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Three papers on the nonconventional literature and social science libraries were presented at the 1983 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference. In "Grey Material: A Scandinavian View," Birgitta Bergdahl (Sweden) outlines the etymology and meaning of the concept of "grey literature" (which can include reports, theses, unpublished conference papers, technical rules and recommendations, translations, articles printed in certain journals, official documents, and industrial advertising literature); describes the results of two 1982 NORDINFO (Nordic Council for Scientific Information and Research Libraries) interlending studies which provided information about grey literature supply and demand in research libraries; and a 1983 NORDINFO study on the availability of grey literature in economics and energy. In "Graue Literatur der Gesellschaftswissenschaften in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Grey Literature in the Social Sciences in the Federal Republic of Germany)," Erwin Heidemann (West Germany--paper in German) outlines the activities of German libraries, particularly government and academic libraries and the Deutsche Bibliothek, in maintaining bibliographic control of German and foreign nonconventional literature in the social sciences, economics, and business. The final paper, "Sozialwissenschaftliche Bibliotheken in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (Social Science Libraries in the Federal Republic of Germany)," by Hildebert Kirchner (West Germany--paper in German), describes German parliamentary, government, law, business, and economics libraries. (ESR)

This two-part, general overview is designed to provide students of information science with a fresh look at the information market, especially database development. In the first part, it is noted that the generation of databases is most common in the United States at the present time, while West Germany plays a minor role. The need for West Germany to make improvements in the field of business databases is pointed out, although it is also noted that the natural sciences have very sophisticated German databases. The second part explores the development of databases worldwide, providing information on country of origin, database subject area, and market volume. The first section of the text is supplemented with 17 tables, 12 figures, and a 33-item bibliography; and 7 tables, 11 figures, and a 36-item bibliography are included in the second section. (EW)