diff --git a/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item-relationships-utils.ts b/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item-relationships-utils.ts
index 9f120a87dd..228b52d7c7 100644
--- a/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item-relationships-utils.ts
+++ b/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item-relationships-utils.ts
@@ -117,9 +117,8 @@ export const getRelatedItemsByTypeLabel = (thisId: string, label: string) =>
  * @param parentId    The id of the parent item
  * @param itemType    The type of relation this list resembles (for creating representations)
  * @param metadata    The list of original Metadatum objects
- * @param ids         The ItemDataService to use for fetching Items from the Rest API
  */
-export const relationsToRepresentations = (parentId: string, itemType: string, metadata: MetadataValue[], ids: ItemDataService) =>
+export const relationsToRepresentations = (parentId: string, itemType: string, metadata: MetadataValue[]) =>
   (source: Observable<Relationship[]>): Observable<MetadataRepresentation[]> =>
     source.pipe(
       flatMap((rels: Relationship[]) =>
@@ -139,7 +138,7 @@ export const relationsToRepresentations = (parentId: string, itemType: string, m
                         return leftItem.payload;
                       }
                     }),
-                    map((item: Item) => Object.assign(new ItemMetadataRepresentation(), item))
+                    map((item: Item) => Object.assign(new ItemMetadataRepresentation(metadatum), item))
                   );
                 }
               } else {
diff --git a/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item.component.spec.ts b/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item.component.spec.ts
index 3f525e6a25..4414d9a713 100644
--- a/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item.component.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item.component.spec.ts
@@ -413,7 +413,7 @@ describe('ItemComponent', () => {
       representations.subscribe((reps: MetadataRepresentation[]) => {
         expect(reps[0].getValue()).toEqual('First value');
         expect(reps[1].getValue()).toEqual('Second value');
-        expect(reps[2].getValue()).toEqual('related item');
+        expect(reps[2].getValue()).toEqual('Third value');
         expect(reps[3].getValue()).toEqual('Fourth value');
       });
     });
diff --git a/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item.component.ts b/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item.component.ts
index 556496fe49..297a333eeb 100644
--- a/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/+item-page/simple/item-types/shared/item.component.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import { Component, Inject, OnInit } from '@angular/core';
 import { Observable ,  zip as observableZip, combineLatest as observableCombineLatest } from 'rxjs';
 import { distinctUntilChanged, filter, flatMap, map } from 'rxjs/operators';
-import { ItemDataService } from '../../../../core/data/item-data.service';
 import { PaginatedList } from '../../../../core/data/paginated-list';
 import { RemoteData } from '../../../../core/data/remote-data';
 import { RelationshipType } from '../../../../core/shared/item-relationships/relationship-type.model';
@@ -10,49 +9,7 @@ import { Item } from '../../../../core/shared/item.model';
 import { getRemoteDataPayload, getSucceededRemoteData } from '../../../../core/shared/operators';
 import { ITEM } from '../../../../shared/items/switcher/item-type-switcher.component';
 import { MetadataRepresentation } from '../../../../core/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation.model';
-import { ItemMetadataRepresentation } from '../../../../core/shared/metadata-representation/item/item-metadata-representation.model';
-import { MetadatumRepresentation } from '../../../../core/shared/metadata-representation/metadatum/metadatum-representation.model';
-import { of } from 'rxjs/internal/observable/of';
-import { MetadataValue } from '../../../../core/shared/metadata.models';
-import { compareArraysUsingIds } from './item-relationships-utils';
-
-/**
- * Operator for turning a list of relationships into a list of metadatarepresentations given the original metadata
- * @param thisId      The id of the parent item
- * @param itemType    The type of relation this list resembles (for creating representations)
- * @param metadata    The list of original Metadatum objects
- */
-export const relationsToRepresentations = (thisId: string, itemType: string, metadata: MetadataValue[]) =>
-  (source: Observable<Relationship[]>): Observable<MetadataRepresentation[]> =>
-    source.pipe(
-      flatMap((rels: Relationship[]) =>
-        observableZip(
-          ...metadata
-            .map((metadatum: any) => Object.assign(new MetadataValue(), metadatum))
-            .map((metadatum: MetadataValue) => {
-            if (metadatum.isVirtual) {
-              const matchingRels = rels.filter((rel: Relationship) => ('' + rel.id) === metadatum.virtualValue);
-              if (matchingRels.length > 0) {
-                const matchingRel = matchingRels[0];
-                return observableCombineLatest(matchingRel.leftItem, matchingRel.rightItem).pipe(
-                  filter(([leftItem, rightItem]) => leftItem.hasSucceeded && rightItem.hasSucceeded),
-                  map(([leftItem, rightItem]) => {
-                    if (leftItem.payload.id === thisId) {
-                      return rightItem.payload;
-                    } else if (rightItem.payload.id === thisId) {
-                      return leftItem.payload;
-                    }
-                  }),
-                  map((item: Item) => Object.assign(new ItemMetadataRepresentation(), item))
-                );
-              }
-            } else {
-              return of(Object.assign(new MetadatumRepresentation(itemType), metadatum));
-            }
-          })
-        )
-      )
-    );
+import { compareArraysUsingIds, relationsToRepresentations } from './item-relationships-utils';
 
