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Purpose: The main purpose of the paper is to offer a personal view on the development of documentation/information and documentation (IuD) in Germany, while pointing out the need to further investigate the specific features of its development paths. The methodology is based on critical review of the available literature sources in the German language. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses the method of critical review of published documents in journals (especially in Nachrichten für Dokumentation), books and reports of state and provincial administrations that are directly related to monitoring and/or encouraging the development of the young field of documentation. Findings: The paper offers a review and interpretation of the most significant development phases, the contributions of individuals and the influence of the official state and information policy based on the consulted sources. Research limitations/implications: This research is limited to the literature written in German language. Practical implications: The paper could be of interest to researchers and professionals who are interested in the development of documentation. Social implications: The paper covers the period after the World War II until the end of 1980s that is especially interesting from the social point of view in divided Germany. Originality/value: To the author's knowledge, there is no comprehensive history of documentation in German-speaking countries written in English. This paper is the result of a research project started three years ago with colleagues from Germany, Austria and Switzerland, that aims to cover all phases of the appearance and development of information science in German-speaking countries and could be understood as a kind of introduction to papers planned to follow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of the Covid-19 crisis at the level of individual information behavior among citizens from the German-speaking countries, Austria, Germany and Switzerland. Design/methodology/approach: An online survey was conducted among 308 participants gathered through convenience sampling in April and May 2020, focusing on how citizens changed their mix and usage intensity of information sources and according to which criteria they chose them during the Covid-19 crisis. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for testing central tendencies. Effect sizes were considered to support the interpretation. Findings: The results show first that the Covid-19 crisis has led to an increased demand for reliable information. This goes alongside a significant increased use of public broadcasting, newspapers and information provided by public organizations. Second, the majority (84%) of the participants reported being satisfied with the information supply during the Covid-19 crisis. Participants who were less satisfied with the information supply used reliable sources significantly less frequently, specifically public television, national newspapers and information provided by public organizations. Third, the amount of Covid-19-related information led some participants to a feeling of information overload, which resulted in a reduction of information seeking and media use. Originality/value: This paper is one of the first to analyze changes of information behavior patterns of individuals during crises in the current information environment, considering the diversity of resources used by individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]