iiRDS InformationType: classifying content by document type, topic type and subject

Example

A machine builder publishes the documentation for a palletizer. The document "Operating instructions PAL-40" has the document type iirds:OperatingInstructions. Inside it, "Clearing a jammed layer" is a topic with the topic type iirds:GenericTroubleshooting, and "Emergency stop devices" carries the subject iirds:SafetyInstruction. The topic "Cleaning the gripper" has the topic type iirds:GenericTask and is applicable for both operating and maintenance instructions. In the customer portal, an operator filters by "troubleshooting" and finds the jam procedure immediately, without knowing which manual it appears in.

How it applies

Technical documentation

Information types turn editorial structure into metadata. Use the standardized document types wherever they fit, since consumers understand them without extra mapping, and add proprietary instances only for deliverables iiRDS does not cover. Assign topic types consistently from your authoring standard, and use subjects for cross-cutting themes such as safety, technical data or conformity.

Migration

PDF manuals usually yield one document type per file, while topic types must be assigned per section. DITA maps cleanly: task, concept, reference and troubleshooting topics correspond to the iiRDS topic types, and DITA hazard statements point toward the warning message subjects. Legacy CMS content types should be mapped once in a conversion table.

MedTech

Medical device documentation separates instructions for use, service manuals and technical descriptions. Document types make that separation explicit, and the subject iirds:Conformity marks declarations and applicable standards. Classifying a document as instructions does not establish that its content satisfies regulatory requirements for instructions for use.

AI and retrieval

Intent maps onto information type. "How do I" questions should be answered from task topics, "what is" questions from concepts, error messages from troubleshooting. Filtering on topic type and subject before semantic ranking improves precision, and filtering on iirds:Safety helps keep warnings next to the procedures they belong to.

Topic type vs. document type vs. information subject

	Topic type	Document type	Information subject
Describes	Kind of a single unit	Kind of deliverable	Theme of the content
Property	iirds:has-topic-type	iirds:has-document-type (Documents); iirds:is-applicable-for-document-type (Topics, Fragments)	iirds:has-subject
Mandatory	No	Yes, for every Document	No
Example	iirds:GenericTask	iirds:MaintenanceInstructions	iirds:TechnicalData

In RDF

A document and a reusable topic with document type, topic type and subject. 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/operating-instructions-pal-40> a iirds:Document ;
    iirds:title "Operating instructions PAL-40"@en ;
    iirds:has-document-type iirds:OperatingInstructions .

<https://example.com/iirds/cleaning-the-gripper> a iirds:Topic ;
    iirds:title "Cleaning the gripper"@en ;
    iirds:has-topic-type iirds:GenericTask ;
    iirds:has-subject iirds:SafetyInstruction ;
    iirds:is-applicable-for-document-type iirds:OperatingInstructions ,
        iirds:MaintenanceInstructions .

In topic-based authoring and modular architectures

Topic-based authoring already relies on information typing: writers choose a task, concept or reference structure before they write. iiRDS carries that decision into delivery, so the type is not lost when content leaves the authoring system. In a modular architecture, the topic type stays with the unit while document types describe the assemblies it is reused in, and iirds:is-applicable-for-document-type records the intended contexts. Consumers can then build their own views, such as a troubleshooting hub or a safety overview, from the same information units without separate publications.