Self-perceived information literacy skills in Peruvian university students: a metric and descriptive-comparative study

Information literacy is a fundamental component in the academic development of future professionals. The aim of the study was to evaluate the metric properties of the ‘questionnaire of self-perceived information competences’, analyzing the factorial structure, internal consistency, convergent validity, factorial invariance according to gender and to propose cut-off points in Peruvian university students. The study followed an instrumental and descriptive design in which 30 items distributed in 4 factors were analyzed. The participants consisted of 1,173 university students from 12 Peruvian universities. The results show that the items show adequate values in the descriptive analysis; however, the analysis of the polychoric correlations determined the need to eliminate item 13. Confirmatory factor analysis was carried out with two models (with and without item 13), in which the second model showed better fit indices of χ<sup>2</sup>/gl, CFI, TLI, RMSEA, and SRMR and factor loadings > 0.5. Convergent validity and internal consistency showed expected scores, and the instrument is shown to be gender invariant. Finally, it was established that there is not enough difference according to sociodemographic data to establish cut-off points based on sociodemographic variables, and the cut-offs for each factor were based on quartiles. In conclusion, the instrument is valid and reliable for measuring self-perceived information literacy in Peruvian university students.