Information architecture and ontology glossary

iiRDS InformationUnit

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), InformationUnit is the abstract base class for every piece of intelligent information that carries metadata. It is never used on its own: each information unit is a Document, a Topic, a Fragment or a Package.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS Document

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), a Document is an information unit that collects information for a specific audience and purpose — for example an operating manual, a service manual or instructions for use (IFU).

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS Topic

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), a Topic is an information unit that deals with a single subject and can be understood on its own — for example one task, one concept or one reference table.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS Fragment

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), a Fragment is an information unit that a reader understands only when additional context is provided — for example a single warning, one step of a procedure or a user-interface text.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS Package

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), a Package is the information unit that represents the delivery package itself: a collection of information units bundled with their metadata, exchanged as a ZIP archive that contains the files and a metadata.rdf file.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS InformationObject

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), an InformationObject groups information units that contain the same information and differ only in language or revision. Each of these units links to the information object with iirds:is-version-of.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS Rendition

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), a Rendition is the physical file that holds the content of an information unit — for example a PDF, an HTML page, an XML file or a video. It is linked to the unit with iirds:has-rendition.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS Selector

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), a Selector points to a part of a file, so that an information unit can refer to a section of a rendition instead of the whole file. Selector itself is abstract: in practice a FragmentSelector or a RangeSelector is used.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS FragmentSelector

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), a FragmentSelector selects a part of a file by a single identifier. The identifier is given in rdf:value and is interpreted according to the specification named in dcterms:conformsTo — for example a page number in a PDF.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS RangeSelector

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), a RangeSelector selects a continuous part of a file between a start point and an end point. Both points are FragmentSelectors, linked with iirds:has-start-selector and iirds:has-end-selector.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS InformationType

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

iiRDS InformationSubject

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), an InformationSubject describes what content is about — its thematic characteristic, such as safety, technical data or conformity. Information units are linked to one or more subjects with iirds:has-subject.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS FunctionalMetadata

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), FunctionalMetadata is the group of documentation metadata that describes the work behind content — actions, events, planning times, qualifications and supplies — so that iiRDS Consumers can implement advanced delivery features.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS ProductMetadata

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), ProductMetadata is the group of documentation metadata that describes the product that content applies to: product variants, components, product features (functions and properties) and product lifecycle phases.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS AdministrativeMetadata

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), AdministrativeMetadata is the group of metadata used to manage iiRDS resources: complex identities from external systems, content lifecycle status, related parties with their roles, and external classifications.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS Identity

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), an Identity is a complex identifier of a resource in an external system. It consists of a value (iirds:identifier) and exactly one identity domain (iirds:has-identity-domain) within which the value is unambiguous, so one resource can carry several identities from different systems.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS ContentLifeCycleStatus

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), a ContentLifeCycleStatus records a stage of an information unit in the information development process. It must have a status value, such as InReview, Approved or Released, and may add a date, a comment and the party that performed the transition.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS Party

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), a Party is a person, organization or system associated with a resource. Each Party must have a role (iirds:has-party-role), such as author, manufacturer or supplier, and a vCard description of itself (iirds:relates-to-vcard).

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS ExternalClassification

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), an ExternalClassification maps a resource to a class in an external classification system that does not provide IRIs, such as ECLASS, VDI 2770 or IEC 61355. It consists of a classification identifier, exactly one classification domain and an optional version.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS docking point

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), a docking point is an iiRDS class that is meant to be extended with proprietary subclasses and instances, because the resources it describes — such as components, product variants or events — are too company- or industry-specific for the standard to define.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS domain extension

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), a domain extension is a standardized set of additional classes and instances that extends the iiRDS core vocabulary for a specific domain. Domain extensions are part of the iiRDS standard and live in sub-namespaces such as http://iirds.tekom.de/iirds/domain/machinery.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

Proprietary iiRDS extension

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), a proprietary extension adds company- or project-specific classes, instances and properties to the iiRDS vocabulary. Its classes must be subclasses of iiRDS classes, its properties subproperties of iiRDS properties, and it may only use RDF and RDFS.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS container

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), an iiRDS container is the directory structure that holds all files of an iiRDS package: a single root directory, a META-INF directory with the metadata file metadata.rdf, and the content files in subdirectories.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS ZIP archive

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), an iiRDS ZIP archive is the standard implementation of an iiRDS container as a ZIP file with the extension .iirds. Its first entry must be an uncompressed file named mimetype containing application/iirds+zip.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS/A

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), iiRDS/A is a restricted iiRDS variant for archiving. An iiRDS/A package contains only a defined set of widespread, future-proof content formats, is self-contained, and sets iirds:formatRestriction to A.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS Consumer

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), an iiRDS Consumer is an application that reads and processes iiRDS-compliant information on the receiving end, for example on a server, in a content delivery portal or in a web application. It is a role defined in the specification, not an RDF class.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS Generator

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), an iiRDS Generator is an application that creates iiRDS-compliant information from a source format such as XML or Word. It is a role defined in the specification's terms and definitions, not an RDF class of the iiRDS vocabulary.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

iiRDS/H

In iiRDS (intelligent information Request and Delivery Standard), iiRDS/H is a restricted iiRDS variant for the legally compliant handover of documentation for a specific product. It restricts content formats and mandates metadata: every document needs a PDF/A rendition, metadata must also be provided in JSON-LD, and iirds:formatRestriction is set to H.

iiRDS term · Ontology · Information architecture

RDF (Resource Description Framework)

RDF (Resource Description Framework) is the W3C standard data model for describing resources as statements of subject, predicate and object, called triples. Resources and predicates are identified by IRIs, so statements from different sources can be merged into one graph.

Semantic web · Ontology · Information architecture

IRI (Internationalized Resource Identifier)

An IRI (Internationalized Resource Identifier) is a globally unique identifier for a resource, defined in RFC 3987. It generalizes the URI by allowing Unicode characters, and it is how RDF and iiRDS name every class, property and resource.

Semantic web · Ontology · Information architecture

JSON-LD

JSON-LD (JSON for Linking Data) is a W3C standard syntax for writing RDF data as JSON. A context maps JSON keys to IRIs, so ordinary JSON becomes linked data that any RDF tool can read.

Semantic web · Ontology · Information architecture

Schema (data)

German: Schema

In information architecture, a schema is a formal definition of data structure, types, fields, constraints and allowed values. Data or documents can be checked against it automatically.

Information architecture · Ontology

Schema governance

In information architecture, schema governance is the set of rules for the controlled creation, change, approval, versioning and use of data and interface schemas.

Information architecture · Ontology

Semantic drift

In information architecture, semantic drift is a change in the meaning or interpretation of a term, signal, state, field or value while its label or structure appears stable.

Information architecture · Ontology

Semantic control

In information architecture, semantic control is governance that preserves the intended meaning of terms, states, signals, requirements and instructions across systems and changes.

Information architecture · Ontology · Semantic web

Data model

German: Datenmodell

In information architecture, a data model is a structured definition of data types, fields, relationships, constraints and meaning. It describes what data exists and how its parts relate, independent of any single message or file.

Information architecture · Ontology · German source term

Information model

German: Informationsmodell

In information architecture, an information model is a technology-neutral model of concepts, relationships, rules and information requirements. It describes what information a domain needs and what it means, before any choice of database, format or protocol.

Information architecture · Ontology