Patent Publication Number: US-2010131547-A1

Title: Digital asset management system, including customizable metadata model for asset cataloging and permissioning of digital assets, such as for use with digital images and songs

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/399,692, filed Apr. 6, 2006 entitled “DIGITAL ASSET MANAGEMENT SYSTEM, INCLUDING CUSTOMIZABLE METADATA MODEL FOR ASSET CATALOGING AND PERMISSIONING OF DIGITAL ASSETS, SUCH AS FOR USE WITH DIGITAL IMAGES AND SONGS”, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/669,206, filed Apr. 6, 2005 entitled “Digital Asset Management System, Including Data Structure for Providing Differing Permissions Associated with the Assets, such as for use with Digital Images and Songs.” 
    
    
     BACKGROUND 
     The practice of exchanging data via computers that have been networked has been occurring for decades. One use for computers and computer networks includes providing a centralized collection of reusable media components, or digital assets, which can then be distributed to multiple users. Using a centralized collection of digital assets (as opposed to multiple local collections) can both lower the cost and speed the execution of tasks that utilize such digital assets (e.g., global brand-marketing strategies). However, simple centralization often fails to produce meaningful time and cost advantages for large organizations. For example, regardless of whether a company keeps regimented control of its assets or, alternatively, freely releases them for local usage, typical distribution paths often mean that groups and divisions will pass materials from group to group several times before they reach their final audience. Further difficulties with current techniques arise from the use of rapidly evolving rich-media technologies that demand information technology (IT) capability that is beyond the expertise of most enterprise IT organizations. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a block diagram showing an example of an environment in which the asset management facility may be implemented in an embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating additional details regarding the asset management facility in an embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing sample contents of the asset repository of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4  is a block diagram showing a first example of a scheme for allocating libraries of digital assets. 
         FIG. 5  is a block diagram showing a second example of a scheme for allocating libraries of digital assets. 
         FIG. 6  is an entity relationship diagram showing relationships between entities of the asset management facility in an embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  is a flow diagram showing an example of a routine for generating asset metadata in an embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  is a flow diagram showing an example of a routine for searching based on asset metadata in an embodiment. 
         FIGS. 9A ,  9 B,  10 A, and  10 B are display diagrams illustrating aspects of assets and associated asset metadata in an embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Described in detail herein is an asset management facility for efficient and effective management, receiving, storing, organizing, and distributing of digital assets (e.g., documents, audio data, image data, video data, etc.). In some embodiments, aspects of the facility operate using a single centralized database that forms a multi-tenant virtualized environment. For example, the single database may contain digital assets, metadata associated with digital assets, and a structure for distributing digital assets among multiple virtual libraries. While the single database may be centralized, the multiple virtual libraries may be configured to represent business or geographic divisions within a company or set of companies. All users can access the system using intranets, or the Internet and browser/web-based tools. Each user is able to see his or her own permissioned view of the libraries and assets he or she has access to. The facility may also provide search and publishing/distribution facilities. The facility may provide numerous benefits, such as global distribution of digital data (e.g., simultaneous distribution of movie posters, trailers, songs, and so forth), flexible dynamic metadata schemes that can be customized across multiple organizations, effective and efficient search capabilities based on metadata, a granular permissions model based on metadata, etc. 
     In some embodiments, the asset management facility supports establishing virtual libraries as a framework for distributing digital assets. The virtual libraries may provide access to the assets at a “local” level, thus allowing for fine-grained local permissions models, reducing asset retrieval transaction times, etc. In a first example, Acme Headquarters (the headquarters for digital assets within Acme Company) employs the asset management facility to define a primary library that contains effectively all of the official corporate digital assets associated with that organization or group. Each asset includes metadata that aids in the creation of other virtual libraries that function as “local” sub-libraries. In particular, each asset may be associated with one or more metadata definitions that are each unique to a particular owner and/or site (e.g., each Acme subsidiary may be considered an owner and have its own site through which the assets in its virtual library can be accessed). 
     Through the use of multiple virtual libraries (defined based on metadata definitions for each asset that are, possibly, unique to each subsidiary), Acme Headquarters provides Acme&#39;s subsidiaries/remote offices with access, ownership, or rights to use a subset of the assets within the Acme Headquarters&#39; primary library, as if each subsidiary has its own locally contained library of assets. In some embodiments, the asset distribution theme described above can be repeated down a hierarchy of subsidiaries, where assets and metadata can flow up and down the hierarchy as appropriate. 
     The configurations described above provide benefits of both centralized systems and localized systems. For example, system administrators and Acme Headquarters can easily make changes to assets and/or asset metadata that can be set to immediately take effect in each of the virtual libraries. Examples of such changes include removing an asset from the system altogether (e.g., in the case that a license to use the asset has expired or that the asset is found inappropriate), providing foreign language translations for assets, changing descriptive information associated with an asset, etc. System administrators at the subsidiary level may be free to make certain changes that affect the assets that reside in the subsidiary&#39;s virtual library by making changes to the subsidiary-specific metadata for each of the assets. For example, a subsidiary system administrator may provide locally appropriate foreign language translations for the subsidiary&#39;s assets, change the composition of metadata associated with its assets at the local level (e.g., add new metadata fields that only make sense at the subsidiary level), etc. Likewise, the flexibility of asset metadata at the local level may facilitate setting up different categories of users that are also represented with flexible metadata with different types of access permissions, thereby providing a fine-grained permissions model, which can be implemented even at the atomic (individual) asset level (e.g., user Jane Doe can see asset XYZ and user John Smith can see asset ABC). In this way, permissions information is integrated into the asset metadata to comprise a single metadata document (as opposed to being contained in a separate permissions mechanism or structure). This allows the metadata to support complex permissions models and permits a large number of assets without slowing the system. 
