Early Literacy part of the Education Reform Network

Resource Type

The nature or genre of the content of the resource.

1. Collection
   A collection is an aggregation of items. The term collection means that the resource is described as a group; its parts may be separately described and navigated.
2. Dataset
   A dataset is information encoded in a defined structure (for example, lists, tables, and databases), intended to be useful for direct machine processing.
3. Event
   An event is a non-persistent, time-basedoccurrence. Metadata for an event provides descriptive informationthat is the basis for discovery of the purpose, location, duration,responsible agents, and links to related events and resources. Theresource of type event may not be retrievable if the describedinstantiation has expired or is yet to occur. Examples - exhibition,web-cast, conference, workshop, open-day, performance, battle, trial,wedding, tea-party, conflagration.
4. Image
   An image is a primarily symbolic visual representationother than text. For example - images and photographs of physicalobjects, paintings, prints, drawings, other images and graphics,animations and moving pictures, film, diagrams, maps, musicalnotation. Note that image may include both electronic and physicalrepresentations.
5. Interactive Resource
   An interactive resource is a resource which requiresinteraction from the user to be understood, executed, orexperienced. For example - forms on web pages, applets, multimedialearning objects, chat services, virtual reality.
6. PhysicalObject
   An inanimate, three-dimensional object or substance. For example -- a computer, the great pyramid, a sculpture. Note that digital representations of, or surrogates for, these things should use Image, Text or one of the other types
7. Service
   A service is a system that provides one or morefunctions of value to the end-user. Examples include: a photocopyingservice, a banking service, an authentication service, interlibraryloans, a Z39.50 or Web server.
8. Software
   a computer program in source or compiled form whichmay be available for installation non-transiently on anothermachine. For software which exists only to create an interactiveenvironment, use interactive instead.
9. Sound
   A sound is a resource whose content is primarily intended to be rendered as audio. For example - a music playback file format, an audio compact disc, and recorded speech or sounds.
10. Text
    A text is a resource whose content is primarily wordsfor reading. For example - books, letters, dissertations, poems,newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimilesor images of texts are still of the genre text.