Abstract
The author claims that the rest of Europe has misunderstood recent information policy developments in the FRG. He outlines various activities undertaken by the private sector in that country, and goes on to detail the plans for reorganising the Society for Information and Documentation (GID). There follows a description of the Federal Government's 1985–88 specialised information programme—emphasizing patent and chemical information, as well as electronic publishing and computer-assisted translation. The author points out that Western Germany is eager to achieve a balance and interdependence in the data-base area between itself and the rest of the world. The final section of the paper deals with the policies, structure and activities of STN International—and with its prospects.