The Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) library is one of the major information center on Ethiopian Studies. This thesis is mainly concerned with an assessment of the existing TR practices and facilities in the IES library with the intention of identifying limitations and exploring alternative tools and mechanisms for improvement. To this end, a survey of the library users and staff members was made and the current performance of the library IR too ls and facilities are assessed and discussed in detail.After identification of various limitations of the current library IR practices and facilities , a prototype computer-assisted thesaurus database was proposed and demonstrated as one of IR tools and mechanisms that can be employed for improvement. Moreover, based on the findings of the study, conclusions and recommendations are given for further investigation and improvement of the library IR services.