Glossary · Information types and subjects

iiRDS InformationType

Also known as: information type, content type, topic type, document type

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), InformationType is the class for the characteristics of content. Its subclasses classify information units by document type (such as operating instructions), topic type (such as task or concept), information subject (such as safety) and directory node type (such as a table of contents).

iiRDS term
Ontology
Information architecture

In one sentence

iiRDS InformationType classifies content: document types, topic types such as task or concept, information subjects and directory node types.

Example

The topic “Mounting the rotor” is classified with the topic type iirds:GenericTask and marked as applicable for the document type iirds:AssemblyInstructions.

In-depth wiki articleiiRDS InformationType: classifying content by document type, topic type and subject

How it applies

Technical documentation: Every iiRDS Document must have at least one standardized document type, assigned with iirds:has-document-type — for example iirds:OperatingInstructions, iirds:MaintenanceInstructions or iirds:PartsCatalog. Topics and fragments may carry a topic type with iirds:has-topic-type: Concept, Task, Reference, Troubleshooting, Learning or Form. The information types of structured authoring (DITA task, concept, reference) map onto these directly.
Safety: "Safety" is not a topic type in iiRDS. Safety content is marked with the information subject iirds:Safety — a safety instruction can be a task and a safety subject at the same time.
MedTech: Topics that are reused in several deliverables can state where they belong with iirds:is-applicable-for-document-type, for example in both the operating instructions and the quick guide.
AI and retrieval: Information types are the most useful retrieval filter for intent. A question beginning with "How do I …" should be answered from task content, "What is …" from concept content — the type tells a retrieval system which is which without reading the text.

Topic type vs. document type

A topic type describes the kind of a single unit (a task, a concept). A document type describes the kind of deliverable a unit is or belongs to (operating instructions, repair instructions). A Document must have a document type; a Topic may have both.

In RDF

Shown in Turtle for readability — inside a package, metadata.rdf is written in RDF/XML.

@prefix iirds: <http://iirds.tekom.de/iirds#> .

<https://example.com/iirds/mounting-the-rotor> a iirds:Topic ;
    iirds:title "Mounting the rotor"@en ;
    iirds:has-topic-type iirds:GenericTask ;
    iirds:is-applicable-for-document-type iirds:AssemblyInstructions .

<https://example.com/iirds/assembly-manual> a iirds:Document ;
    iirds:has-document-type iirds:AssemblyInstructions .