Building Design Partnership (BDP) the UK's largest multi‐discipline design practice, has been using the text‐retrieval package MINISIS since mid‐1987 to improve the retrieval of technical information inhouse. This has been part of a programme of improvement of BDP's information services. Following a review of BDP's information services by an external consultant in 1986, the post of Information Manager was created in early 1987. At that time there were libraries in five of the eight UK offices of BDP; but only two of those libraries had card indexes to their stock. The libraries lacked sufficient skilled staff. As BDP expanded so did the library stock and the lack of adequate indexes became problematic.