This study is aimed at designing an improved Informationrnretrieval system (I RS ) for the agricultural research sectorrnin Uganda . For this reason, a survey was conducted tornascertain the information retrieval facilities available inrnthe libraries of the National Agricultural ResearchrnOrganization (NARO), Uganda as well as the information needsrno f the users. The survey was necessary as a basis forrndeveloping an improved IRS.rnThe Agricultural sector is the engine of growth of thernUgandan economy . It employs nearly 90% of the country'srnpopulation and contributes to over 64% to the governmentrnrevenue, over 50% o f the GDP and over 90% of the totalrnexports . The agricultural research sector, under NARO, has tornmeet the challenge o f developing improved technologies t hatrncan be used by the farmers.rnFindings of this study s how that the existing informationrnfacilities / libraries are not adequate f or the needs o f thernmajority of the research scientists in NARO, let alone otherrnusers in the agricultural sector. I n most cases therninformation needed is not available in the libraries at theirrninstitutes. Scientists have to search f o r requiredrninformation from NADIC, other libraries or use alternativernsources of information such as the invisible college. On thernother hand it was established that there were modestrninformation resources at NADIC which could be shared by allrnresearch scientists in NARO. For this reason, an Informationrnretrieval system (IRS) that is based on E-mail has beenrnproposed. It will enable the users at remote researchrninstitutes to access the information resources that arernavailable at a central facility located at the NationalrnAgricultural Documentation and Information Centre (NADIC) .rnThe prototype information retrieval system (IRS) comprisesrnof three components: NADISRV, a bibliographic informationrnserver which will facilitate the users at remote institutesrnto search home-grown databases at NADIC without having torntravel from their stations; and a Selective Dissemination ofrnInformation Service that uses bib serve facilities . By usingrnthe databases that are available at NADIC, the E-mailrnassisted SDI service, will periodically update all registeredrnusers about current information in their fields of interest .rnThese services require as a prerequisite the availability ofrnactive databases . The centralized home-grown databases thatrnare already existing at NADIC, namely AGRIN, CARIN, AGRINF,rnand UT~IST will be used for this purpose . In addition, twornother prototype databases have been established using MicrornCDS/ISIS software. The first one is AGREXP, a database ofrnrnprofiles of experts in the broad agricultural field, and thernsecond, is AGRORG, a database of institutions that arernclosely or remotely related to agriculture .rnThe third component of the Information retrieval System (IRS)rnis, the NADIC SEARCH INTERFACE, a user friendly interfacernwhich has been developed using the ISIS Pascal interface . ThernNADIC SEARCH INTERFACE will allow both the InformationrnCentre/Library staff and the on-site users to interact withrnthe system in a friendly way, thus making it easy for thernusers to conduct searches for themselves.rnFinally, strategies for implementing and managing thernproposed prototype information retrieval system , andrnrecommendations for further improvements , are suggested.