Service Terms and the Alliance of Information
and Referral Systems
Among best practices for information and referral services is the use of a standard service classification system to facilitate retrieval of community resource information, to increase the reliability of planning data, to make evaluation processes consistent and reliable, and to facilitate national comparisons of data. infoMONTGOMERY uses a standardize set of definitions to classify services.
These service terms only refer to an organization's primary services. Primary services are the entry point services a person can receive without already being involved with the organization. In contrast, secondary services are additional services only available to participants because of the fact that they are in the program. This distinction is important; only services that are open to all eligible populations are included here and not services exclusively available to existing participants in the program.
The service term definitions used are from the Alliance for Information & Referral (AIRS) Taxonomy of Human Services; a uniform structure for classifying resources in a database. As a program entry is made into the database, a service definition is identified that best describes what the organization provides to a targeted and discrete group of individuals.
The Alliance for Information & Referral (AIRS) taxonomy's terms and definitions are copyrighted materials used by permission from INFO LINE of Los Angeles and cannot be reprinted without similar permission.
Please contact INFO LINE of Los Angeles to obtain a copy of the Taxonomy: P.O. 726, San Gabriel, CA, 91778-0726. (626) 350-1841 Ext. 2110. Contact: Jennifer Leech.
The Alliance of Information
& Referral Systems (AIRS): (www.airs.org)