For its publications (Rustica, Système D, Bricothèmes) and its websites (Rustica.fr and Maisonbrico.com) Rustica Group implemented a new DAM solution. It serves as the company’s central database for managing photos and videos produced. “We had 400,000 media (photos and videos accumulated over the last four to five years, but also technical drawings and blueprints) to migrate,” explains Laurelie Calef-Loheac, assistant manager of the company’s Internet Department.
A shared database for the entire company
“As such, we opted for this media database to be shared by the Group’s three companies (Rustica, PGV Maison, and Maisonbrico.com), but with each company remaining independently identified within the database”, says Laurelie. Rustica’s contributors don’t necessarily grant their access rights to users from the other companies. In response, the Group developed a true policy for the management of user rights. “Today, when someone adds photos to the database, we are able to know who did so, what user rights they granted, and for which company they added the photos”, explains the project manager. So, when a user goes looking for photos, depending on the department they work for, they’ll only have access to the photos they’re authorized to access. The others will be masked for them.
Given the ample size of the Group’s media library, the contributors themselves take the time to tag their photos with keywords when they add them to the database. “Our solution allows users to use location services and facial recognition, for example, but we don’t use these features yet”, Laurelie Calef-Loheac clarifies. “Because, first and foremost, we have visuals of plants and photos of DIY projects. On the other hand, currently, users can perform searches using the scientific names of plants”.
The solution comes in the form of a full-web portal that can be accessed through a browser, with an unlimited number of users. Each user receives an access code that they can use to log into the portal, including while on the go (for photographers out reporting on a story, for example).
Very easy to use
“The way it works is extremely simple, but we’ve created a user guide for external users and we’ve provided training internally on how to add and search for media, how to maintain the database, etc.”, explains Laurelie, who also uses the report functions to find out how many photos have been added, the number of additions per photographer, who is using the database, and more. “That allows us to see if we’re properly covering all of our topics or if, in certain cases, we need some more material”.
That allows us to see if we’re properly covering all of our topics or if, in certain cases, we need some more material
This solution was chosen (after comparison with seven other solutions) because it met most of the Group’s needs without requiring special software development. What’s more, internal staff was already familiar with the technology on which the solution relies. “That was reassuring to us, in case we had any issues or if we needed to retrain people internally,” says Laurelie Calef-Loheac. The price, the user-friendliness, and the ability to host media internally also entered into the equation and made the difference when it came time to select a solution. “Indeed, we still host our own files”.
Upgrades are planned, notably for the interfacing of the database with the Group’s content management system. The goal is to be able to connect certain visuals with InDesign models, for example, in order to accelerate page layout work.