 @Component({
   selector: 'ds-item',
diff --git a/src/app/+item-page/simple/metadata-representation-list/metadata-representation-list.component.spec.ts b/src/app/+item-page/simple/metadata-representation-list/metadata-representation-list.component.spec.ts
index f02625e8c7..da2af9f2c1 100644
--- a/src/app/+item-page/simple/metadata-representation-list/metadata-representation-list.component.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/+item-page/simple/metadata-representation-list/metadata-representation-list.component.spec.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { ItemMetadataRepresentation } from '../../../core/shared/metadata-repres
 
 const itemType = 'type';
 const metadataRepresentation1 = new MetadatumRepresentation(itemType);
-const metadataRepresentation2 = new ItemMetadataRepresentation();
+const metadataRepresentation2 = new ItemMetadataRepresentation(Object.assign({}));
 const representations = [metadataRepresentation1, metadataRepresentation2];
 
 describe('MetadataRepresentationListComponent', () => {
diff --git a/src/app/core/shared/metadata-representation/item/item-metadata-representation.model.spec.ts b/src/app/core/shared/metadata-representation/item/item-metadata-representation.model.spec.ts
index f31f8617ad..791fc43fbe 100644
--- a/src/app/core/shared/metadata-representation/item/item-metadata-representation.model.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/shared/metadata-representation/item/item-metadata-representation.model.spec.ts
@@ -1,21 +1,27 @@
 import { MetadataRepresentationType } from '../metadata-representation.model';
-import { ItemMetadataRepresentation, ItemTypeToValue } from './item-metadata-representation.model';
+import { ItemMetadataRepresentation } from './item-metadata-representation.model';
 import { Item } from '../../item.model';
-import { MetadataMap, MetadataValue } from '../../metadata.models';
+import { MetadataValue } from '../../metadata.models';
 
 describe('ItemMetadataRepresentation', () => {
   const valuePrefix = 'Test value for ';
   const item = new Item();
+  const itemType = 'Item Type';
   let itemMetadataRepresentation: ItemMetadataRepresentation;
-  const metadataMap = new MetadataMap();
-  for (const key of Object.keys(ItemTypeToValue)) {
-    metadataMap[ItemTypeToValue[key]] = [Object.assign(new MetadataValue(), {
-      value: `${valuePrefix}${ItemTypeToValue[key]}`
-    })];
-  }
-  item.metadata = metadataMap;
+  item.metadata = {
+    'dc.title': [
+      {
+        value: `${valuePrefix}dc.title`
+      }
+    ] as MetadataValue[],
+    'dc.contributor.author': [
+      {
+        value: `${valuePrefix}dc.contributor.author`
+      }
+    ] as MetadataValue[]
+  };
 
