Reference on document types

I work at a research institute focusing on cultural heritage. We are studying the development of a document management system and I am carrying out some informal research about document types. Our goal is to establish a system of document types that allows us to classify and organise the documents that are relevant to us, most of which we are probably using already. By "document type" I mean categories such as "letter", "book", "instructions manual", "meeting agenda", "research article", etc.

Is there any standard, guideline or reference that establishes a complete and thorough hierarchy of document types? It doesn't need to be especially geared towards research organisations, but that would be a plus.

CesarGon

• classification
• lis-research
• standards
• document-types

Comments

• Joe: Are you looking for something to help you to evaluate which formats to use in your system? If so, I'd recommend LoC's Sustainability of Digital Formats, although I know it's not complete (it doesn't include FITS ... but that's another thing on my todo list)
• Bill Dueber: There are complexities here that you'll want to think about before dedicating yourself to a list, too -- what is the document type of a pamphlet that was bound into a book, which was then put on microfilm, and the microfilm digitized? Oh, and if you come up with a good set of guidelines -- publish it :-)
• CesarGon: @Joe: That is not the main goal; current practice will probably determine that. The main goal is to classify and organise the documents that we are already using. Editing to clarify; thank you.
• CesarGon: @BillDueber: Yes, I am aware of such complexities. Thanks for reminding, though. I'll definitely post my findings here. ;-)

Answer by Jakob

There are several classifications of document types but no single standard. The problem is that the type depends on context. Imagine someone asked you about "person types" to classify people; what would you say? I examined the same question a year ago and I could find a collected classifications (article in German), among them:

• Dublin Core Resource Types
• BibTex document types
• RDA extend
• DINI Publication Types (German)
• RSWK Form types (German)
• Bibliographic Ontology Classes
• Publication Type ontology (anyone actually using this?!)
• NSGL Publication Types
• PTC Publication Types
• ...

Maybe it's better to first clarify the criteria ("facets" in information science terminology) you want to classify documents into.

Comments

• Joe: I think 'factes' may be a typo for 'facets', but the way it's presented, I'm not sure if it's a new term I'm not familiar with.
• CesarGon: @Jakob: Thanks, I'll have a look at those. Regarding the criteria of what we mean by "document type", well, I guess that's part of the question too! Do these guidelines or standards suggest any particularly suitable criteria to classify documents?

Answer by Karen Merguerian

Are you looking for a list of MIME types? (For example mpeg, mp4, RAW, are video MIME types.) There's a master list here: http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/index.html

If you're looking for the file extensions for the mime types, you can google that but I'm not aware of anything completely comprehensive, and it doesn't seem like there's a registry for that. Some file extensions are used for more than one mime type.\ See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_media_type

Comments

• CesarGon: No, I am not looking for MIME types or file extensions of formats. I am interested in documents in the abstract sense of the word rather than the implementation details of computer files.

Answer by Harrison W. Inefuku

It seems that you're looking for guidance on records management for your research project. Establishing records management policies and procedures can help you:

• Identify record series (groups of records, based usually on the function of the records, e.g. Correspondence or Laboratory Notebooks);
• Identify who is creating records;
• Identify who is responsible for organizing and maintaining records;
• Where multiple copies of a record exist (in the same or different formats), identify the copy of record; and
• Establish a retention schedule (determine how long records should be kept).

A good records management program will help your project demonstrate the authenticity of research data and products, establish intellectual property rights, and satisfy requirements established by funding agencies and legislation (such as open access policies and privacy laws).

A good introduction to the management of research record is JISC's Guidelines on Managing Research Records. It divides research records into four types: records documenting the research process, records documenting research outcomes or products, records documenting the management of the research process/product(s) and research data. It then provides guidance on the management, storage, access, retention and destruction of research records.

Examples of research records management policies include the University of Melbourne's Policy on the Management of Research Data and Records and Barts and the London's Records Management of Research Project Records.

Comments

• CesarGon: Not really. We are looking for a document type system, rather than a research record management system. Thanks anyway.