This paper centers on doctoral-level education candidates in the United States and Australia and their realms of engagement with information. On the basis of in-depth interviews with American and Australian doctoral students and academic librarians, we pose a critical reflection upon the two doctoral pedagogies as they relate to experiences of doctoral candidates as intentional learners, doctoral students' engagement with information, and information literacy learning. Rather than viewing commencing doctoral students as information deficient, we prefer to value their experiences, their profiles, and the ways that existing understandings about information shape their information engagements. (Contains 69 notes.)