In order to evaluate the information literacy skills of students using their high school media center, these authors developed an information literacy rubric to measure the understanding and competency of freshmen students' library skills. Using a format of surveys and instructional units, the study involved four main steps: (1) a "pre-test" survey to identify the students' perceptions of their skills before they had received any media center instruction; (2) instructional units in the media center; (3) teacher-directed assignments; and (4) a "post-test survey" to assess any changes in the students' views of their information literacy skills. The pre-test survey results revealed that the majority of freshmen perceived themselves to be competent in using media center technologies. However, only about half said they felt fully capable of using the media center catalog or developing research questions to meet their needs. Less than half felt confident about doing advanced-level searches or in locating books in the general collection. Most freshmen expressed little knowledge of the center's electronic databases. After completing instructional training in the media center, as well as teacher-directed assignments, the same students participated in the post-test survey. The results of this survey indicated that a higher percentage of students assessed their information literacy skills at a higher level. The positive findings of the freshmen surveys motivated these library media specialists to continue this study with the same students in their sophomore year, using the freshmen post-test surveys as the foundation of the sophomore pre-test surveys. Going beyond simple search strategies, the sophomore project focused instead on using a research process model to increase students' perceptions of their skills as measured by the information literacy rubric. The post-test survey showed an increase in the sophomores' positive opinions about their informational skills when researching a topic, proving that instruction by media specialists has a positive impact.