Heritage comes in various forms, site, monument, audiovisual, book, dance and more. International NGOs offer many definitions and guidelines for the protection and promotion of cultural heritage, for example tangible, intangible and documentary heritage.
The distinctions are according to the physical attributes of the heritage item (space, material, immaterial). The types of heritage can be local, national, regional or international, based on an assessment of their values and their impact on the world around them.
Values are the elements that define and give significance. These can be age, information, authenticity, integrity, history etc.
Here are some helpful links on heritage distinctions:
ICOMOS International Council on Monuments and Sites
Resolutions and charters
The Nara Document on Authenticity (1994)
The Australia ICOMOS Charter for the Conservation of Places of Cultural Significance – (The Burra Charter) (1981, updated in 2013 )
UNESCO
Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage
Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage
Recommendation Concerning the Preservation of, Access to, Documentary Heritage
