• charts
  • lists
  • graphs
  • technical drawings
  • schedules
  • tables
  • x-rays
  • geometric shapes
  • icons
  • sketches
  • labels
  • forms
  • colour codes
  • diagrams
  • pictures
  • clocks
  • logbooks
  • maps
  • flags
  • signs
  • equipment catalogues
  • regulations
  • schematics
  • gauges/LCD displays

Document use involves reading, interpreting, and writing (these usually 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 media (a computer screen, a television screen, an LCD display, a measurement gauge, a clock, etc.).

Document Types

Forms – these are structured documents that may contain lists or combinations of lists. Workers complete forms by adding information and/or read completed forms as information sources.

Tables and Schedules – a compact arrangement 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. The grid lines may or may not be shown on a table. Workers read, create and enter information into these documents. Table and schedule types: combined lists, intersecting lists, nested lists.

Graphs and Charts – these are visual representations of the information found in numerical tables. As a result, graphs and charts use the same kinds of document structures as combined lists, intersecting lists and nested lists.

  • Graphs show how a value or quantity changes over time. Graphs consist of a line connecting points plotted on an x and y axis. Individual pieces of information are less important in graphs than the general trend being depicted by the numbers. Workers may plot information on a graph, obtain specific information from a graph, or interpret information presented in the form of a graph. (Research shows that 40% of Canadians have a less than an 80% chance of correctly answering a question based on a simple line graph.) Graph types: control chart, line graph, run chart, scatter diagram.
  • Charts are visual representations showing the distribution of data across a set of categories for the purpose of comparing values. Bar-type charts emphasize the difference in value between the various pieces or sets of data by using parallel bars. Pie or circle charts accent the relationship between the parts of a thing and the whole. Workers obtain specific information from a chart, interpret information presented in the form of a chart, or construct a chart to convey information. Chart types: pie chart, bar chart, pictogram, pareto chart, histogram, timelines (Gantt, Critical Path Method, Activity Network Diagram).

Maps – these may depict the spatial arrangement of elements such as rivers or roads over a given geographic area (e.g.) road maps, country maps. They may also portray the distribution of a characteristic of some unobserved phenomenon in relation to a geographic area (e.g.) weather maps, population density maps. Map types: reference maps, thematic maps