1. A machine-implemented method for uploading digital assets from a source media directory into a web-based digital asset management system, the method comprising: representing a structure of the source media directory, and the digital assets, as a first XML object, wherein representing the source media directory structure and the digital assets as a first XML object includes recursively traversing the source media directory to build the first XML object; storing the first XML object in a database; creating a second XML object representing the structure of the source media directory, wherein the second XML object contains no information about the location, name and properties of the digital assets; storing the second XML object in the database; and providing a visual display, through a web-enabled user interface, of the source media directory structure based on the second XML object and a visual display of one or more digital assets based on the first XML object, wherein the first XML object includes a relational folder structure indicative of where folders in the source media directory are located with respect to one another.