Information Competence of Doctoral Students in Information Science in Spain and Latin America: A Self-assessment

The study was carried out with students of official doctoral programs of Information Science in four universities in Spain and Latin America with the purpose of finding out, through self-assessments, student perceptions of their own information competence. A survey was designed to determine self-perceptions of knowledge, skills and attitudes regarding information competence, and it was distributed to students of two universities in Spain, one in Cuba and one in Mexico. Student perceptions of the levels of their own information competence in terms of knowledge, skills and attitudes are, in general, high. Nevertheless, despite being immersed in research processes that require these information competencies, they recognize that they are lacking in certain skills related tothe organization, evaluation and presentation of information. Having a self-assessment that identifies those areas of information competence in which students consider themselves to be weak will be a significant help in planning activities designed to strengthen these areas in doctoral programs.