-  for (const itemType of Object.keys(ItemTypeToValue)) {
+  for (const metadataField of Object.keys(item.metadata)) {
     describe(`when creating an ItemMetadataRepresentation`, () => {
       beforeEach(() => {
         item.metadata['relationship.type'] = [
@@ -23,8 +29,7 @@ describe('ItemMetadataRepresentation', () => {
             value: itemType
           })
         ];
-
-        itemMetadataRepresentation = Object.assign(new ItemMetadataRepresentation(), item);
+        itemMetadataRepresentation = Object.assign(new ItemMetadataRepresentation(item.metadata[metadataField][0]), item);
       });
 
       it('should have a representation type of item', () => {
@@ -32,7 +37,7 @@ describe('ItemMetadataRepresentation', () => {
       });
 
       it('should return the correct value when calling getValue', () => {
-        expect(itemMetadataRepresentation.getValue()).toEqual(`${valuePrefix}${ItemTypeToValue[itemType]}`);
+        expect(itemMetadataRepresentation.getValue()).toEqual(`${valuePrefix}${metadataField}`);
       });
 
       it('should return the correct item type', () => {
diff --git a/src/app/core/shared/metadata-representation/item/item-metadata-representation.model.ts b/src/app/core/shared/metadata-representation/item/item-metadata-representation.model.ts
index 7ec1445613..b688673b65 100644
--- a/src/app/core/shared/metadata-representation/item/item-metadata-representation.model.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/shared/metadata-representation/item/item-metadata-representation.model.ts
@@ -1,21 +1,22 @@
 import { Item } from '../../item.model';
 import { MetadataRepresentation, MetadataRepresentationType } from '../metadata-representation.model';
-import { hasValue } from '../../../../shared/empty.util';
-
-/**
- * An object to convert item types into the metadata field it should render for the item's value
- */
-export const ItemTypeToValue = {
-  Default: 'dc.title',
-  Person: 'dc.contributor.author',
-  OrgUnit: 'dc.title'
-};
+import { MetadataValue } from '../../metadata.models';
 
 /**
  * This class determines which fields to use when rendering an Item as a metadata value.
  */
 export class ItemMetadataRepresentation extends Item implements MetadataRepresentation {
 
+  /**
+   * The virtual metadata value representing this item
+   */
+  virtualMetadata: MetadataValue;
+
+  constructor(virtualMetadata: MetadataValue) {
+    super();
+    this.virtualMetadata = virtualMetadata;
+  }
+
   /**
    * The type of item this item can be represented as
    */
@@ -34,13 +35,7 @@ export class ItemMetadataRepresentation extends Item implements MetadataRepresen
    * Get the value to display, depending on the itemType
    */
   getValue(): string {
-    let metadata;
-    if (hasValue(ItemTypeToValue[this.itemType])) {
-      metadata = ItemTypeToValue[this.itemType];
-    } else {
-      metadata = ItemTypeToValue.Default;
-    }
-    return this.firstMetadataValue(metadata);
+    return this.virtualMetadata.value;
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/orgunit/orgunit-metadata-list-element.component.html b/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/orgunit/orgunit-metadata-list-element.component.html
index ea429e87c6..0977413722 100644
--- a/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/orgunit/orgunit-metadata-list-element.component.html
+++ b/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/orgunit/orgunit-metadata-list-element.component.html
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 <ng-template #descTemplate>
   <span class="text-muted">
-      <span *ngIf="item.allMetadata(['dc.description']).length > 0"
+      <span *ngIf="metadataRepresentation.allMetadata(['dc.description']).length > 0"
             class="item-list-job-title">
-        <span [innerHTML]="firstMetadataValue(['dc.description'])"></span>
+        <span [innerHTML]="metadataRepresentation.firstMetadataValue(['dc.description'])"></span>
       </span>
   </span>
 </ng-template>
-<ds-truncatable [id]="item.id">
-  <a [routerLink]="['/items/' + item.id]"
-     [innerHTML]="firstMetadataValue('organization.legalName')"
-     [tooltip]="descTemplate"></a>
+<ds-truncatable [id]="metadataRepresentation.id">
+  <a [routerLink]="['/items/' + metadataRepresentation.id]"
+     [innerHTML]="metadataRepresentation.getValue()"
+     [tooltip]="metadataRepresentation.allMetadata(['dc.description']).length > 0 ? descTemplate : null"></a>
 </ds-truncatable>
diff --git a/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/orgunit/orgunit-metadata-list-element.component.ts b/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/orgunit/orgunit-metadata-list-element.component.ts
index d59e5c6cc3..21d0d9f86b 100644
--- a/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/orgunit/orgunit-metadata-list-element.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/orgunit/orgunit-metadata-list-element.component.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { Component } from '@angular/core';
 import { MetadataRepresentationType } from '../../../../core/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation.model';
 import { ItemViewMode, rendersItemType } from '../../../../shared/items/item-type-decorator';
-import { TypedItemSearchResultListElementComponent } from '../../../../shared/object-list/item-list-element/item-types/typed-item-search-result-list-element.component';
+import { ItemMetadataRepresentationListElementComponent } from '../../../../shared/object-list/metadata-representation-list-element/item/item-metadata-representation-list-element.component';
 
