Integrating Essential Skills into Training - National Adult Literacy ...

Document Use
Document use refers to tasks that involve different kinds of information designs or displays.
The displays can use words, numbers, letters, symbols, graphics and other visual or auditory
characteristics (line, colour, light, shape, sound, etc.). Documents are intended to provide
information “at a glance.” In the workplace, you use documents such as:
• assembly drawings • icons • logbooks
• lists • sketches • maps
• graphs • labels • flags
• scale drawings • forms • signs
• schedules • colour codes • ultrasound imaging
• tables • diagrams • light or sound signals
• radiographs • pictures • schematics
• films/movies • musical scores • bills of lading
Document use involves reading, interpreting, and writing (these may occur simultaneously
such as when you complete a form). Document use can also involve the actual creation or
production of documents. Document use includes print and non-print information display
(computer screens, television screens, LCD displays, whiteboards, measurement gauges, etc.).
Document Types
Signs, Simple Lists, and Labels – these are formats that may comprise text, numbers, symbols,
icons, pictures, drawings, etc. Workers may read or create these document structures.
Forms – these are structured documents that may comprise lists or combinations of lists.
Workers complete forms by adding information and/or read completed forms as information
sources. Forms may feature checkboxes, numerical information, phrases, sentences and/or
paragraphs.
Tables and Schedules – these are compact arrangements of words, numbers or signs (or
combinations of them) in rows and columns to display a set of facts or relationships. Tables
and schedules are the result of combining two or more simple lists. Grid lines may or may not
be shown. Workers read and create tables and schedules as well as enter information into
them. Examples of table and schedule types: combined lists, intersecting lists, nested lists.
(Most forms are simply combinations of tables and lists.) Some tables are refered to as charts.
Graphical Presentations – these are pictorial displays of numerical data; that is, a simple
means of showing a change in one function in relation to a change in another. Graphs are used
to illustrate how a value or quantity changes over time, or the distribution of data across a set
of categories for the purpose of comparing values. Graphs may consist of a line connecting
points plotted on an x and y axis. (Research shows that 40% of Canadians have a less than an
80% chance of correctly answering a question based on a simple line graph.) Bar-type graphs
emphasize the difference in value between various pieces or sets of data by using parallel
bars. Pie or circle graphs accent the relationship between the parts of a thing and the whole.