ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 4 0 4 / C & R L N e w s ■ M a y 2 0 0 0 F o r b e t t e r o r f o r w o r s e SCHOLARLY COMMUNICATION Ivy Anderson, Gail McMillan & Ann Schaffner, editors P r e p r i n t s e r v e r s a r e h e r e t o s t a y b y P e t e r B . B o y c e W h e r e d o p r e p r i n t s e r v e r s f i t i n t o t h e s c h o l a r l y i n f o r m a t i o n s y s t e m ? W i l l t h e y r e p l a c e , a s s o m e o f t h e m o r e v o c i f e r o u s p r o ­ p o n e n t s c l a i m , t h e e n t i r e s y s t e m o f s c h o l a r l y p u b l i s h e r s ? L e t ’ s t r y t o c u t t h r o u g h s o m e o f t h e r h e t o ­ r i c a n d t a k e a l o o k a t p r e p r i n t s e r v e r s a n d t h e f u n c t i o n s t h e y p e r f o r m , c o n t r a s t i n g t h e m w i t h a f u l l y i n t e r l i n k e d e l e c t r o n i c i n f o r m a ­ t i o n s y s t e m , w h i c h i n c l u d e s t h e b e t t e r c o n ­ v e n t i o n a l j o u r n a l s . A s a b a c k g r o u n d , c o n s i d e r t h e f u n c t i o n s p r o v i d e d b y t h e j o u r n a l s b e f o r e t h e d a y s o f w i d e s p r e a d e l e c t r o n i c c o m m u n i c a t i o n . I l i s t e d f i v e r o l e s f o r j o u r n a l s i n e a r l i e r a r t i c l e s . 1,2 • S t a t u s : k e e p i n g t h e c o m m u n i t y a b r e a s t o f w h e r e e x p e r t i s e r e s i d e s , i n s t i t u t i o n a l a c ­ t i v i t y , e t c . • N e w s : d i s s e m i n a t i n g t h e l a t e s t r e s e a r c h r e s u l t s t o t h e c o m m u n i t y . • I n f o r m a t i o n : p r o v i d i n g a r e p o s i t o r y f o r t h e b o d y o f k n o w l e d g e a b o u t a p a r t i c u l a r f i e l d . • A u t h o r e v a l u a t i o n : p r o v i d i n g a m e a n s f o r j u d g i n g t h e c o m p e t e n c e a n d e f f e c t i v e n e s s o f a u t h o r s . • H i s t o r i c a l : m a i n t a i n i n g a r e c o r d o f t h e p r o g r e s s o f s c i e n c e t h r o u g h t h e y e a r s : T h e s t a t u s a n d n e w s f u n c t i o n s h a v e a l ­ w a y s b e e n p o p u l a r w i t h s c i e n t i s t s . I n t h e d a y s o f t h e p a p e r j o u r n a l , e v e r y o n e u s e d t o w a i t e a g e r l y f o r t h e a r r i v a l o f t h e n e w i s s u e s o f t h e j o u r n a l s ( a n d a l s o f o r p a p e r p r e p r i n t s ) t o s e e t h e l a t e s t r e s u l t s , t o f i n d o u t w h i c h p e o p l e w e r e w o r k i n g o n t h e h o t t o p i c s , a n d t o l e a r n w h a t p l a c e s m i g h t b e m o v i n g i n t o a n e w r e ­ s e a r c h a r e a . N o w t h e y r e a d t h e d a i l y p o s t i n g s o n t h e p r e p r i n t s e r v e r s t o g e t t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n . P r e p r i n t s e r v e r s a n d s c i e n c e T h e o t h e r t h r e e f u n c t i o n s a r e e v e n m o r e i m ­ p o r t a n t . I n m a n y s u b j e c t a r e a s , p a r t i c u l a r l y i n t h e s c i e n c e s , t h e m a i n c o r p u s o f k n o w l ­ e d g e r e s i d e s i n a r t i c l e s p u b l i s h e d i n t h e j o u r ­ n a l s . M a i n t a i n i n g t h i s k n o w l e d g e i s v i t a l t o t h e h e a l t h o f t h e d i s c i p l i n e . T h e r e c o r d o f a d v a n c e s c o n t a i n e d i n t h e j o u r n a l s i s a l s o i m ­ p o r t a n t f o r u n d e r s t a n d i n g t h e h i s t o r y o f t h e d i s c i p l i n e . F i n a l l y , e v e r y o n e r e c o g n i z e s t h a t p u b l i c a t i o n i n a w e l l - r e s p e c t e d j o u r n a l i s c r i t i ­ c a l t o a d v a n c e m e n t i n o n e ’ s c a r e e r . E l e c t r o n i c p r e p r i n t s e r v e r s f i