     The flexibility of asset metadata described herein can be implemented without the need for “hard coding” or programmatic application changes. In other words, the client configuration, library structures, and metadata model can be dynamically created and changed and applied through the use of simple web-based forms. For example, these and similar tools may allow administrative users to configure the structure and composition of metadata and create individual virtual libraries or to otherwise control access to assets within a large organization. The metadata model may also allow for flexible definitions of metadata structures for users, assets, and projects. In some embodiments, this may be standard across all parts of a company. In some cases, the individual libraries may be tailored to suit local group needs. The metadata model may also facilitate searching for users, assets and projects. These search facilities can also be configured through web-browser based tools. Accordingly, the facility may implement permissions/access rules in conjunction with performing metadata based and/or free text searches. 
     Various embodiments of the invention will now be described. The following description provides specific details for a thorough understanding and enabling description of these embodiments. One skilled in the art will understand, however, that the invention may be practiced without many of these details. Additionally, some well-known structures or functions may not be shown or described in detail, so as to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the relevant description of the various embodiments. 
     The terminology used in the description presented below is intended to be interpreted in its broadest reasonable manner, even though it is being used in conjunction with a detailed description of certain specific embodiments of the invention. Certain terms may even be emphasized below; however, any terminology intended to be interpreted in any restricted manner will be overtly and specifically defined as such in this Detailed Description section. 
       FIG. 1  and the following discussion provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment in which aspects of the invention can be implemented. Although not required, aspects and embodiments of the invention will be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as routines executed by a general-purpose computer, e.g., a server or personal computer. Those skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the invention can be practiced with other computer system configurations, including Internet appliances, hand-held devices, wearable computers, cellular or mobile phones, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, set-top boxes, network PCs, mini-computers, mainframe computers, and the like. The invention can be embodied in a special purpose computer or data processor that is specifically programmed, configured, or constructed to perform one or more of the computer-executable instructions explained in detail below. Indeed, the term “computer,” as used generally herein, refers to any of the above devices, as well as any data processor. 
     The invention can also be practiced in distributed computing environments, where tasks or modules are performed by remote processing devices, which are linked through a communications network, such as a Local Area Network (“LAN”), Wide Area Network (“WAN”), or the Internet. In a distributed computing environment, program modules or sub-routines may be located in both local and remote memory storage devices. Aspects of the invention described below may be stored or distributed on computer-readable media, including magnetic and optically readable and removable computer discs, stored as firmware in chips (e.g., EEPROM chips), as well as distributed electronically over the Internet or over other networks (including wireless networks). Those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that portions of the invention may reside on a server computer, while corresponding portions reside on a client computer. Data structures and transmission of data particular to aspects of the invention are also encompassed within the scope of the invention. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a system or environment  100  in which the asset management facility may be implemented includes at least a first organization (e.g., Organization A)  102  and a second organization (e.g., Organization B)  104 . Both organizations ( 102  and  104 ) are consumers of digital assets, and may also be, in some cases, generators/creators of digital assets. Each organization ( 102  and  104 ) may have several client devices associated with it, such as personal computers (e.g., PC or Mac) or workstations having one or more processors coupled to one or more data storage devices. The data storage devices may include any type of computer-readable media that can store data accessible by the client devices, such as magnetic hard and floppy disk drives, optical disk drives, magnetic cassettes, tape drives, flash memory cards, digital video disks (DVDs), Bernoulli cartridges, RAMs, ROMs, smart cards, etc. Indeed, any medium for storing or transmitting computer-readable instructions and data may be employed, including a network connection port or network node. 
     Each client device may also be coupled to at least one user input device and at least one output device such as a display device, as well as one or more optional additional output devices (e.g., printer, plotter, speakers, tactile or olfactory output devices, etc.), thereby allowing users to access digital assets that are made accessible to the client devices. For example, the input devices may include a keyboard and/or a pointing device such as a mouse. Other input devices are possible such as a microphone, joystick, pen, game pad, scanner, digital camera, video camera, and the like. In some embodiments, the client computers associated with the organizations ( 102  and  104 ) access digital assets via a network  106 , which connects the organizations ( 102  and  104 ) to an asset management facility  108  of the system  100 . While the Internet is shown to represent the network  106 , a private network, such as an intranet, may indeed be preferred in some applications. 
     The asset management facility  108  may comprise at least one server computer coupled to the network  106  that performs much or all of the functions for receiving, routing, and storing of digital assets. Accordingly, the asset management facility  108  may be part of a server system within an organization or subgroup within an organization. However, other configurations may be possible. Various databases coupled to the asset management facility  108  may include an asset repository/metadata storage facility  110 . The asset repository/metadata storage facility  110  may store the information comprising the digital assets themselves, as well as metadata and metadata definitions for each asset existing in a virtual library, thereby defining one or more library structures that allow the organizations ( 102  and  104 ) to obtain access to select groups of the digital assets. While shown and described above as being contained in a single database, the information in the asset repository/metadata storage facility  110  may also be distributed in multiple databases. 
