MDAM FAQs

• A complete list of schools/units that participate in can be found here. If interested in acquiring access, please contact mdam-support@northwestern.edu.
• Faculty and staff of the schools/units with active licenses can gain access to MDAM.
• Student workers or those working with faculty/staff that are part of the access list can obtain access on a case by-case basis.

• Casual Users: Users with the ability to search, share, and download assets for which they have permissions. The vast majority of users are casual.
• Power Users: Content creators with the ability to import assets, edit metadata, search, share, and download assets for which they have permissions.
• Department Admins: School/unit administrators with the ability to approve download requests for restricted assets, import assets, edit metadata, search, share, and download assets.

We have three different usage rights that are available to all digital assets:

• All-University Rights: For use in University-related media only (e.g., flyers, brochures, videos, and other marketing materials). Most assets in MDAM are All-University Rights.
• All-Media Rights: Approved for both University-related and external media use (e.g., news outlets, media kits).
• Restricted: Limited to use by the department that owns the asset. To use or download these assets, contact the designated Asset Usage Approver for permission.

Yes, when completing a search, you can filter by Created Date by clicking Custom Attributes, scroll down to Created Date, then enter your desired time range.

• Please pay attention to Usage Rights before downloading assets. Assets labeled All-University Rights and All Media Rights can be downloaded without approval. Restricted assets will require permission to download.
• For one asset, click the download icon on the asset's thumbnail.
• For a group of assets, select your desired assets and click the download icon in the black menu bar at the bottom of the page.

• First, create a Category/folder for your assets to belong to by navigating to your school/unit’s folder in the Library.
  1. Click the + where you would like to add a new subcategory/folder → Enter New Category Name → Save
• Click Upload on the left menu bar
• Drag and drop or choose files for upload → Continue
  1. The system will walk you through adding additional details including Categories, Attributes, Keywords, and Descriptions.
  2. PLEASE NOTE: If the assets will have Restricted Usage Rights, add them to your school/unit’s Restricted Assets folder in addition to other categories.
• Power users will be prompted to Submit Assets for Approval.
  • Add assets to a New or Existing Collection. This will be a temporary holding space for the assets until they are approved by an Admin.
  • Select MDAM-Support or one of the other superadmins (Albert Bautista & Michelle Williams) to submit for approval.

• Power users and Department Admins can edit metadata on individual assets and groups of assets.
• Select the assets that you would like to edit by either selecting each thumbnail, or selecting the full page of assets.
• In the black menu bar at the bottom of the page, select the pencil icon to Edit Metadata. You’ll be prompted to either edit Attributes or Keywords. Attributes are the main pieces of metadata.
• Enter desired information into the metadata field you would like to change. Click Apply.

• Power users and Department Admins can edit the categories assets belong to.
• Select the assets that you would like to edit by either selecting each thumbnail, or selecting the full page of assets.
• In the black menu bar at the bottom of the page, select the folder icon to Edit Categories.
• Select your desired categories, including any subcategories. Click Apply.