CAREER PROFILE

DAM Librarian

Salary Range (US$)

$70,000–$95,000
The DAM Librarian is the guardian of digital assets, metadata, and taxonomy. They bring order to content chaos by ensuring every asset is tagged, classified, and retrievable.

Their work impacts how quickly teams can find, reuse, and remain compliant with digital content, making them essential in regulated and creative industries alike.

Core Responsibilities

Define and manage metadata schemas, enforce taxonomy, review and curate uploaded assets, support end users with search and retrieval, maintain asset quality and compliance.
$82,000
Average salary
1,500
US job postings 2024
78% tagging tasks automated
AI impact
35% media
Most common industry
3–5 years
Years of experience
42% postings
Certifications requested

Impact of AI

AI will streamline auto-tagging and suggest taxonomy refinements, allowing librarians to focus on governance, accessibility, and training users in advanced search.

Skills to Learn

Metadata standards (IPTC, XMP), rights management, accessibility guidelines, DAM user experience principles.

Personality Fit

Meticulous, methodical, detail-driven, thrives on structure but can collaborate across creative and technical teams.

Ways to Shine

Train colleagues in search best practices, refine metadata for inclusivity, design asset collections that accelerate campaigns.

Career Path

DAM Librarian → Metadata Manager → Director of DAM

Growth Potential

Steady demand as companies adopt DAM. AI will support but not replace librarians, ensuring governance remains vital.

Industries

Pharmaceuticals, retail, government agencies, creative agencies.

Further Reading

Controlled Vocabulary guides, DAM Foundation Certification, TdR Insights on Metadata.

DAM Guides

Click here to explore our in-depth Guides—step-by-step walkthroughs designed to help you master DAM, AI, integrations, and workflow optimization.

DAM Articles

Click here to dive into our latest Articles—insightful reads that unpack trends, strategies, and real-world applications across the digital asset world.

DAM Resources

Click here to access our practical Resources—including tools, checklists, and templates you can put to work immediately in your DAM practice.