     Aspects of the asset management facility  108  may employ security measures to inhibit malicious attacks on the system  100  and to preserve the integrity of the data stored therein (e.g., firewall systems, secure socket layers (SSL), password protection schemes, encryption, and the like). 
     The asset management facility  108  may provide various functionalities. Examples of such functionalities are depicted in  FIG. 1  and include find asset functionality  116 , view asset functionality  118 , publish asset functionality  120  (e.g., used by asset creators to make assets available and set permissions for access to such assets), download asset functionality  122 , annotate asset functionality  124  (e.g., annotations can be used for facilitating searching as well as describing the asset and providing information about its use), route asset functionality  126 , archive asset functionality  128 , administer asset functionality  130 , etc. 
     The asset management facility  108  and its associated functionality may be implemented using several subcomponents (not shown) such as a server engine, a web page management component, a database management component, a distributed file system component, etc. For example, the server engine may perform basic processing and operating system level tasks. The web page management component may handle creation and display or routing of web pages. The database management component may facilitate storage and retrieval tasks with respect to the database, queries to the database, and storage of data. The distributed file system component may couple aspects of the asset management facility  108  to the asset repository  110  and may manage and transparently locate pieces of information (e.g., assets) from remote files or databases and distribute files across the network  106 . The distributed file system component may also manage read and write functions to the databases. In addition, to facilitate quick searches, the distributed file system component may cache metadata/permissions documents for fast access. 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a more detailed view of aspects of the asset management facility  108  of  FIG. 1 . In general, the asset management facility  108  may provide functionality associated with ingesting assets  202 , managing assets  204 , distributing assets  206 , and consuming assets  208 . Accordingly, high-level user groups associated with the system include end users/consumers  210 , creative users/administrators  212 , and system and site administrators  214 . To access the asset management facility  108 , the end users/consumers  210 , the creative users/administrators  212 , and the system and site administrators  214  may have access to http interface tools  216 , FTP tools  218 , and messaging/alerting tools  220 . In addition, the creative users/administrators  212  may have access to uploading tools, including an upload applet tool  222  and a bulk upload tool  224 , which allow such users to upload assets to the asset management facility after they have been created. These web-based configuration tools and possibly others allow for rapid setup and changes to system resources. 
     The functional components of the asset management facility  108  may include an ingestion pipeline  226  for the ingestion of assets into the system. For example, the ingestion pipeline  226  may screen incoming assets for viruses, allow for the automatic extraction of metadata from assets, allow for the generation of alternative formats for assets, allow for thumbnail generation, etc. The functional components of the asset management facility may also include a management component  228 . For example, the management component  228  may allow for search indexing so assets can be easily searched by end users, facilitate system administrators to create a rule-based permissions model to restrict access to assets and/or create sub-libraries, allow for system administrators to perform content monitoring, etc. 
     A security component  230  of the asset management facility  108  may allow system administrators (and/or site administrators) to perform vetting/monitoring of user activities associated with the asset management facility  108 , as well as distribute control and monitoring task. The security component  230  may also allow controlled asset source checking and automatic user function control. The security component  230  may cover hardware, application, and SLL-based user authentication to protect customer assets. A configuration and control component  232  may allow system administrators (and/or site administrators) to set up metadata for assets, set up organizational structures, set up content and branding, etc. In a multiple-site environment, aspects of the configuration and control component  232  may facilitate the system-wide propagation of upgrades to all customers without the need for site-by-site installations and work-arounds. A metadata caching layer  235  is linked to both a database  236  and aspects of the management component  228 . In some embodiments, the metadata caching layer  235  is designed to optimize and centralize current recently used assets. As users perform normal search and browse activity, the metadata caching layer  235  attempts to find the information in its memory; otherwise it retrieves the information from the database. If users update metadata for assets, the revised information is pushed back to both the database  236  and the metadata caching layer  235 . 
     A data warehouse component  234  of the asset management facility  108  may facilitate online reporting of system assets. For example, online reporting may give administrators instant status information about the facility, key assets, and user activity. This data may be drawn from the database  236 , which may be replicated should the original database fail. The database  236  may also be used to support a workflow/publishing component  238  of the asset management facility  108 . The workflow publishing component  238  may be used to facilitate organizational distribution of assets, rule-based distribution of assets, ad-hoc exclusive permissions to distribute assets, etc. The workflow/publishing component  238  may also facilitate a user ordering certain assets, controlled by specific administrators and through their approving these requests, access to the media to download can be granted. For example, a user may not have permission to download a given asset, but by adding the asset to their shopping cart and completing (the configurable) questions (e.g., questions related to how the user will use the requested asset), the user submits a request within the system. This request can then be reviewed and accepted or rejected by the administrator. Once the approval occurs, the user is emailed and can then download the asset from the system. In the above example, the questions and workflow also consist of configurable metadata and can be tailored to the clients&#39; needs. 
     Delivery services  240  of the asset management facility  108  allow for authentication and logging on of end users, streaming services for asset delivery (e.g., in the case of video assets, etc.), compression services (e.g., in the case of large assets), forensic watermarking (e.g., to minimize piracy), metadata injection, etc. The delivery services  240  may be supported by an on-demand platform architecture that supports multiple customers and large storage capacity. 
