Information and Information Technology Literacy

A Guide for Candidates to Vacant Positions at the Australian National University

This guide has been developed to support candidates applying for positions at The Australian National University (ANU). As the University is an information rich environment, new staff need to have, or quickly gain, the skills to access, critically evaluate and manipulate or use information from a variety of sources.

• Acronyms 
• How to use this Guide 
• What is Information Literacy and IT Literacy? 
• Information and IT Skills
• Information and IT literacy - the need in our University 
• Applying for positions that may require Information or IT Skills
• How does Information and IT Literacy apply to Selection and Recruitment at the ANU
• Understanding the duty statement or job description. Will you need Information and IT skills to do the job? 
• Meeting selection criteria for the position 
• Meeting the selection criteria is important 
• Interview Process – What committees look for! 
• Information and IT Literacy Skills for staff of The Australian National University

Acronyms

ANU –  Australian National University

ESP – Enterprise Solutions Project

ILP –  Information Literacy Program

IT –  Information Technology

LITSS –  Local Information Technology Support Staff

How to use this Guide

This Guide will give you information and support to:

• Understand Information Literacy and Information Technology (IT) Literacy in the context of working at the ANU;
• Judge your suitability for positions that require Information and Information Literacy at the ANU; and
• Make claims in your application regarding your Information Literacy and Information Technology skills that may be verified during the selection process.

What is Information Literacy and IT Literacy?

Information literacy refers to the skills and knowledge that enable people to ‘recognise when information is needed and have the capacity to locate, evaluate, and use effectively the needed information’ (Council for Australian University Librarians, 2002). Information literacy includes library research skills and information technology skills. The ultimate aim of information literacy is to develop lifelong learning and critical thinking.

Information Technology literacy 'requires that persons understand information technology broadly enough to be able to apply it productively at work and in their everyday lives, to recognize when information technology would assist or impede the achievement of a goal, to see opportunities for the use of IT and to continually adapt to the changes and advancements in it.' (The First Step Forward, John Winship, IT Literacy Policy Project, Council for Australian University Librarians 2001.)

In the University context, much of our work is undertaken using technology as the access or support mechanism. This means that staff need IT skills to access and present information they have gathered and evaluated. The table below may give you more of an idea of the concepts and how they differ.

Information and IT skills

Further examples are also available from http://ilp.anu.edu.au/Infolit_standards_2001.html
http://www.caudit.edu.au/caudit/information/projects/itlit_2001.html

Information and IT Literacy - the need in our University

Information and IT literacy is increasingly important because of proliferating information access and more diverse and abundant choices of information available. In addition, information is required to flow electronically through an ever-widening number of organisations such as government, community groups, manufacturers and service providers, media, libraries, and the Internet.

Our University operates as part of this information rich environment and recognises that our major communications, processes and interactions are through electronic media. Consequently, we need staff members who have or are developing good Information and IT literacy skills. The University has invested considerable resources towards this endeavour through a campus-wide Information Literacy Program (ILP) for students and staff.  See http://ilp.anu.edu.au/.

Applying for positions that may require Information or IT Literacy Skills

The majority of positions within the University have some requirement for information and information technology literacy. Most staff members need to make efficient use of computer applications and be able to effectively find and assess information. This means you would need skills to be able to:

• Understand the basics of a desktop computer and be able to access and follow ANU policies and procedures related to information technology services
• Create and use word-processed documents
• Create and use tables and spreadsheets
• Extract, import and present data
• Use electronic mail
• Use the Internet as a source of information

In some cases, staff also needed skills to be able to:

• Undertake desktop publishing
• Web author and publish
• Use University systems such as ESP, Maximo and Entire Connection (for example)
• Use statistical packages and databases (including Library databases)
• Conduct advanced searches on the web
• Use bibliographical tools

Additionally, some staff needed skills more focussed on using information (rather than using IT). Those skills included:

• Development of effective information search strategies
• Ability to locate and retrieve information from appropriate resources
• Ability to analyse and critically evaluate information
• Skills to organise, synthesise, use and apply information
• A demonstrated capacity to maintain awareness of broad information and information technology issues.

How does Information and IT Literacy apply to Selection and Recruitment at the ANU?

Understanding the duty statement or job description: Will you need Information and IT skills to do the job?
A duty or role statement is a document that indicates what a job involves in terms of responsibilities and tasks. It also identifies the level at which responsibilities and tasks are to be performed by the individual who occupies the position.