l l t h e s t a t u s a n d n e w s r o l e s v e r y w e l l . N e w r e s u l t s p r o p a ­ g a t e t h r o u g h t h e c o m m u n i t y o v e r n i g h t . I b e ­ l i e v e t h i s f o c u s e s m o r e a t t e n t i o n o n w h a t c o m p e t i n g s c i e n t i s t s a r e d o i n g t h a n i s h e a l t h y . I t s e e m s t o b e e n c o u r a g i n g p r e m a t u r e a n ­ n o u n c e m e n t o f r e s u l t s ; b e i n g f i r s t n o w c o u n t s m o r e t h a n b e i n g t h o r o u g h ( o r e v e n c o m ­ p l e t e l y c o r r e c t ? ) . H o w e v e r , p e e r p r e s s u r e f r o m c o l l e a g u e s d o e s s e e m t o k e e p t h e q u a l i t y o f t h e s u b m i s s i o n s h i g h e r t h a n m i g h t h a v e b e e n a n t i c i p a t e d . A n d c o m p e t i t i o n i s a n e x c e l l e n t s t i m u l u s t o w o r k h a r d . I n s u m , t h e p r e p r i n t About the author P e t e r B. B o y c e is s e n i o r c o n s u lt a n t f o r t h e A m e r ic a n A s t r o n o m i c a l S o c ie t y a n d p r i n c i p a l o f P. B o y c e A s s o c ia te s in N a n t u c k e t , M a s s a c h u s e tts , e - m a i l : p b o y c e @ a a s . o r g mailto:pboyce@aas.org C & R L N e w s ■ M a y 2 0 0 0 / 4 0 5 Editors' introduction s e r v e r s i n p h y s i c s a n d a s t r o n o m y a r e , a t t h i s t i m e , a n e x c e l l e n t r e s o u r c e f o r k e e p i n g u p w i t h t h e l a t e s t n e w s a s w e l l a s f o r f o s t e r i n g c o m p e t i t i o n . L o n g - t e r m e f f e c t s T h e o t h e r r o l e s f i l l e d b y j o u r n a l s h a v e n o t b e e n w e l l f i l l e d b y p r e p r i n t s e r v e r s , a n d m a y n e v e r b e . A s a r e p o s i t o r y o f o l d e r i n f o r m a ­ t i o n , t h e s e r v e r s a r e i n c o m p l e t e , t h e i r i n t e r ­ n a l s t o r a g e f o r m a t i s n o t a r c h i v a l l y r o b u s t , a n d t h e a u t h o r i s f r e e t o s e n d i n a n e w v e r ­ s i o n o f t h e p a p e r a t a n y t i m e . T h e s e d e s t a b i l i z i n g f a c t o r s l e a d m e t o b e v e r y s k e p t i c a l a b o u t t h e c a p a b i l i t y o f p r e ­ p r i n t s e r v e r s t o s e r v e a s l o n g - t e r m a r c h i v e s . A n d w i t h o u t a s s u r e d l o n g - t e r m s t a b i l i t y a n d t h e i m p r i m a t u r o f a w e l l r e g a r d e d p e e r r e ­ v i e w p r o c e s s , s e l f p u b l i c a t i o n i n t h e e l e c ­ t r o n i c p r e p r i n t s e r v e r s w i l l n o t c o u n t f o r m u c h t o w a r d a c a d e m i c t e n u r e a n d j o b p r o ­ m o t i o n . W h e n p e o p l e c l a i m t h a t t h e p r e p r i n t s e r v e r w i l l t a k e o v e r t h e f u l l r o l e o f p u b l i s h e r , I a g a i n b e c o m e s k e p t i c a l . G o o d p u b l i s h i n g i s h a r d e r w o r k t h a n m o s t p e o p l e r e a l i z e . G o o d a u t h o r i n g t e c h n i q u e i s a l s o d i f f i c u l t . A n d c o p y e d i t i n g i s v e r y i m p o r t a n t f o r m o s t n o n - E n g l i s h - s p e a k i n g a u t h o r s , a n d e v e n f o r a g o o d p e r c e n t a g e o f n a t i v e E n g l i s h - s p e a k i n g o n e s . C o n s i s t e n c y o f e x p r e s s i o n a n d c l a r i t y o f c o m ­ m u n i c a t i o n a r e w h a t i s d e s i r e d . B u t m o r e t h a n t h a t , a h i g h p r e c i s i o n o f s t a t e m e n t is r e q u i r e d i n t h e e l e c t r o n i c w o r l d . R e f e r e n c e s h a v e t o b e e n t e r e d c o r r e c t l y b y t h e a u t h o r t o l i n k c o r r e c t l y . M e t a d a t a h a s t o b e i n a s t a n d a r d f o r m a t t o b e u s e f u l . K e y w o r d s h a v e