       FIG. 3  is a block diagram showing sample contents of an asset repository, such as the asset repository  110  depicted in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . The asset repository  110  may include almost any type of asset that can be stored electronically (e.g., in digital form). Digital assets may include, but are not limited to, images  302  and documents  304 . More specific examples of images  302  and documents  304  include brochures  306 , data sheets  308 , direct mailers  310 , newsletters  312 , CAD Drawings  314 , instructions  316 , product/service labels  318 , logos  320 , animations  322 , audio files  324 , presentations  326 , video clips  328 , webinars  330 , etc. 
     Depending on its contents and configuration, each digital asset may be stored in a format defined by one or more file types. Examples of such file types include .aiff (audio/basic); .asx (Microsoft Stream Redirector file which points to Windows streaming media content files); .au (audio/basic); .avi (Audio Visual Interface); .dcr (Macromedia Director Internet Studio 7 bitmap technology movies); .doc (application MS Word); .exe (Executable program/application); .gif (CompuServe Graphics Interchange Format graphic); .jpg (Joint Photographic Experts Group); .midi (audio/midi Musical Instrument Digital Interface sound file); .mov (Quicktime movie player); .mp3; .mpe (a format proprietary to Destiny Media Technologies); .mpg (Motion Pictures Experts Group); .pdf (Adobe Acrobat); .ppt (MS Powerpoint presentations); .ram (Real Audio pointer file for client application); .rpm (Real Audio pointer file for Real&#39;s Internet browser plug-in); .shf (Short lossless); .swf (Macromedia Shockwave Flash Vector technology movies); .torrent (BitTorrent files); .txt (Textpad, Wordpad); .vcs (VideoClipStream from Destiny Media Technologies); .wav (Microsoft sound); .wma (Microsoft Media Audio); .wmv (Microsoft Media Video); .xls (application/vnd.ms-excel MS Excel spreadsheets); files related to video streaming; etc. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , one aspect of the asset management facility described herein is asset distribution through various virtual libraries. For example, the system may establish virtual libraries as containers for distributing digital assets, which allow users to create new contents for these assets. In some cases, the virtual libraries each correspond to a unique access point or site from which assets can be accessed.  FIGS. 4 and 5  show two examples of how such virtual libraries may be configured. In some embodiments, the virtual libraries described below with respect to  FIGS. 4 and 5  are configured using virtual assets created and defined using metadata (as opposed to actual copies of the assets themselves). Accordingly, the virtual libraries can be easily created, managed, modified, and customized, without the need for downloading and configuring multiple copies of assets. For example, the virtual libraries may be implemented by providing only one actual version of each asset, with multiple virtual copies available downstream via the virtual libraries. Each virtual copy of an asset may have its own metadata definition with permissions, specific localized language, and so forth. While the virtual copies of assets may each be defined in terms of a unique metadata definition, only a single copy of the media behind the asset may exist (be stored). 
     In particular,  FIG. 4  shows an example of a system where a company “headquarters”  402  defines a library or database  404  having effectively all digital assets owned or controlled by that company. As illustrated, each asset includes at least one metadata definition, which may help in the creation of other downstream libraries, each owning their own subset of assets. For example, administrators at the headquarters  402  can provide permission for a subsidiary, region, or group  406 , such as a state or city (e.g., LA office) to own or use a subset  408  of the headquarters&#39; library. That subsidiary or region  406  can then further divide the assets into a smaller group to provide for a local library  412  for yet another subdivision  410  (e.g., an LA market can subdivide its assets into one or more smaller groups). Local users may also upload and manage locally sourced assets. 
     In a second example, shown in  FIG. 5 , a large library or database  502  contains digital assets (e.g.,  508  and  510 ) intended for use by an agency&#39;s (e.g., an advertising agency&#39;s) various customers/clients. The agency may have multiple clients/customers, such as Client A and Client B. Because the facility allows multiple virtual libraries, the agency can create a custom virtual library (e.g.,  504  and  506 ) for each of its clients. The agency can then populate each custom virtual library with virtual copies of the appropriate assets for that client (which may include any subset of the assets from the large library  502 ). An example of such a population process is described with respect to  FIG. 7 . By appropriately defining separate virtual libraries (e.g., client A library  504  and client B library  506 ), the agency can subdivide a large inventory of digital assets between its clients (e.g., with or without overlap) simply and securely. The agency can provide an appropriate portion of its digital assets to its clients in a manner that does not involve multiple asset copies and/or multiple environments. For example, through the use of the virtual libraries  504  and  506 , asset administrators can avoid having to upload and maintain a separate copy of each asset for each client that requires access. 
     At a high level, the virtual libraries schemes described with respect to  FIGS. 4 and 5  may be implemented by receiving information for an electronically available resource for use in association with the electronic resource management and distribution system; receiving one or more metadata definitions for the electronically available resource (with the one or more metadata definitions including an indication of a group or organization having permission to access the electronically available resource through a corresponding access point); and if the electronically available resource is to be accessed by more than one group or organization, for each of the groups or organizations, populating the corresponding access point with a virtual presence of the electronically available resource (with the virtual presence of the electronically available resource facilitating direct access to the electronically available resource). 
