Wiki
Core concepts, explained in depth.
Where the glossaries define a term in a few lines, the wiki explains it in full: the sourced definition, a practice example, how the concept applies in technical documentation, migration, MedTech and AI retrieval, an RDF snippet, common questions — and links to every related concept, so each guide leads into the next.
iiRDS core concepts
15 articles
In-depth guides to the fifteen concepts that carry the iiRDS standard — information units and their versions, renditions and selectors, the metadata that makes content findable, and the package format with the software that creates and reads it. Each guide gives the sourced definition, a practice example, how the concept applies in technical documentation, migration, MedTech and AI retrieval, an RDF snippet and a concept cluster of related guides.
Information units
- iiRDS InformationUnit
iirds:InformationUnitAn iiRDS information unit is the addressable piece of content, identified by an IRI, to which all descriptive metadata is attached, always typed as one of four concrete subclasses.Read the article - iiRDS Topic
iirds:TopicAn iiRDS Topic is a subclass of InformationUnit for one self-contained subject, typed as iirds:Topic and described by metadata so it can be delivered on its own.Read the article - iiRDS Document
iirds:DocumentAn iiRDS Document is the subclass of InformationUnit for an ordered set of information that the sender intends to be regarded as one entity, classified by at least one document type.Read the article - iiRDS Package
iirds:PackageThe iirds:Package instance is the metadata record of the delivery as a whole, while the ZIP archive is the file that carries it.Read the article
Versions, files and selectors
- iiRDS InformationObject
iirds:InformationObjectAn iiRDS InformationObject is the shared, file-less identity behind all translations and revisions of one piece of content.Read the article - iiRDS Rendition
iirds:RenditionAn iiRDS Rendition names one file inside the package, by relative path and format, that delivers the content of an information unit.Read the article - iiRDS Selector
iirds:SelectorAn iiRDS Selector is a pointer from a rendition into its file, expressed as a FragmentSelector for one identifier or a RangeSelector for a start and an end.Read the article
Metadata and classification
- iiRDS metadataiiRDS metadata is the machine-readable description of a package's content, grouped by what content applies to, how it is managed and what kind of content it is, all written as RDF into one metadata file.Read the article
- iiRDS InformationType
iirds:InformationTypeiiRDS InformationType is the classification branch of the vocabulary that tells a consumer whether content is, for example, operating instructions, a task, safety information or a table of contents.Read the article - Audience in iiRDS
iirds:QualificationiiRDS expresses who a piece of content is meant for by linking it to company-defined roles and skill levels, which are subclasses of iirds:Qualification.Read the article - iiRDS ProductLifeCyclePhase
iirds:ProductLifeCyclePhaseA product lifecycle phase in iiRDS says at which stage of the product's life, such as installation, operation or disposal, the content is needed.Read the article - iiRDS ExternalClassification
iirds:ExternalClassificationAn iiRDS ExternalClassification stores the code a product, component or piece of content has in someone else's classification system, together with the system it belongs to.Read the article
Exchange and conformance
- iiRDS container and ZIP archiveThe container fixes where metadata and content files sit in an iiRDS package, and the .iirds ZIP archive packs that layout into one exchangeable file.Read the article
- iiRDS GeneratorAn iiRDS Generator is whatever software writes the package: it converts source content into renditions, describes them in metadata.rdf and delivers both as one .iirds file.Read the article
- iiRDS ConsumerAn iiRDS Consumer is whatever software receives a package, reads its metadata and uses it to find, filter, assemble or display the content.Read the article
The wiki articles are written to stay valid: each states the version of the standard it was checked against and the date of its last review, and is reviewed again at least once a year or when a new version of the standard appears. Definitions follow the cited specification; examples and the sections on how a concept applies are editorial commentary by AI TechDoc Blog.