Understanding content

Use this section to help you answer content questions you might have while using iTunes U Public Site Manager.

What are collections?

Collections are groups of audio, video, PDF, or ePub files meant for download by subscribers, or by those viewing a specific page. Collection items are downloaded to your computer and you can copy them to an iPod, iPhone, or iPad. You can download individual items within a collection or subscribe to collections so items are automatically downloaded as they become available.

Can I upload content?

Yes, if your site is approved as an Apple-hosted site. To upload files and manage the metadata for collections on Apple's servers, use the iTunes U Public Site Manager feed editor.

Why do I need good metadata?

You need good metadata so your users can find your collection and decide whether or not to subscribe to it, if applicable.

Your collection and item metadata includes all of the information that describes your content for the potential user, as well as for the iTunes search and browse infrastructure. The collection’s category and subcategory determine where the collection appears in the browse tree. The title, author, description, and (up to 12) keywords are indexed by the iTunes search engine and used to determine relevance when compared with terms entered by the user in the Search iTunes Store box. A high percentage of users look for collections and items through search. If you don’t have good, robust metadata, your content does not turn up in many searches. And when users do find your content, they might not have enough information to decide whether to subscribe.

Your collection must have robust metadata to be eligible for featuring in the iTunes U area of the iTunes Store.

Can I combine related collections?

Yes. You can use features in iTunes U Public Site Manage to combine or relate collections:

• To combine related content, for Apple-hosted content, you can use the feed editor to move content from one collection to another. For more information, see “Moving items from one collection to another.”

• To relate content, you can tag collections or relate collections by media format. For more information see, “Relating collections by tags” and “Relating collections by media format.”