     In some embodiments, the facility is triggered to generate virtual copies of each asset (e.g., for association with a specified library) when it receives a new metadata definition for that asset and the criteria are matched (e.g., specifying that the artwork is now “final”), thereby populating one or more libraries with digital assets. This process may involve the creation of an initial virtual copy of an asset, from which other virtual copies can be based. Once associated with a virtual library, the virtual asset may then be under the control of the administrator for the virtual library, but may still be linked back to the metadata for the original digital asset (e.g., residing in the asset repository  110  of  FIG. 1 ). In this way, any asset may be used locally and modified/shared as needed, while still retaining central association. 
     At the local or virtual library level, the facility may allow administrators to set up different types of users (defined by a metadata profile) with different rights/permissions. Once initial setup is performed, the facility may also allow administrators to modify this information (e.g., to change the context of different user attributes/metadata and rights associated with one or more digital assets). In this way, the facility provides a fine-grained permissions model. In some embodiments, the facility integrates the metadata with the permissions into a single document or file. This allows users of the facility to define even complex permissions and permits access for manipulation of a large number of assets without slowing the system. 
     Central system administrative users that are in charge of controlling how virtual libraries are structured and which assets they contain may, to some extent, retain control over local-level asset instances. For example, such users may be able to change/upload new media formats, delete specific downstream asset instances (or entire groups of downstream asset instances), and/or modify metadata exclusively with respect to a particular downstream asset instance (or to an entire group of downstream asset instances). In many cases, the modifications may be automatic/mandatory or, alternatively, may be presented as a request to local administrative users (e.g., “It is recommended that you modify/delete this asset, which is associated with your library”). When automatic/mandatory changes to asset metadata are made centrally (e.g., at the headquarters level), the facility may provide notification to each library having a virtual copy of the asset. In addition, the facility may allow for side-by-side comparison of multiple versions of assets so that changes made at the central level can be highlighted at the local level(s) (and vice versa) in case corrections or further modifications are desired. In a related context, the facility may provide an interface that allows local administrators to determine whether there is a discrepancy with a local instance of an asset after an upstream instance of the same asset has changed. For example, by clicking a link, the administrator may be able to compare the two versions and select to apply those changes from the upstream owner to the local instance, etc. 
     In some cases, users of the local virtual libraries, depending on their permissions, may have some ability to modify specified aspects of the asset or its metadata. For example, such users may be able to modify asset metadata, organize assets into sets or projects, change previews and details of assets, update relationships between assets and media files, modify or add permissions for users at a local level, delete the local instance of the asset, etc. 
     An example of entity relationships associated with a metadata model for the asset management facility is illustrated with respect to  FIG. 6 . This metadata model may have several aspects and features. At a high level, the metadata model allows for the creation of virtual assets and of permissioning schemes, facilitates searching, and provides other functionality. In some embodiments, the facility&#39;s entity relationships may be among several entities, which may be implemented, for example, as objects in an object-oriented programming scheme. The entities may include one or more described objects (e.g., described by users) including project objects  604  (e.g., created each time a new project is started), asset objects  620  (e.g., instantiated when a new asset is ingested into the facility), and user objects  644  (e.g., instantiated when a new user is registered/accepted into the system). Each described object/entity has its own metadata entity. For example, project objects  604  have project metadata  608 , asset objects  620  have asset metadata  622 , and user objects  644  have user metadata  648 . As described with respect to  FIGS. 9A-10B , this metadata may describe and define the asset, and may be varied independently for each instance of the asset associated with the facility (e.g., globally or at an individual virtual library/site level). In addition, assets may be associated with underlying media entities  612  and annotation entities  632  (e.g., including notes or other special instructions associated with an asset). 
     For each project  604 , asset  620 , or user  644  instance, the underlying structure and/or composition of the corresponding metadata entity may be controlled by a metadata definition  624 , which may exist independently for each particular owner library  626  and/or site  628  that is associated with a given asset. Separate metadata definition entities may exist for various systems (not shown) and/or baselines (not shown). In this way, for example, each asset (e.g., which can be a master asset, an original asset, an asset version, an initial virtual asset, a secondary virtual asset, a composite asset, etc.) can have multiple metadata definitions associated with it, each based on the owner(s) of the asset and/or the site/virtual library through which the asset is accessed. Accordingly, the metadata definition  624  allows for the creation of virtual copies of assets and the configuration of multiple virtual libraries. 
     One feature of the metadata model is that it allows permissioning schemes to be implemented. At a high level, such permissioning schemes allow for receiving a search request for assets from a user (with the user having access to a set of assets via a specified asset retrieval site that corresponds to a virtual library of assets comprising virtual assets and with each asset in the virtual library of assets being associated with metadata unique to the assets as they reside in the virtual library); determining an indication of an identity of the user based, at least in part, on information in the received search request; identifying at least one search term based on the information in the received search request; examining the metadata unique to the assets as they reside in the virtual library to determine a set of assets that satisfy the received search request and that the user has permission to access; and presenting an indication of the set of assets to the user. 
     To implement a permissions framework on a granular level (e.g., to distinguish which users associated with a particular site or virtual library can have access to assets and/or projects), several assignment entities may be implemented to bear a relationship with project objects  604 , asset objects  620 , and user objects  644 . These assignment entities may comprise a direct assignment  602  of a project  604  to a group, a rule-based assignment  606  of a project  604  to a group  616 , a direct assignment  610  of an asset  620  to a project  604 , a rule-based assignment  618  of an asset  620  to a project  604 , a group membership association  642  of a user  644  to a group  616 , etc. In addition, an asset can obtain an exclusive assignment  630  to a user. For example, as illustrated in the XML information below (which provides an example of an asset data structure implemented using XML), groups  107  and  109  (both examples of group entities  616 ) may comprise the groups of users with permission to access the asset and group  113  might be a group of users with administrative rights on this asset. 