 @rendersItemType('OrgUnit', ItemViewMode.Element, MetadataRepresentationType.Item)
 @Component({
@@ -11,5 +11,5 @@ import { TypedItemSearchResultListElementComponent } from '../../../../shared/ob
 /**
  * The component for displaying a list element for an item of the type OrgUnit
  */
-export class OrgUnitMetadataListElementComponent extends TypedItemSearchResultListElementComponent {
+export class OrgUnitMetadataListElementComponent extends ItemMetadataRepresentationListElementComponent {
 }
diff --git a/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/person/person-metadata-list-element.component.html b/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/person/person-metadata-list-element.component.html
index 1125c2fb9b..69cf463b3f 100644
--- a/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/person/person-metadata-list-element.component.html
+++ b/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/person/person-metadata-list-element.component.html
@@ -1,15 +1,15 @@
 <ng-template #descTemplate>
   <span class="text-muted">
-      <span *ngIf="item.allMetadata(['person.jobTitle']).length > 0"
+      <span *ngIf="metadataRepresentation.allMetadata(['person.jobTitle']).length > 0"
             class="item-list-job-title">
-              <span *ngFor="let value of allMetadataValues(['person.jobTitle']); let last=last;">
+              <span *ngFor="let value of metadataRepresentation.allMetadataValues(['person.jobTitle']); let last=last;">
                   <span [innerHTML]="value"><span [innerHTML]="value"></span></span>
               </span>
       </span>
   </span>
 </ng-template>
-<ds-truncatable [id]="item.id">
-  <a [routerLink]="['/items/' + item.id]"
-     [innerHTML]="firstMetadataValue('person.familyName') + ', ' + firstMetadataValue('person.givenName')"
-     [tooltip]="descTemplate"></a>
+<ds-truncatable [id]="metadataRepresentation.id">
+  <a [routerLink]="['/items/' + metadataRepresentation.id]"
+     [innerHTML]="metadataRepresentation.getValue()"
+     [tooltip]="metadataRepresentation.allMetadata(['person.jobTitle']).length > 0 ? descTemplate : null"></a>
 </ds-truncatable>
diff --git a/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/person/person-metadata-list-element.component.ts b/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/person/person-metadata-list-element.component.ts
index b036768d0a..35fbcd1173 100644
--- a/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/person/person-metadata-list-element.component.ts
+++ b/src/app/entity-groups/research-entities/item-list-elements/person/person-metadata-list-element.component.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import { Component } from '@angular/core';
 import { ItemViewMode, rendersItemType } from '../../../../shared/items/item-type-decorator';
 import { MetadataRepresentationType } from '../../../../core/shared/metadata-representation/metadata-representation.model';
-import { TypedItemSearchResultListElementComponent } from '../../../../shared/object-list/item-list-element/item-types/typed-item-search-result-list-element.component';
+import { ItemMetadataRepresentationListElementComponent } from '../../../../shared/object-list/metadata-representation-list-element/item/item-metadata-representation-list-element.component';
 
