Glossary · Foundations
DITA information typing
Also known as: information typing, topic type, information type
In DITA, information typing is the practice of writing each topic as one type of information — such as a concept, a task or a reference — with a content model designed for that type. The information type determines which elements a topic may contain and in what order.
- DITA
- Information typing
In one sentence
Information typing means each DITA topic has one type — concept, task, reference and so on — with a content model designed for that type.
Example
An author splits a long chapter about air filters into a concept (“How the filter works”), a task (“Replacing the air filter”) and a reference (“Filter specifications”).
Explained in context
Context cards connect this term with others to answer one question. Also in British English and German.
How it applies
- Technical documentation: Information typing makes writers decide what a piece of content is for before writing it. A procedure goes into a task, background into a concept, specifications into a reference — which keeps topics short, consistent and easy to reuse.
- Quality: The type is enforced by the document type: a task cannot contain free-floating paragraphs between steps, a reference is organized in sections and property tables.
- AI and retrieval: The information type is a strong retrieval signal. A question starting with “How do I …” should be answered from task topics; “What is …” from concepts. In iiRDS, the same idea is expressed with the information type metadata.
Information typing vs. metadata
In DITA, the type is part of the markup: a task is a <task> element with its own content model. In iiRDS, the type is metadata attached to an otherwise generic topic. When DITA content is delivered as an iiRDS package, the DITA topic type is mapped to an iiRDS topic type.
In DITA markup
<concept id="filter-basics">…</concept>
<task id="replace-filter">…</task>
<reference id="filter-specs">…</reference>