     
       
         
           
               
             
               
                   
               
             
            
               
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     In some embodiments, the facility&#39;s metadata model (and associated data structures) combines metadata with asset permissions elements in a simple XML data character large object (CLOB). These CLOBs may be indexed together so all searches and all navigation within the system can be combined to give a fast, scaleable solution. For example, the facility may employ XML CLOBs with Sections to store consolidated metadata in the database for each asset. This may facilitate searching of metadata for particular information easily and effectively without the need to join various relational tables. By expressing the metadata structure in XML, the facility may, for example, encompass many client models on a single platform. In addition, the XML may facilitate in implementing the facility across platforms. 
     High levels of performance may be achieved by using these XML CLOBs within an index which resides in the database servers. Combining this with the metadata cache (where all metadata information can be cached in memory) optimizes the process of retrieving results from searches. 
     The facility may also constantly or periodically update the metadata associated with its assets. For example, various off-the-shelf APIs may be used for updating and manipulating, which permit conducting such activities as background processes. For example, assets and their associated metadata can be ingested in several ways, from embedded IPTC captioning, XML data files, or spreadsheets. Further, in conjunction with XML CLOBs, the facility may use an off-the-shelf text index (e.g., Oracle&#39;s Text Index, which is explained in more detail at http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/text/index.html) to provide a flexible search solution. Some of these text indices may have the ability to index keywords in different languages, which facilitates searching by many criteria and techniques such as free text, date, and Boolean searching. 
     In addition to using XML CLOBS and text indices for more efficient searching, the facility may employ a web cache of the most frequently executed metadata search queries, thereby reducing database traffic. In some embodiments, a cache manager stores a list of asset IDs stored against a specific search query, thereby conserving facility resources. To further facilitate this searchability, information conducive to a WHERE clause (e.g., asset permissions and other structured data) may be embedded into the metadata index. 
       FIG. 7  is a flow diagram showing an example of a routine  700  for generating asset metadata definitions in an embodiment. For example, the routine  700  may be used in association with a method that allows for assembling information relating to multiple electronic assets; the generating of a first virtual electronic representation of an asset from the multiple electronic assets; the populating of a first virtual electronic library with the first virtual electronic representation of the asset (with the first virtual electronic library comprising a first access point for the asset having access to the asset defined, at least in part, using a first set of asset metadata); and the populating of a second virtual (or third, or fourth, etc.) electronic library with a second virtual representation of the asset based on the first virtual electronic representation of the asset (with the second virtual electronic library comprising a second access point for the asset having access to the asset defined, at least in part, using a second set of asset metadata that differs from the first set of asset metadata). 
     In some embodiments, the asset metadata definitions allow for the creation of virtual libraries and/or the population of assets available to a particular site. At block  701 , as part of an asset publication process, the routine  700  receives asset information, which may include various types of metadata definitions (including or based on asset owner and/or site information) as well as the raw information related to the asset itself. At block  702 , the routine  700  stores the received asset information and metadata definitions in an information repository, such as the asset repository  110  of  FIG. 1 . Part of this process may correspond to the ingestion of assets into the system. At block  703 , the routine  700  creates one or more virtual copies of the asset for population in a virtual library based on the provided metadata definitions and based on new metadata definitions. In some embodiments, this may include creating an initial virtual asset, from which subsequent virtual assets can be based. At decision block  704 , if there are additional libraries to be populated with an instance of the asset, the routine  700  loops back to block  703  to create a virtual copy for the next virtual library. Otherwise, the routine  700  continues at block  705  to receive fine-grained permissions information and/or other asset metadata at the local/virtual library level. Each time a virtual copy of an asset is created, the routine  700  may retain a virtual link back to the master asset. In this way, system administrators for virtual libraries can revert back to the master asset metadata if desired. At block  706 , the local permissions information is integrated into the asset metadata for the local version of the virtual copy. At block  707 , the routine  700  caches the asset metadata for quick searching at the virtual library level, and then ends. 
       FIG. 8  is a flow diagram showing an example of a routine  800  for searching for assets, wherein the searching is performed, at least in part, based on asset metadata. At a high level, the searching may include receiving a search request for assets from a user having access to a set of assets via a specified asset retrieval site that corresponds to a virtual library of assets associated with multiple assets; parsing the search request into one or more tokens; identifying one or more assets from the virtual library of assets based on matching the one or more tokens with tagging information unique to the assets as they reside in the virtual library; and displaying an indication of the identified one or more assets to the user. 
     At block  801 , the routine  800  receives a search request from a user requesting that assets meeting specified search criteria be retrieved. The request may be generated using a query builder. At block  802 , the routine  800  parses the search request into tokens including free text tokens (for searching assets based on textual descriptions associated with the assets) and metadata field tokens (for searching assets based on metadata). In some embodiments, the metadata field tokens may include information identifying the user, which allows the routine  800  to limit the search results to only those assets that the user has been given permission to view. Accordingly, at block  803 , the routine  800  determines assets that the user can access based on permissions information associated with the asset metadata. At block  804 , the routine  800  presents the results of the searching. The search results include the assets that the user has permission to view that also meet the search criteria. 
