without having to duplicate your work.

User-friendly and approachable interface

Nearly every museum has a collections management system (CMS), which is a database of information about all of the physical objects the museum owns. If that information is already in the CMS, why does it also need to be in NetX?

For starters, the purpose of the CMS is to catalog standard metadata like title, artist or year, as well as metadata relating to things like physical location, exhibition history or on-loan status. But these databases can be complex and complicated to use without training, and they can often become expensive as you add additional user seats.

List of CMS and PIM systems NetX currently pulls data from:

• TMS
• Emu 
• Embark
• Past Perfect
• Rediscovery
• MuseumPlus
• OPAS
• Qi

Traditionally, only one or two employees of the museum would be trained in controlling and accessing the CMS, resulting in a time-consuming process if other stakeholders had questions about the database. NetX, on the other hand, has an interface that’s incredibly approachable for self-service, and you can scale up read-only users at no extra cost.

Part of that usability is the nuanced way in which NetX allows users to search records using metadata. This was the case with the National WWII Museum, whose CMS housed records of assets and artifacts as reference materials rather than as usable digital assets. Users were unable to search the CMS for the specific digital content they were looking for, such as the mention of a specific battle within the course of an hour-long video interview.

Using the NetX Data Source Sync tool, the museum was able to map metadata from the CMS directly into NetX, giving users the ability to pinpoint the exact asset they’re looking for.

Simplify your workflow

Data Source Sync simplifies the workflow for companies that use NetX alongside other databases for cataloging assets. It limits the number of tools they need to use, eliminates cost and complexity for the organization, and reduces the burden on curators who have historically been the one keeper of the metadata records, all without requiring users to enter the same metadata twice.

Learn more about how NetX’s Data Source Sync tool can make your workflows easier and keep your databases up-to-date. Schedule a demo today, or learn more about how NetX works with Museums.