VOCEDplus help resource types project | VOCEDplus, the international tertiary education and research database

VOCEDplus help > Resource types project

Project update

The first phase of the project - developing a new Framework for Resources types - has been completed.

The next phase of the project is to update the labels in the Resource type field of all those VOCEDplus records impacted.

About the project

The VOCEDplus database now has a very large dataset and continues to grow by around 3000 items annually. The VOCEDplus Team has updated the VOCEDplus Resource types with the aim of making it easier to identify different types of content. For example, you will be able to distinguish entries for individual conference papers from conference proceedings, identify government publications and filter research-based reports, papers and authored books from more general descriptive publications.

The new Resource type Framework

Resource type	What it covers
Article	All individual articles, peer and non-peer reviewed from journals and magazines
Book chapter	Authored chapters from an edited volume
Conference	Volume of conference proceedings Conference report Meeting report Seminar report Workshop report
Conference paper	Individual conference papers from VET/tertiary conferences or presented by prominent VET/tertiary authors at other conferences
Country information	Documents that outline or describe an aspect/s such as the education and training system or career guidance services for a single country or group of countries/region
Edited book	The entry for a book, either in hard copy or electronic, edited with individually authored chapters
General publication	Non-research documents, including the annual reports of non-government organisations
Government information	Non-research-based documents produced by a government department or agency: Annual reports Government plans Legislation and guides to official standards/frameworks/regulations Policy
Government report or paper	Research-based documents produced or commissioned by a government department or agency: Evaluation reports of government programs Reports of government inquiries Research reports White/green papers
Guide	Non-teaching and training materials that provide instructions or guidelines such as handbooks, manuals etc. Teaching and training guides can be found under Teaching and training material
Industry information	Environmental scans and other specific industry related documents that profile or provide an overview of an industry, particularly in relation to skills and employment projections, rather than undertake research on issues or an aspect of an industry, e.g. gender in mining
Journal	Information about a journal,magazine or newsletter, including details of issues held in the NCVER Library and a link to all articles from that journal available in VOCEDplus
Journal issue	A whole journal issue, magazine or newsletter
Report, paper or authored book	Documents that are based on primary or secondary research and do not fit one of the definitive resource types, e.g. Article, Conference paper or Edited book: Research reports and papers (discussion, occasional, working, briefing, technical etc.) Authored books (one or multiple authors but not edited) Literature reviews/annotated bibliographies
Statistical series	Regular/recurring statistical collections, including guidelines and related documentation associated with these collections
Teaching and training material	Anything that relates to the practical implementation of teaching and learning. The physical format of some of these items will include podcasts, webinars, kits, audio recordings, etc. but the content will be teaching and training material.
Thesis	Any thesis/dissertation/document prepared fully for or as part of the requirements for the award for any degree, e.g. PhD, Masters
Webinar or podcast	Online presentations of this kind where research/research findings associated with an individual project or a current trend in the sector are being presented and/or discussed.

Help using Resource types during the project phase

Resource types can be used to enhance your search results in two ways:

built into your expert search query to include and/or exclude certain types of content; and
applying the Resource type filter to the search results to limit your results to a particular resource type.

As this project is implemented, old Resource types will gradually be replaced with new ones (see mapping table below). During the implementation phase, both old and new Resource types may appear in the VOCEDplus records and be displayed in the Filter by resource type box on the search results pages.

What this means for searching and filtering

We apologise for the interim inconvenience but are confident that once the new Resource types Framework has been implemented and all old Resource types have been removed from the VOCEDplus records you will be able to do content type-focused searches more effectively.

Searching

If you want to limit your search to, or exclude certain resource types from, your search, we recommend:

using our Expert search (not Guided search);
including both the old and new Resource types (refer to the mapping table below); and
referring to the Search VOCEDplus user guide for more help on using the Expert search.

Examples:

To look for statistical collection releases on apprenticeship in Australia, e.g. from NCVER, include both old and new Resource types as below:

tm_metadata.subject:apprenticeship AND tm_metadata.resourcetype:("statistical resource" OR "statistical series") AND tm_metadata.geographicsubjects:australia
To look for research on digital skills, use the range of old and new Resource types as below:

tm_metadata.title:"digital skills" AND tm_metadata.resourcetype:(report OR paper OR "report, paper or authored book" OR "government report or paper")

Filtering

To filter search results by Resource type, you will need to apply the relevant Resource type filters separately, removing one filter before applying the other. Refer to the Search results user guide for more help on applying filters.

Example: You've done a search on digital skills and you only want conference papers:

Filter by Conference paper using the Resource type filter.
Review the results and select the items you are interested in.
Remove the Conference paper filter and apply the Conference filter then review the results and select the items you are interested in.

How the old Resource types map to new Resource types

The new Framework contains 18 Resource types whereas the original contained 23. Seven of these have been retained unchanged, 11 have been removed and replaced with 11 new or amended Resource types. The table below shows the Resource types that will no longer be used and the new Resource types that will be used instead.

Resource types no longer used	Use these resource types instead	Explanatory notes
Annual report	Government information General publication	‘Annual report’ will be introduced as a keyword to make retrieval easy Government information will be used for annual reports of 'government’ bodies, e.g. TAFE, government departments or agencies. General publication will be used for the annual reports of other organisations, e.g. European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training (Cedefop).
Audiovisual Podcast Webinar Website	Guide Teaching and training material Webinar or podcast	These ‘formats’ will be described in the collation (pagination) field of the VOCEDplus record and a resource type assigned in line with the nature of the content: Teaching and training material; Guide etc. Webinars/podcasts where research/research findings are being presented and/or discussed will be assigned Webinar or podcast.
Book	Edited book Report, paper or authored book	Edited book will be used for books with individually authored chapters (these can be in hard copy or online or both). Report, paper or authored book will be used for non-edited books, i.e. if the entire book has been authored by one or more authors collectively and is based on primary or secondary research.
Discussion paper Occasional paper Paper Working paper	Report, paper or authored book Government report or paper	Government report or paper will be assigned if a research-based document produced or commissioned by a government department or agency, e.g. background, issue or consultation papers prepared for a government inquiry. Otherwise, Report, paper or authored book will be assigned to documents that are based on primary or secondary research.
Policy document	Government information General publication	Government information will be used for policy issued by ‘government’ bodies, e.g. TAFE, government departments or agencies. General publication will be used for policy issued by other organisation, European Commission, International Labour Organisation.
Report	Report, paper or authored book Government report or paper	Government report or paper will be assigned if a research-based document produced or commissioned by a government department or agency, e.g. reports of government inquiries or evaluations of government programs. Otherwise, Report, paper or authored book will be assigned to documents that are based on primary or secondary research.
Statistical resource	Statistical series Government report or paper Report, paper or authored book	Statistical series will be assigned to regular/recurring statistical series related to statistical collections, e.g. NCVER’s apprentices and trainees, or cohort reports from longitudinal studies, e.g. the state-based school leavers’ or graduate outcomes surveys, or outcomes of regular surveys, e.g. NCVER’s student outcomes or employers’ use and views of the training system. Either Report, paper or authored book or Government report or paper will be assigned to one-off publications related to a statistical collection but not part of a series, and appropriate Subjects and keywords assigned to highlight the statistical content, e.g. Statistics; Statistical data; Statistical analysis.

Search form

Project update

About the project

The new Resource type Framework

Help using Resource types during the project phase

What this means for searching and filtering

How the old Resource types map to new Resource types

User guides

VOCEDplus FAQs

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