     The search routine  800  described above may be further illustrated via the use of a car dealership example. In this example, assets comprising pictures and descriptive information about new car models may be distributed from the car manufacturer to multiple different dealerships via individual dealership sites, each associated with a virtual library of assets, containing a subset of the entire set of assets owned by the car manufacturer. The manager of a car dealership may then use fine-grained permissions model to control which assets in the virtual library each employee at the dealership can access. For example, the manager may have access to information about every asset in the virtual library while individual sales representatives may have access only to select assets (e.g., permissions limit users&#39; ability to search and access to only those assets pertaining to car models that the individual is authorized to sell). 
       FIGS. 9A ,  9 B,  10 A, and  10 B are display diagrams illustrating aspects of assets and associated metadata in an embodiment of the management facility. These display diagrams may include various user screens, views, and other interfaces that allow users to search for, access, view, and modify assets and/or asset metadata. While only certain examples are given, a person skilled in the art will appreciate that many other interfaces could be implemented without departing from the scope of the invention. The terms “screen,” “window,” and “page” are generally used interchangeably herein. The pages described herein may be implemented using, for example, WML (wireless markup language), HTML (hypertext markup language). XHTML (extensible hypertext markup language), XML (extensible markup language), or XSLT. 
     The screens or web pages provide facilities to receive input data, such as a form with fields to be filled in, pull-down menus or entries allowing one or more of several options to be selected, buttons, sliders, hypertext links, or other known user interface tools for receiving user input. While certain ways of displaying information to users are shown and described with respect to certain Figures, those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that various other alternatives may be employed. The terms “screen,” “web page,” and “page” are generally used interchangeably herein. The pages or screens are stored and/or transmitted as display descriptions, as graphical user interfaces, or by other methods of depicting information on a screen (whether personal computer, PDA, mobile telephone, or other) where the layout and information or content to be displayed on the page is stored in memory, a database, or other storage facility. 
     When implemented as web pages or wireless content, the screens are stored as display descriptions, graphical user interfaces, or other methods of depicting information on a computer screen (e.g., commands, links, fonts, colors, layout, sizes and relative positions, and the like), where the layout and information or content to be displayed on the page is stored in a database and dynamically generated in response to user requests. A “display description,” as generally used herein, refers to any method of automatically displaying information on a computer screen in any of the above-noted formats, as well as other formats, such as email or character/code-based formats, algorithm-based formats (e.g., vector generated), or matrix or bit-mapped formats. 
     In general, for ease in describing features of the invention, aspects of the invention will now be described in terms of a user interacting with the asset management facility via his or her user computer or mobile device. As implemented, however, the user computer receives data input by the user and transmits such input data to aspects of the asset management facility. The asset management facility then queries one or more databases, retrieves requested pages, performs computations, and/or provides output data back to the user computer, typically for visual display to the user. 
     Referring to  FIG. 9A , a screen  900  shows partial results of a search query (e.g., executed by a user with access to assets via a virtual library of assets). As is illustrated by the large number of search results (8,617), the facility may be configured to handle a large number of assets (although as in this case, search results may be limited to a smaller number of assets—in this case 1000). The search query results are displayed to the user broken down by asset ( 902 ,  904 ,  906 ), with each asset having a descriptive graphic or thumbnail ( 908 ,  910 ,  912 ) associated with it. The set of metadata (here items  914 ,  916 ,  918 ,  920 ,  922 , and  924 ) that is viewable for each of the three displayed assets is based on parameters that are specific to the virtual library through which the assets are accessed (Virtual Library A). In other words, while some of these same assets may be accessed through a different virtual library, the viewable metadata for each asset may differ based on the viewable metadata parameters for the different virtual library. In addition, such viewable metadata parameters may be subsequently modified and/or further refined as appropriate, so that the model(s) employed by the virtual library may be maintained. 
     Aspects of metadata for each asset are described under the respective thumbnail ( 908 ,  910 ,  912 ). For example, the Norton AntiVirus product shot asset  902  (comprising a “product shot” of a software product that can be used, for example, for product marketing) displays asset name metadata  914  (Norton AntiVirus 2005), asset language metadata  916  (Portuguese, Portugal), asset collateral/media type  918 , import date metadata  920 , library number metadata  922  (e.g., the number assigned to the asset within the given library or virtual library these numbers can be used as a unique index of assets within a library), and asset manager metadata  924  (e.g., localization—configured to be the owning group of the asset, determined as the asset is uploaded). As illustrated in the upper tool bar  926  of screen  900 , various display/sorting options may be available (e.g., sort by function group in descending order, etc.). 
       FIG. 9B  shows an example of asset search results and asset metadata in a screen  950  for a different virtual library (Virtual Library B). In the illustrated example, the displayed assets ( 952 ,  954 ,  956 ) comprise 3 of 727 search results. In this case, the displayed assets ( 952 ,  954 ,  956 ) are reportage features (e.g., images for use in news stories). The metadata associated with the respective assets is also illustrated, and as can be seen from the two diagrams—different appropriate metadata fields have been configured for this particular virtual library (as compared with the virtual library shown in  FIG. 9A ). For example, the visible metadata associated with the asset  952  includes a thumbnail image  958 , a headline  960  (iWITNESS), a by line  962  (Tom Stoddart Archive), an image number  964 , special instructions  966  (“HIGHER FEES APPLY: APPROVAL REQUIRED FOR ALL USAGES PRIOR TO PUBLICATION”), and file size 968. 
