FY06 NIRS Data Dictionary: PRODUCTS
Chapter 4: Products Dataset
Overview of the Products Dataset
The Product Dataset is intended to capture information on various materials produced and disseminated by network.
NIRS allows Centers to manage information on the products they develop and/or disseminate. The products may be
linked to specific activities and trainees.
Products may include:
 Refereed journal articles
 Non-refereed publications
 Books
 Book chapters
 Audio/Visual Materials, Software, Web Portals/Sites
 Educational Modules
 Doctoral Dissertations and Master’s Theses
 Periodicals
 Public awareness materials
Product records are intended to capture information on the title, author, date of publication, publisher, and the fiscal
year in which it is being reported. The records also have fields for providing a brief description, indicating alternative
formats, ordering, and cost information. The basic descriptive information provided when creating a new product
record may be edited at any time.
The Product dataset links with the Activity dataset to capture product dissemination information. To capture
dissemination information in NIRS, first an activity record must be created and then a new or existing product must to
be linked through the Information Dissemination core function option. After a product is linked to an Activity record,
dissemination data entry fields will appear in the Product record.
Note: Dissemination data entry fields do not display in Product records that are not linked to an
Activity record.
Once the Product and Activity records are linked, the dissemination data entry fields may be accessed for editing or
updating through either the Product or Activity records.
For a discrete dissemination activity (i.e., reporting a time-specific event at which certain products are distributed), a
Center might chose to create an Activity record, link all applicable products, and supply the total number of products
disseminated all at one time.
For on-going dissemination activities (i.e., tracking periodic requests for a particular product in stock over an entire
NIRS reporting period), a Center might chose to create an Activity record, link the Product record, and then edit the
Product record with new dissemination information each time that product is distributed.
Beginning in FY06, products produced by trainees can be linked to their Trainee Year Records.
Working in the Products Dataset
Creating Product Records
To create a new Product Record, click on the Add button that is located on the Welcome screen or on any of the
Project Search, List/Edit, and View screens. Clicking on the Add button will provide a blank product data entry form.
Enter all of the data and click on the Save button.
Listing Records
The Activity List/Edit screen displays each Product Record in the current fiscal year in alphabetical order by title. The
list of products can be sorted by the date the records were added by clicking on “Date Added,” by the date the
records were last edited by clicking on “Edited,” and in reverse alphabetical order by clicking on “Title.”
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The “List” function displays only those Product Records for the current fiscal year. To display other Product Records
in another year or multiple years, use the “Search” function.
Searching Records
The Product Search screen displays options by which the Activity dataset may be searched. The fiscal year pull
down menu may be used to select records from a particular year, or all Product Records may be searched if “All
Years” is selected from this menu.
Saving Past Product Records into a New Fiscal Year (the “Save As” Function)
Many products are available for dissemination over multiple years, however NIRS requires a separate Product
Record for each year. To create a new FY Product Record for a multiyear project, first find the product using the
“List/Edit” or “Search” functions. Second, click on the “View” button to display the Product Record. Third, click on
the Save As button in the upper right corner of the screen. A Product Record entry form, pre-filled with the product
information, will be displayed. Modify this form as necessary for the current fiscal year and click Save.
Viewing Records
To view a Product Record, begin on the List/Edit screen. Click on the View button beside the intended record.
Editing Records
To edit a Product Record, begin to the List/Edit screen. Click on the Edit button beside the intended record. Once all
changes have been made to the record, click Save.
Deleting Records
The Del button is used to delete records. Click on the Del button to delete a Product Record.
Fiscal Year
Numeric
Automatically Defined Field. The FY for all data is July 1 to June 30. The FY is automatically assigned when the
Product Record is created. A product that is published or disseminated any time within a FY should be reported
in that FY.
Program Type
Check All That Apply
Required Field. Select all that apply. If the product involves both LEND and UCEDD funding, faculty, staff, or other
resources, check both of the boxes.
Title of Product or Publication
Text/Numeric
Required field. Provide the formal title of the product, article, or book chapter. Up to 150 characters may be
entered in the title field. Only one product can be reported per Product record.
Name of Publication
Text/Numeric
If appropriate, provide the name of the journal, newsletter, or book in which the item above was published.
Date of Publication
Text/Numeric
For published products, supply the date of publication. For non- or self-published products (e.g, CD, handbook,
monograph), supply the date of completion.
Use the mm/yyyy format; if the month of publication/completion is not known or applicable, supply the year in the
yyyy format (e.g., 2006)
Publisher
Text/Numeric
Supply the name of the publisher, if applicable. For non- or self-published products, supply the Center name or
another appropriate entity’s name. Up to 50 characters may be entered in the publisher field.
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Author(s)
Text/Numeric
Supply the name(s) of the author(s) of the product, separated by commas. Up to 150 characters may be entered in
the author(s) field.