Currently duty or role statements are applicable to general staff only and are based on the classification standards appended to the ANU Enterprise Agreement 2000-2002 at http://www.anu.edu.au/hr/eb/easched2classifstand-g.html.  The equivalent applicable to academic staff is the Academic Staff Position Classification Standards, also appended to the Enterprise Agreement at http://www.anu.edu.au/hr/eb/easched1classifstand-a.html.

While the duty statement or academic standard may not state that the job requires you to manage information, or be computer literate, the very nature of the work may deem this necessary. Read the relevant documents carefully and think about the level of proficiency you may need. If you need more information contact the person nominated in the advertisement.

Meeting selection criteria for the position
Selection criteria specify the qualification, knowledge and experience, personal qualities and any specialist research, teaching and/or managerial skills required to position standards.

Selection criteria have a number of purposes. They assist the recruitment and selection process by:

• Enabling you to understand and address the requirements of a position in an application and later on at interview.
• Providing a consistent set of standards for all applicants that can be observed/measured.
• Ensuring a structured means for a comparative assessment of applicants against which the selection on merit can be made.

Meeting the selection criteria is important
While it is desirable that successful applicants meet all of the selection criteria, it is not mandatory that you meet every one of the criteria for you to be considered  ‘appointable’. If you do not meet one of the selection criteria in one area, but your strengths in other areas more than compensates and will still mean you are be able to make a significant contribution in the job, then you may be rated appointable. 

If the Information and IT Literacy requirements are written specifically into the selection criteria you would definitely need to have skills to the appropriate level skills. However, if they are not specifically written (i.e. are presumed) then the position supervisor and the selection committee will take this training need into account and may decide that a chosen applicant can undergo relevant training during the induction and probationary period.

Please remember however, that you cannot be rated appointable if you do not possess the necessary background, such as qualifications or relevant experience, to perform the duties to a high standard in the first place.

Interview Process – What Committees look for!

If you are granted an interview, and the job requires information and or IT literacy skills, you will be asked questions firstly to find out if you can do the job and secondly to verify the level, standard and breadth of your skills and experience.

1.  Do you have current experience in Information and IT Literacy to do this job?

This type of question is about qualifications, skills, experience, track record and achievements. It is about whether you have the skills, knowledge and experience to do the job to the standard required and how quickly you will be able to make a contribution. For example:

• Tell me about your experience in doing …
• What role did you play in doing …?
• Describe the process you would use to …

The end part of any of these questions might, for example, be based on the skills listed here or other required Information and IT literacy skill sets.

For example, the full question may be:

Tell me about your experience in creating and using word-processed documents.

The types of responses that the Committee would be looking for would be:

• A description of how long you have been using word processing software and at what level (e.g. executive correspondence, routine letters etc)
• A description of how you prepare documents for an appropriate audience and how you have used relevant presentation requirements for organisations. (e.g. standard templates)
• How you prepare documents in a timely manner

2.  Will you be able to do this job?

The second types of questions are about things like motivation, commitment, and approach to work  – the things that make the difference between excellent work performance and just doing the job.   Although the best source of this information can be well-asked referee questions, at interview you may be asked questions such as:

How would you describe your approach to using information technology to support your work?

Examples of the types of responses the Committee may be looking for are:

• A description of how familiar you are or how much you have used information technology in a broad range of contexts including (e.g. online teaching in a University context)
• How you use software packages to both organise your work and manage workflow
• How you are keen to learn new skills in managing data and information and learn new shortcuts for making work more productive

3.  Other questions

Open-ended questions like the ones below may also be used as follow-up questions to elicit as much information about knowledge and skills as possible.

• What has been your experience in…?
• What do you know about…?
• How did you gain this knowledge?
• How would your present employer rate your level of skill in …?
• What do you use these skills to do?
• What training have you received to develop these skills?

4.  Online testing

Skills-based testing is not new, but it has grown considerably in recent years to include skills and knowledge of a range of computer and software applications.

A typical test simulates a particular software application and asks the candidate to perform certain tasks. For example, a simple Microsoft Word test presents a working document file, and individuals must access the applications’ pull-down menus’ and other capabilities to complete specified tasks, such as copying and pasting text, the same way they would with the actual software application.

You would be informed in advance if tests were to be conducted as part of the selection process.

For further information contact:
Organisational Development Unit, phone: 6125 2208, e-mail: staffdev@anu.edu.au