       FIG. 10A  shows a screen  1000  associated with modifying metadata associated with the Norton AntiVirus product shot asset  902  of  FIG. 9A . Some of the metadata features are marked with an asterisk, indicating that they will be available for viewing by users when the facility returns the corresponding asset as a search result, as illustrated in  FIG. 9A . It may be possible for a system administrator of a virtual library (or even a headquarters library) to modify asset metadata in any number of ways. For example, the system administrator may be able to change the thumbnail associated with an asset by selecting a CHANGE THUMBNAIL option  1002 . The system administrator may also have options to modify administrative information associated with an asset (e.g., asset status, access type, asset manager, expiration date, archived materials, etc.) by selecting one or more options in an ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION portion  1004  of the screen  1000 . Likewise, via an ORGANIZATIONAL INFORMATION portion  1006  of the screen  1000 , the system administrator may modify metadata relating to availability of the asset within the organization (e.g., business organization, functional group, language, region, etc.). 
     An ASSET INFORMATION portion  1008  of the screen  1000  allows the system administrator to modify information specific to the asset itself (e.g., library number, asset name, collateral/media type, product category, consumer products, small business products, enterprise products, etc.). As illustrated, the asset metadata structure may be specific to the type of asset (in this case, an image of a product). Accordingly, in some embodiments, it may be possible to modify the structure of asset metadata (e.g., the fields provided in relation to asset information), as well as setting/changing the value of existing metadata fields. 
       FIG. 10B  shows a screen  1050  associated with modifying metadata associated with the reportage feature asset  952  of  FIG. 9B . In addition to a thumbnail section  1052 , the metadata aspects that the user may modify are displayed in a FILE DESCRIPTION portion  1054  of the screen  1050  and an ASSET STATUS INFORMATION portion  1056  of the screen  1050 . The metadata that the user may modify in the FILE DESCRIPTION portion  1054  include a caption (e.g., which may include search terms used in a natural language search), a caption writer, composition information, etc. The metadata that the user may modify in the ASSET STATUS INFORMATION portion  1056  include a by line, confidentiality information, barcode information, image number information, product information, personality information, sales rate information, by line title information, internal notes, territorial restrictions, client group restrictions, etc. The metadata fields with an asterisk may be those that are displayed (where applicable) in search results, as depicted in  FIG. 10A . The metadata structures illustrated in  FIGS. 10A and 10B  differ based on the fact that they relate to different virtual libraries. In addition, different asset types themselves may call for metadata structures that vary accordingly. In some embodiments, the metadata structure may be altered by library administrators, as well as the values for individual assets. This feature may be implemented without the changing program code via flexible XML data structures or the like. 
     CONCLUSION 
     In general, the detailed description of embodiments of the invention is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed above. While specific embodiments of, and examples for, the invention are described above for illustrative purposes, various equivalent modifications are possible within the scope of the invention, as those skilled in the relevant art will recognize. For example, while processes or blocks are presented in a given order, alternative embodiments may perform routines having steps, or employ systems having blocks, in a different order, and some processes or blocks may be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and/or modified. Each of these processes or blocks may be implemented in a variety of different ways. Also, while processes or blocks are at times shown as being performed in series, these processes or blocks may instead be performed in parallel, or may be performed at different times. 
     Aspects of the invention may be stored or distributed on computer-readable media, including magnetically or optically readable computer discs, hard-wired or preprogrammed chips (e.g., EEPROM semiconductor chips), nanotechnology memory, biological memory, or other data storage media. Indeed, computer implemented instructions, data structures, screen displays, and other data under aspects of the invention may be distributed over the Internet or over other networks (including wireless networks), on a propagated signal on a propagation medium (e.g., an electromagnetic wave(s), a sound wave, etc.) over a period of time, or they may be provided on any analog or digital network (packet switched, circuit switched, or other scheme). Those skilled in the relevant art will recognize that portions of the invention reside on a server computer, while corresponding portions reside on a client computer such as a mobile or portable device, and thus, while certain hardware platforms are described herein, aspects of the invention are equally applicable to nodes on a network. 
     The teachings of the invention provided herein can be applied to other systems, not necessarily the system described herein. The elements and acts of the various embodiments described herein can be combined to provide further embodiments. 
     Any patents, applications, and other references, including any that may be listed in accompanying filing papers, are incorporated herein by reference, including U.S. Pat. No. 6,735,583. Aspects of the invention can be modified, if necessary, to employ the systems, functions, and concepts of the various references described above to provide yet further embodiments of the invention. 
     These and other changes can be made to the invention in light of the above Detailed Description. While the above description details certain embodiments of the invention and describes the best mode contemplated, no matter how detailed the above appears in text, the invention can be practiced in many ways. Details of the invention may vary considerably in its implementation details, while still being encompassed by the invention disclosed herein. As noted above, particular terminology used when describing certain features or aspects of the invention should not be taken to imply that the terminology is being redefined herein to be restricted to any specific characteristics, features, or aspects of the invention with which that terminology is associated. In general, the terms used in the following claims should not be construed to limit the invention to the specific embodiments disclosed in the specification, unless the above Detailed Description section explicitly defines such terms. Accordingly, the actual scope of the invention encompasses not only the disclosed embodiments, but also all equivalent ways of practicing or implementing the invention.