Author name(s) may be listed APA style (i.e., Smith, J.) or use the full first name (i.e., Smith, Johanna).
Type of Material
Check one
Required field. Select the type of material from the available choices. Only one product may be captured per product
record.
Note: the format (print or electronic) of a publication is irrelevant to the product type.
Once a product type option is selected and a “number disseminated” has been provided, that product type cannot be
unselected (either before or after you save the record) unless the “number disseminated” is removed or listed as
zero in all versions of that product record (i.e., if the Product record is linked to multiple Activity records, a value of
zero (or no value) must be indicated in the quantities disseminated box in each record of that product).
Product Types
Refereed journal articles
Scholarly articles that have been
accepted for print or electronic
publication in a scholarly journal that
uses a blind reviewing strategy and
external reviewers.
Includes
 Scholarly articles accepted for
publication in refereed
journals
Non-refereed publications
Materials prepared without a blind
reviewing strategy for print or electronic
publication that offers
(a) an account, description or
explanation of a single thing or class of
things;
(b) reference information on a particular
topic; or
(c) basic, technical, analytical,
investigative, or evaluative information.
 Monographs
 Research, consultancy, or
technical reports
 Guides
 Handbooks
 Whitepapers
 Commissioned evaluative or
investigative reports
Books or Book chapters
Books or book chapters that are
(a) written solely by the identified
author(s),
(b) scholarly,
(c) bound, and
(d) offered for sale.
 Textbooks aimed at a
university audience
 Research monographs
published by university
departments or presses
 Books published by privatelyfunded companies or
university departments/
presses
 Professional books
 Textbooks aimed at a
university audience
 Research monographs
published by university
departments or presses
 Books published by privatelyfunded companies or
university departments/
presses
Book chapters
Book chapters that are
(a) written solely by the identified
author(s),
(b) scholarly,
(c) bound, and
(d) offered for sale.
Excludes
 Editorials, book reviews, and
other non-scholarly articles
accepted for publication in
refereed journals
 Publications included in “Nonrefereed publications” or
“Periodicals”
 Grant or contract progress
reports
 Publications included in
“Periodicals”
 Publications included in “Public
Awareness Materials”
 Editorials, book reviews, and
other non-scholarly articles
accepted for publication in nonrefereed publications
 Creative works such as novels
 Commissioned evaluative or
investigative reports
 Research, consultancy, or
technical reports
 Textbooks that are aimed at
secondary, primary or preschool
students
 Creative works such as novels
 Commissioned evaluative or
investigative reports
 Research, consultancy, or
technical reports
 Textbooks that are aimed at
secondary, primary or preschool
students
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Audio/Visual Materials, Software, Web
Portals/Sites
A/V: Materials initially prepared to
present information in an audible and/or
pictorial form.
Software: Organized collections of
computer data and instructions.
Web Portal: a website or service that
offers a broad array of resources and
services, such as forums, search
engines, databases, etc.
Educational Modules
Written educational units designed to
drive instruction by identifying the
(a) skills and concepts to be taught,
(b) teaching strategies to be used, and
(c) evaluation methods to be used to
measure student achievement.
Doctoral Dissertations and Master’s
Theses
The required final paper prepared by a
candidate for an academic institution’s
master or doctoral degree.
Periodicals
Materials prepared for print or electronic
publications that are not refereed and
are issued at either fixed intervals or on
an occasional basis.
Public awareness materials
Print or electronic materials prepared to
increase public awareness on a topic or
topics.
 Professional books
 CDs, DVDs, videotapes, or
audiotapes
 Software (system or
application)
 Web Portals/Sites
 Web pages
 Alternate format versions (Braille,
audiotape, etc.) of a product
 Conference presentations
 PowerPoint slides
 Poster presentations
 Radio/television interviews
 Curricula, courses, or training
programs
 Distance, asynchronous, or
web-based modules
 Textbooks that are aimed at
secondary, primary or
preschool students
 Dissertations and theses
accepted by relevant
Committees
 Conference presentations
 Poster presentations
 PowerPoint slides
 Articles or editorials published
in newspapers, newsletters,
or magazines
 Issue briefs
Publications included in “Nonrefereed publications”
 Brochures
 Pamphlets
 Radio/television interviews
 Press Releases
 Publications included in
“Periodicals”
 Undergraduate or honors theses
 Prospectuses, IRB approvals, or
interim drafts of dissertations or
theses
Note: Beginning with the FY06 reporting period no information will be collected in the Products Dataset on
the:
 Editing of a journal, book, or book chapter,
 Development or delivery of:
 Grant Proposals
 Poster Presentations
 Conference Presentations
 Web pages (see Audio/Visual Materials, Software, Web Portals/Sites above)
 Grant or Contract Progress Reports
 “Other”
These editing/developing efforts may be captured in the Activities dataset.
