Beliefs and assumptions of university students regarding their information literacy competence (ILC)

This paper presents the results of a research examining the features of information literacy competence (ILC) of university students in accord with established informational practices the college level. Freshmen students from two Colombian universities were chosen to participate in the study. The study is conceptually and theoretically founded on a revised concept of ILC rooted in the semiotics of discourse. Within this framework, a process of observation and description of ILC was performed, which yielded the identification of three information literacy profiles, i.e., collectors, verifiers, and reflectors. The paper also provides an analysis of information literacy profiles with regard to students’ assumptions and beliefs, concluding that assumption and beliefs vary from profile to profile. Moreover, assumptions and beliefs may in various degrees be part of the information literacy profile a student ultimately manifests.