 @rendersItemType('Person', ItemViewMode.Element, MetadataRepresentationType.Item)
 @Component({
@@ -11,5 +11,5 @@ import { TypedItemSearchResultListElementComponent } from '../../../../shared/ob
 /**
  * The component for displaying a list element for an item of the type Person
  */
-export class PersonMetadataListElementComponent extends TypedItemSearchResultListElementComponent {
+export class PersonMetadataListElementComponent extends ItemMetadataRepresentationListElementComponent {
 }
diff --git a/src/app/shared/items/switcher/item-type-switcher.component.spec.ts b/src/app/shared/items/switcher/item-type-switcher.component.spec.ts
index 76389201c5..1c1612744a 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/items/switcher/item-type-switcher.component.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/items/switcher/item-type-switcher.component.spec.ts
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ const mockItem: Item = Object.assign(new Item(), {
     ]
   }
 });
-const mockItemMetadataRepresentation = Object.assign(new ItemMetadataRepresentation(), mockItem);
+const mockItemMetadataRepresentation = Object.assign(new ItemMetadataRepresentation(Object.assign({})), mockItem);
 let viewMode = ItemViewMode.Full;
 
 describe('ItemTypeSwitcherComponent', () => {
diff --git a/src/app/shared/object-list/metadata-representation-list-element/item/item-metadata-list-element.component.spec.ts b/src/app/shared/object-list/metadata-representation-list-element/item/item-metadata-list-element.component.spec.ts
index 5ffa068951..269207bef8 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/object-list/metadata-representation-list-element/item/item-metadata-list-element.component.spec.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/object-list/metadata-representation-list-element/item/item-metadata-list-element.component.spec.ts
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ import { ItemMetadataListElementComponent } from './item-metadata-list-element.c
 import { By } from '@angular/platform-browser';
 import { ItemMetadataRepresentation } from '../../../../core/shared/metadata-representation/item/item-metadata-representation.model';
 
-const mockItemMetadataRepresentation = new ItemMetadataRepresentation();
+const mockItemMetadataRepresentation = new ItemMetadataRepresentation(Object.assign({}));
 
 describe('ItemMetadataListElementComponent', () => {
   let comp: ItemMetadataListElementComponent;
diff --git a/src/app/shared/object-list/metadata-representation-list-element/item/item-metadata-representation-list-element.component.ts b/src/app/shared/object-list/metadata-representation-list-element/item/item-metadata-representation-list-element.component.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..0fdca0d429
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/app/shared/object-list/metadata-representation-list-element/item/item-metadata-representation-list-element.component.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+import { MetadataRepresentationListElementComponent } from '../metadata-representation-list-element.component';
+import { Component, Inject } from '@angular/core';
+import { ITEM } from '../../../items/switcher/item-type-switcher.component';
+import { ItemMetadataRepresentation } from '../../../../core/shared/metadata-representation/item/item-metadata-representation.model';
+
+@Component({
+  selector: 'ds-item-metadata-representation-list-element',
+  template: ''
+})
+/**
+ * An abstract class for displaying a single ItemMetadataRepresentation
+ */
+export class ItemMetadataRepresentationListElementComponent extends MetadataRepresentationListElementComponent {
+  constructor(@Inject(ITEM) public metadataRepresentation: ItemMetadataRepresentation) {
+    super(metadataRepresentation);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/app/shared/shared.module.ts b/src/app/shared/shared.module.ts
index 903f907fc0..ed9f8efa93 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/shared.module.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/shared.module.ts
@@ -146,6 +146,7 @@ import { DsoInputSuggestionsComponent } from './input-suggestions/dso-input-sugg
 import { TypedItemSearchResultGridElementComponent } from './object-grid/item-grid-element/item-types/typed-item-search-result-grid-element.component';
 import { PublicationGridElementComponent } from './object-grid/item-grid-element/item-types/publication/publication-grid-element.component';
 import { ItemTypeBadgeComponent } from './object-list/item-type-badge/item-type-badge.component';
+import { ItemMetadataRepresentationListElementComponent } from './object-list/metadata-representation-list-element/item/item-metadata-representation-list-element.component';
 
 const MODULES = [
   // Do NOT include UniversalModule, HttpModule, or JsonpModule here
@@ -316,7 +317,8 @@ const ENTRY_COMPONENTS = [
   StartsWithTextComponent,
   PlainTextMetadataListElementComponent,
   ItemMetadataListElementComponent,
-  MetadataRepresentationListElementComponent
+  MetadataRepresentationListElementComponent,
+  ItemMetadataRepresentationListElementComponent
 ];
 
 const SHARED_ITEM_PAGE_COMPONENTS = [