In 1992 the Republic of Croatia started to reconstruct telecommunication infrastructure that was damaged during the war which followed break up of Yugoslavia. In 1993 a fiber optic network was set up. Croatian Academic Research Network (CARNet) was established in 1993. It connected major Croatian university cities into a Wide Area Network that was linked to the Internet via Austria and USA. In 1993 Internet connection between the Faculty of Agriculture in Zagreb and Gopher service was established. In 1994 Internet connection was set up at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, and at the Institute for Agriculture and Tourism. In 1995 the Central Agricultural Library (CAL) joined the Croatian library information system CROLIST. The staff took part in special education program. Equipment was donated by the Ministry of Science and Technology. In 1996 a special project (FSSP) was launched by the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry with the aim of informatization of Croatian agricultural institutions.

We schematically present institutions that constitute the actors in the above project, along with their tasks within the project:

PHASE I, current development:

• Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (hardware; several software applications)
• Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Zagreb (Local Area Network, desktops, servers, modem pools)
• Croatian Institute for Agricultural Extension Service (equipment for field offices, education, information system for extension services)
• Croatian Livestock Selection Center (local area network, desktops and server, creation of the main livestock database)
• Croatian Market Information System (currently fully operational; WWW access)
• Croatian Veterinary Institute (desktops and a server) Central Agricultural Library acquired full Internet capacity.

It has participated in the WWW OPAC for biotechnological and natural sciences within the project of libraries informatization. Online access to the library catalogue has been established.

PHASE II, period of 1999-2000:

• Agricultural Research Council database (monitoring of scientific projects in agriculture, integration with databases of the Ministry of Science and Technology)
• Croatian Institute for Agricultural Extension Service - pilot project "monitoring field activities of Extension Service" in cooperation with the Faculty of Agriculture
• Border animal health and plant inspection service (information technology systems)
• Croatian Veterinary Institute (epidemiological information technology system)
• Croatian Livestock Selection Center (support for field offices)
• Seed Institute (Local Area Network, desktops)

CAL is expected to acquire a new server and a new library information system. It will become connected to the National Library. CAL will provide access to major agricultural databases for Croatian scientists and students.