Retrospective conversion in a Nigerian research library: migrating from TINMAN/TINLIB to CDS/ISIS

This article describes a project of retrospective conversion in a Nigerian research library where the migration from one software program TINMAN/TINLIB to another – the newly acquired CDS/ISIS was carried out. The paper analyses the step‐by‐step approach taken in carrying out the migration successfully. Reasons for the retroconversion and the method of acquisition of the new software are discussed. Also, the problems emanating from the peculiarities of the software and the practical approach used in solving such problems are discussed in detail. The treatment given to accession numbers, reference materials, books with multiple authors and gifts and donations to the library is highlighted. Also, the benefits of the project to the Development Policy Centre (DPC) and other libraries were discussed. The paper concludes that with the successful migration project of the DPC library, the conditions are favourable for a wider usage of the software in Nigerian libraries.