Summary
This policy describes a pragmatic and working solution to managing information about item types where standardisation is currently lacking. This process is providing an effective solution in the UK and for services internationally, though we continue to examine existing guidelines and evaluate our policy on an ongoing basis, and will respond to any changes in the environment as appropriate. We welcome comments from interested parties at help@jisc.ac.uk - please include 'IRUS' in the subject field.
Background
From the beginning of IRUS in 2012, research was undertaken into the use of item types in regular use. This work sought to compare existing policies, practices and guidelines concerning the use of item types by institutional repositories (IRs) in order to support a decision around the item types IRUS would use. This was an important area for the service in being able to offer support to its participating IRs, including for any cross-repository comparisons.
The research indicated a lack of standardisation in the use of item types when looking across repositories. Reasons for this included where individual IRs had developed their own lists of item types, or where default lists of item types depended on a chosen software platform. The IRUS team took a decision to define a list of item types for use by IRUS, mapping all IR item types in use to a defined list.
A defined list of 25 IRUS item types was created from over 700 item types that were identified in use in repositories, but many of which were very similar. This was achieved with feedback from the IRUS Community Advisory Group (CAG). For full details of the report including initial research undertaken on item types, a detailed breakdown of the methodology used, the many UK and international policies that were reviewed and detailed appendices of all their guidelines, see IRUS item type report v3.3 [PDF].
In 2015, following proposals outlined in this report, a few changes were made to the defined list of item types. The 'Journal' item type was removed because the instances where it was used were not of journals but rather the image from the front page of a journal; these were remapped as 'Image'. The 'Review' item type was removed with these instances being remapped to 'Article', and the 'Conference or Workshop Item' type was broken down into 3 constituent parts.
Item types policy 2020
Between 2015 and 2020 there have been 25 IRUS item types in use. The approach taken has functioned well and been appropriate. It has been effectively used through the international services and projects in Australia, New Zealand and the US, indicating this is fit for purpose.
In 2020, aligned with the move to the new IRUS COUNTER R5 service, the item types have been amended to map more closely with data types used by COUNTER. There are now 22 item types:
| Item_Type_ID | Item_Type | Definition |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | {Unspecified} | |
| 1 | Art/Design Item | Works including artist's books, visual artworks, sound design, set design, choreography and theatre scenery props all developed as a result of artistic practice. |
| 2 | Article | An article on a particular topic and published in a journal issue. |
| 3 | Audio | A resource primarily intended to be heard. Examples include a music playback file format, an audio recording, and recorded speech or sounds. |
| 4 | Book | A complete, stand-alone work published in one or more volumes, often identified with an ISBN. |
| 5 | Book Section | A defined chapter or section of a book, or anthology/collected work and usually with a separate title or number. |
| 6 | Conference Item | Include a conference paper that is submitted to a conference and presented to the audience and is published in proceedings. A display poster, typically containing text with illustrative figures and/or tables, submitted for acceptance to and/or presented at a conference, seminar, symposium, workshop or similar event. Conference proceedings forming the official record of a conference meeting. It is a collection of documents, which corresponds to the presentations given at the conference. All kind of digital resources contributed to a conference, like conference presentation (slides) to a specific group within the conference, conference lecture, abstracts, workshops and demonstrations. |
| 7 | Dataset | A collection of structured data-related (measurements, observations) facts and data encoded in a defined structure. |
| 8 | Exam Paper | Resources used to support teaching and learning and evaluating including assessment materials, exam papers, previous papers and tests, both internal and external. |
| 9 | Image | A visual representation other than text, of types of still image. This class of image includes diagrams, drawings, graphs, graphic designs, plans, photographs and prints. |
| 10 | Learning Object | A collection of educational resources put together, rather than independent items, used to support teaching and learning. They should be reusable, interoperable and manageable in multiple contexts and may include curricula and syllabuses, course materials, learning resources, lecture notes, learning exercises, instructional problems, course validation/assessment documents, including tests. |
| 11 | Moving Image | A moving display, either generated dynamically by a computer program or formed from a series of pre-recorded still images imparting an impression of motion when shown in succession. It also includes film and video footage. |
| 12 | Music/Musical Composition | Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. Musical notation is any system used to visually represent aurally perceived music through the use of written symbols, including ancient or modern musical symbols. |
| 13 | Newspaper or Newsletter | Textual content published in a newspaper or newsletter. |
| 14 | Other | Any resources that do not fall into any of the other item types. |
| 15 | Patent | A patent or patent application is a document that grants the rights of a piece of work/invention to its originator. |
| 16 | Performance | A collection of information records representing performance outputs of dramatical or musical entertainment. Works may be produced alone or collaboratively. |
| 17 | Report | A report is a record of research findings, research still in progress, or other technical findings, usually bearing a report number and sometimes a grant number assigned by the funding agency. It includes internal, research and technical reports. |
| 18 | Show/Exhibition | A collection of sculptures, models, art paintings, installations (works of art) exhibited under the direction of a curator, artist or as a graduation exhibition. |
| 19 | Thesis or Dissertation | A thesis or dissertation is a document submitted in completion of a course of study at an institution for higher education. It may be submitted in support of candidature for an academic degree or professional qualification presenting the author's research and findings. |
| 20 | Website | A website is a set of related web pages where multiple types of information on a specific theme are available via a URL. |
| 21 | Working Paper | A working paper or preprint is a report on research that is still ongoing, or which has not yet been accepted for publication. They are usually published by the author's own institution. |
Note: {unspecified} indicates that either a repository has not specified an item type or we have not yet established a mapping between the source item type and our list of IRUS item types.
We continue to monitor, revise and review item types in everyday use, on an ongoing basis through our mapping process, which is described below.
Mapping item types process
Manual mapping of item types is performed monthly. For each item new to IRUS, the designated item type, obtained via metadata from the relevant participating repository, is mapped to one of the 22 agreed IRUS item types. The original item type is also retained should any future amendment in mapping be required.
We select the most appropriate single IRUS item type, even though the host repository may have designated multiple item types, referring to the original item in the host repository where necessary. All items are mapped, with the 'Other' item type being used where no other IRUS item type is deemed appropriate.