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==Data Types=Items=__NOEDITSECTION__===Core Data===__NOEDITSECTION__In the {{IMSMANG}} information model, items are the containers for core data, such as mine action data. An item is an area, activity or event that a programme records information about and stores in {{IMSMANG}}. There are six categories of items, which are described in the table below. Each category can be characterised by a type that reflects whether the item is designed to track process or activity information or the object or product of an activity.
Items are entered into {{IMSMANG}} by means of a Data Entry Form. Typically, each category of items has its own Data Entry Form template for recording information specific to that category. When entered into {{IMSMANG}}, all Data Entry Form items must be assigned to a Location, which is tied to the country’s gazetteer, or political or administrative structure. The items can then be traced back to the Country Structure so that users can easily report data such as the number and size of hazardous areas within a particular province.
<center>{| class="wikitable"|+ ! Item! Category Examples|-| Land|* SHA* CHA* EOD Spot Task* Ammunition Storage|-| Activity|* Non-Technical survey* Technical survey* Clearance* Completion survey|-| Accident|* Demining accident* Mine accident|-|}</center>Part of defining and documenting an information model includes defining the useful information attributes for each {{IMSMANG}} item. {{IMSMANG}} comes with more than 1,000 [[Data Dictionary| data fields already defined]] as well as the capability to create additional custom-defined fields (CDFs). This makes it important to critically assess which data fields are useful to a programme for decision-making, analysis and reporting and to focus on those while ignoring data fields that don’t provide additional value. Limiting information to only that which is useful to the programme provides long-term benefits including reducing the data collection and data entry burden and improving system performance. And, while many data fields may be collected for each {{IMSMANG}} item, some fields may be more important for analysis than others. For example, whether a victim has been injured or killed may be more important for analysis than the victim’s nationality. Each of the items can be divided into categories or types so users can collect information for each category/type. For example, Land are normally divided into different categories/types and each category of land are managed differently. Using categories/types, information managers can: * create separate workflows for each category/type of Land* create and manage separate Data Entry Form templates per category/type* differentiate between item categories/types on the map Additionally, information managers can customise the categories so that unused categories can be inactivated and other categories added. The same is true for all top-level items within {{IMSMANG}}, which lets information managers specify their exact information model, including the relationships among item categories, and adjust the model as their needs change over time. To accurately map the information model for a Mine Action Programme, it’s helpful to evaluate the available item categories and determine if changes to the information model in {{IMSMANG}} are required. While these values can be customised after system setup, understanding the types of information for each item is critical to implementing an effective workflow in {{IMSMANG}}. {{note|<b>Document the following decisions about items:</b>* data to be collected and managed in {{IMSMANG}}* data fields that are not predefined in {{IMSMANG}} and should be created as CDFs* particularly important, or key, data for the programme* relevant categories/types for each item* status values for each item}} [[Image:Understanding IMSMA Information Model - ItemsExample of Documented Land.png|center|500px|''Items''300px]]
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''ItemsExample of documentation''
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===Auxiliary Data===__NOEDITSECTION__
In addition to defining the required information for {{IMSMANG}} items, it is important to define the relevant information to be collected about Auxiliary data. This includes defining and documenting the [[Standardising_Auxiliary_Data#Country_Structure|Country Structure]], [[Standardising_Auxiliary_Data#Ordnance Classification | Ordnance classification]], [[Standardising_Auxiliary_Data#Organisations |Organisation]] and [[Standardising_Auxiliary_Data#Places|Place]], such as military bases, hospitals and cultural sites; any additional CDFs that should be created; and any subcategories for each of the Auxiliary data types.
{{New_6.0 | In version 6.0 two classifications used for Victim; Cause and Needs assessment, and Assistance classification used for Assistance have been added. All three are hierarchy tree-structures using levels.}}
{{note|<b>Document the following decisions about Auxiliary data:</b>
===Item Subcategories=Data Entry Forms and Summary items==__NOEDITSECTION__A '''Data Entry Form''' is a template used for data entry of information e.g. about a victim.
With this approach, users can collect and store multiple Data Entry Forms about the same item over time so that the entire history of the item is preserved in the system. The approach also provides a complete [[Audit log | audit trail]] of all changes made to any information so that information managers can answer the question, "What did we know and when did we know it?"