Quantities Disseminated for Activity
Numeric
Required field. Supply the number of products disseminated in the appropriate field.
These fields will not appear when creating a product record in the Product Dataset; however, once a product is
linked to a dissemination activity record in the Activities Dataset, data entry boxes will display in the Product record.
These fields may be edited from both the Products and Activities datasets.
For Refereed journal articles, Non-refereed publications, Books, Book Chapters, and Periodicals, use the publisher’s
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circulation/distribution figures.
For Educational Modules, Audio/Visual Materials, and Software: use actual dissemination numbers.
For Doctoral Dissertations and Master’s Theses: use actual dissemination numbers. Some universities submit
dissertations and/or theses to off-site electronic databases (like ERIC). Because Centers will not be able to
determine how many times those documents are downloaded from such databases, count the posting of these
documents as “one copy disseminated” for each database they are posted to.
For Web Portals (not individual web pages): use the number of visits (not unique visitors) the portal received, as
obtained through the portal’s tracking software.
Brief Description & Special Features
Text/Numeric
Supply a brief description or abstract of no more than 500 characters. Information provided in this field is critical to
the search features of the AUCD web-portal, NIRS Search, and other linked search engines. Information provided in
this field will help individuals with disabilities, their families, service providers, and others gain a basic understanding
of the project. Also, staff from AUCD, ADD, and MCHB may glean information about projects from this field for the
purposes of providing formal and informal reports to a wide array of constituents ranging from consumers and
families to federal officials and congressional members and staff. Any special features of the product that are not
captured in other fields may be provided here as well.
Note: NIRS does not have a spell/grammar-check function. Consider pasting descriptions in this field after
spell checking in a word processing program.
Target Audience
Check All That Apply
Select the appropriate target audience(s) for the product. Check all that apply. This field will be used to supply data
to the FY06 MCH electronic handbook for LEND programs and will help us better serve the general public who
search the public portions of NIRS for resources.
Individuals with DD, Children with SHCN, or family members/caregivers
Professionals/Paraprofessionals
Trainees/Students
Alternative Formats
Check All That Apply
Centers are assumed to supply products in alternate formats upon request. Check all that apply for the
alternative format (s) in which a product was actually disseminated.
In some cases, the alternative format may also be a product type (e.g., an alternative format might be a disk and the
product may be offered as a CD).
Alternative Formats
Captioned
Audio (cassette, audio file, etc.)
Electronic (disc, CD, 508-compliant website)
Braille
Visual Format or Large Print
Language other than English
Ordering/Contact Information
Supply the cost per unit in the appropriate field if applicable. Commas may not be used (i.e., use 2000, not 2,000),
but decimal points may be used (i.e., 23.99 rather than rounding off to 24).
Supply a contact person from the dropdown menu. Use the pull down menus to select the contact person and their
contact information, or click on the “Add New Contact and Address” button. Clicking on the “Add New Contact and
Address” button will present a contact entry form to collect this information. When the form is completed, click the
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“Save” button, This information will be automatically added to the dropdown menus for future use.
The ability to add contacts or modify contact information is not currently restricted to users with an Admin level of
access.
Note: To edit the existing or add new contact information for a particular individual, first select the contact
person from the pull down menu. Click the "Edit this Name & Address" button to edit the contact
information. Click the “Save” button after modifying the record to return to the Project Record. Select the
correct contact information for the project and resume completion of the product entry form.
Product ID
Numeric
NIRS automatically assigns a Product ID number for all product records. This system-generated ID number is
displayed in the top right-hand corner of the screen when viewing a product record, and may be helpful to Centers
when running searches, reviewing reports, and developing custom reports.
Added Date
Date
The database will automatically capture the date and time information was first inputted into a record. This
information will not change. Instead, it will remain constant so that Centers will know when a record was first
created.
To search by a specific date in the "Added Date" field, define one search field as greater than or equal to the date
you want (i.e., for the date 08/28/2005, enter '>= 8/28/2005') and then define a second search field as lesser than or
equal to the subsequent date ('<= 8/29/2005').
Added By
Text/Numeric
NIRS automatically captures the identification code used to log on to the database by the individual who created the
record.
Updated Date
Date
NIRS automatically captures the date and time each time a record is updated. The most recent update date/time is
displayed.
Search Tip: To search by a specific date in the "Updated Date" field, for example to search for the date 08/28/2005,
define one search field as greater than or equal to the date you want (in this case “>= 8/28/2005”) and then define a
second search field as lesser than or equal to the subsequent date (“<= 8/29/2005”).
Updated By
Text/Numeric
NIRS automatically captures the identification code used to log on to the database by the individual who last
updated the record.
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