[[Image:Understanding_IMSMA_Information_Model_-_Updating_CVs ver2.png|center|400px]]
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''Example of Updating Summary items''
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Data Entry Form #3 updates the land area's size and status after clearance operations are complete. The figure above shows how the land area's Summary is updated after all three reports are entered into the system.
===Location ===__NOEDITSECTION__
A country's official administrative structure, also known as Gazetteer, should be the base for the Country Structure used in {{IMSMANG}}. Sometimes the official administrative structure has not been updated for a long time or it is not detailed enough using it for a geographical placeholder, worksite, for the Mine Action programme and that is why the item Location has been introduced in {{IMSMANG}}. Two fundamental decisions to make when customising {{IMSMANG}} is to decide what Country Structure level Locations will be consistently linked to and what concept Locations will represent. Typical concepts that a Location is used to represent include:
Using Locations, users can group data that belongs together or is associated with each other and in that way get a better overview, facilitate searching and creating reports. The Locations is the link between the Country Structure, whether at the province, district or town level and the Mine Action data. As shown in the figure below, data in {{IMSMANG}} are governed by two simple rules:
*all data must be assigned to a Location
*all Locations must be linked to the Country Structure
[[Image:Understanding IMSMA Information Model - Using Locations to Link Mine Action Data to the Country Structure.png|center]]<div align===Mapping "center">''Using Locations to Link Mine Action Data to the Workflow===Country Structure''</div>
===Progress Report StructureAssigning and Linking===__NOEDITSECTION__<b>Assigning</b> refers to the assignment of an item to a Location for the purposes of grouping information. All items must be assigned a Location.
The example below shows how users can build a workflow of relationships among items to model the information management process for their Mine Action Programmes. The figure shows how the Summary changes with each activity that is linked to the original Land. # The Land starts its life-cycle as ''SHA'' with a status of Open in this example. # When the clearance starts and the first Progress report is linked to the Land, the status should be changed to ''Worked On''. # Finally, after linking the Completion Report the land's status should be updated to ''Closed''. The result is one Land whose information is updated over time by the three Activities linked to the land. This way to track information can be used to represent the information management process and status rules accurately for a Land Release, Risk management or other process model. [[Image:Understanding IMSMA Information Model - Example of How Current View Statuses Change.png|center|400px]]<div align="center">''Example of How Summary Statuses Change''</div> The {{IMSMANG}} information model is flexible enough for each Mine Action Programme to customise the system to support its needs. For example, implementations that do not cover Education activities do not need to complete information about Education activities, and they still retain full utility of the system. Similarly, implementations that only cover Victim tracking and Education activities only can disregard Land and Activities without any loss of utility. Although any item can be linked to any other item, not all relationships necessarily make sense for every implementation. The diagrams below describe some of the more common logical relationships among items and can serve as the basis for an information model when implementing {{IMSMANG}}. [[Image:Understanding IMSMA Information Model - Example Relationships Among Items.png|center|550px]]<div align="center">''Note: Connections to Country Structure and Location have been omitted from the example''</div> The rationale for each relationship or link should also be documented so the meaning is understood. These relationships are used when entering data to ensure that the links between items are available for searching and reporting, like when searching for all Land that have Accidents linked to them. {{note|<b>Document the following business rules about assigning and linking:</b>* which items will have links between them, for example, Victims should always be linked to Accidents* rationale or logical meaning of the relationships between items, for example, a link between a Clearance and an Accident means that the Accident happened during the Clearance* what effects linking has on the items, for example, a link between a Clearance and Land may indicate that the land status should change from ''Open'' to ''Worked on''}} ===The Workbench=Assigning and Linking==__NOEDITSECTION__[[Image:WB_Status.png|175px|center]]<div align="center">'' Approval workflow / Data Entry Form Statuses''</div>The Workbench is a holding area / import inbox where Data Entry Forms are found until they are approved. There are four possible steps in the Approval process:# [[Save Data Entry Forms| Save]]# [[Submit Data Entry Forms | Submit]]# [[Reject Data Entry Forms | Reject ]]# [[Approve Data Entry Forms | Approve]]