t o b e c o n s i s t e n t a m o n g d i f f e r e n t a r t i c l e s . A u t h o r s a r e n o t p a r t i c u l a r l y g o o d a t d o i n g t h e s e t h i n g s c o r r e c t l y . M o r e a u t o m a t e d t o o l s m a y h e l p , b u t a u t o m a t i o n c a n n o t f i x e v e r y t h i n g . S o , w h i l e e l e c t r o n i c p r e p r i n t s e r v e r s h a v e a n i m p o r t a n t r o l e t o p l a y i n t h e s c h o l a r l y i n ­ f o r m a t i o n s c h e m e , t h e y f a l l s h o r t o f f i l l i n g a l l I n o u r i n a u g u r a l c o l u m n ( C & R L N e w s , J a n u a r y 2 0 0 0 ) w e p r o m i s e d t o r e a c h o u t ­ s i d e t h e l i b r a r y c o m m u n i t y t o i l l u m i n a t e t h e c h a n g e s t a k i n g p l a c e i n s c h o l a r l y c o m ­ m u n i c a t i o n f r o m a v a r i e t y o f p e r s p e c t i v e s . T h i s m o n t h ’ s a r t i c l e d o e s e x a c t l y t h a t . W e a s k e d P e t e r B . B o y c e , l o n g t i m e e x ­ e c u t i v e o f f i c e r o f t h e A m e r i c a n A s t r o n o m i ­ c a l S o c i e t y ( A A S ) , t o c o m m e n t o n t h e e f f e c t t h a t p r e p r i n t i n i t i a t i v e s a r e l i k e l y t o h a v e o n s c h o l a r l y p u b l i s h i n g . A r e t h e s e i n i t i a ­ t i v e s a g o o d o r a b a d t h i n g f r o m t h e p e r ­ s p e c t i v e o f a s o c i e t y p u b l i s h e r ? H o w w i l l t h e y a f f e c t t h e p u b l i s h i n g l a n d s c a p e ? I s f o r ­ m a l p u b l i c a t i o n s t i l l n e e d e d , a n d i f s o , w h y ? B o y c e h a s r e s p o n d e d b y c o n t r a s t i n g t h e r o l e s o f p r e p r i n t s e r v e r s a n d f o r m a l j o u r ­ n a l p u b l i c a t i o n , a n d g o e s o n t o e n v i s i o n a u n i f i e d f r a m e w o r k w i t h i n w h i c h b o t h c o m ­ m u n i c a t i o n m o d a l i t i e s c a n c o e x i s t s u c c e s s ­ f u l l y . B o y c e w a s a n a t u r a l c h o i c e t o a d d r e s s t h i s s u b j e c t . D u r i n g h i s 1 9 - y e a r t e n u r e a t A A S , h e d e v e l o p e d a n d l e d a p r o g r a m o n e l e c t r o n i c p u b l i s h i n g a n d d i e u s e o f t h e I n t e r n e t . H e h a s b e e n a c t i v e i n p r o m o t i n g c o l ­ l a b o r a t i o n a n d i n t e r l i n k i n g a m o n g t h e v a r i ­ o u s i n f o r m a t i o n p r o v i d e r s i n a s t r o n o m y , i n c l u d i n g t h e e l e c t r o n i c j o u r n a l s , d a t a c e n ­ t e r s , a n d t h e c e n t r a l d a t a b a s e o f a s t r o n o m i ­ c a l a b s t r a c t s . B o y c e h a s l e c t u r e d e x t e n s i v e l y o n e l e c ­ t r o n i c p u b l i s h i n g i n t h e U . S . a n d a b r o a d , a n d i s a f r e q u e n t c o n t r i b u t o r t o l i s t s s u c h a s L i b l i c e n s e - L . T h o u g h o f f i c i a l l y r e t i r e d a n d n o w l i v ­ i n g p a r t o f t h e y e a r o n N a n t u c k e t I s l a n d ( “ w h i c h , ” h e w r i t e s , “ a l m o s t q u a l i f i e s a s a f o r e i g n c o u n t r y ” ) , h e i s s t i l l c o n s u l t i n g o n e l e c t r o n i c p u b l i s h i n g f o r t h e A A S a n d o t h ­ e r s . -— I v y A n d e r s o n , G a i l M c M i l l a n , a n d A n n C . S c h a f f n e r About the editors I v y A n d e r s o n i s c o o r d i n a t o r f o r D i g i t a l A c q u i s i t i o n s a t H a r v a r d U n iv e r s it y , e - m a il: iv y _ a n d e r s o n @ h a r v a r d . e d u ; G a il M c M i l l a n is h e a d o f t h e D i g i t a l L i b r a r y a n d A r c h iv e s ( f o r m e r l y t h e S c h o la r ly C o m m u n i c a t io n s P r o je c t) a t V i r g in i a T e c h U n iv e r s it y , e - m a il: g a i l m a c @ v t . e d u ; A n n C. S c h a f f n e r is a s s o c i a t e u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i a n f o r R e s e a r c h S e r v ic e s , I n s t r u c t i o n & P l a n n i n g a t B r a n d e i s U n i v e r s i t y , e - m a i l : s c h a f f n e @ b r a n d e i s . e d u mailto:ivy_anderson@harvard.edu mailto:gailmac@vt.edu mailto:schaffne@brandeis.edu 4 0 6 / C & R L N e w s ■ M a y 2 0 0 0 the roles o f the traditional journals. Preprint servers are d e s ig n e d fo r rapid and autom ated d issem in ation o f in d ivid u al articles, at the e x p e n s e o f ease o f use, g o o d linking to other resources, rea son a ble search capability, and integrity o f the origin al subm itted paper. "ADS," a linked, searchable abstract database M an y users, in their quest to k e e p up w ith daily advances, o v e r lo o k these shortcom ings. A stron om ers, h o w e v e r , are fortunate to h a ve the best o f b oth w orld s. M ost users in as­ tron om y, w h e r e g o o d , w e ll-d e s ig n e d e le c ­ tronic journals h a ve b e e n arou n d fo r fiv e years, g o to the journals and to the “A stro­ physics Data System ” (A D S ), a linked, search­ able abstract database fo r o ld e r inform ation, and use the preprint servers to k e e p up w ith the critical ad va n ces in their o w n area o f w o rk . P ro b a b ly n o oth er scien ce has such a h ig h ly interlinked set o f journal-based in fo r­ m ation resources available to the com m unity. “A D S ,” a N A S A - s u p p o r t e d d a ta b a se o f abstracts o f all c o r e litera tu re, is a cen tra l r e s o u r c e in its d is c ip lin e .3,4,5 T h e abstracts lin k to th e fu ll text, e ith e r in th e e le c t r o n ic jo u rn a ls o r to s c a n n e d p a g e im a g e s , fo r th e h is to ric a l literatu re. T h e c o r e litera tu re in a s tr o n o m y is a v a ila b le in p a g e im a g e fo r m a t b a c k to th e first issue o f th e A s t r o ­ n o m i c a l J o u r n a l p u b lis h e d in 1849. T h e abstracts a ls o lin k to r e fe r e n c e s , fu tu re c i­ tations, a n d p u b lis h e d data tab les, w h ic h are a ls o o n lin e at v a r io u s d is trib u te d in ­ te r n a tio n a l data cen ters. Users can enter the database w ith the name o f an astronom ical object, g et the pu b lish ed data o n that object, and link to the articles w h e r e those data w e r e published. T h e e le c ­ tronic journals not o n ly h a ve abundant n a vi­ gation al links to m ak e them easy to b ro w s e o n the screen, but th ey also link to the refer­ en ces through the “A D S ” abstract database. P D F version s are available fo r local printing (a lth o u g h this d o e s not capture the v id e o ), large data tables, or other electronic en h a n ce­ m ents con ta in ed in the e lectro n ic version. T o g e t h e r this lin k e d set o f distribu ted re ­ sources offers m uch m o re than the preprint servers in terms o f ease o f use, available in­ form ation , and breadth o f c o v e ra g e . U n fortu nately m ost traditional publishers h a ve b e e n s lo w to understand and to use the full capabilities o f the electronic environm ent. B y and large, th ey are sim p ly rep ro d u c in g electro n ica lly the sam e o ld journals th ey had in p a p e r— o fte n just using P D F p a g e ren d i­ tions, w h ic h are nearly w orth less fo r rea din g o n the screen in c om p a riso n to a w e ll- d e ­ s ign ed H T M L article. M ost publishers h a ve b e e n s lo w to rea lize the v a lu e o f links and e v e n s lo w e r to in co rp ora te them, although that is ch a n gin g n o w . In c om p a riso n to the a v e ra g e electron ic v e rs io n o f a journal o f to ­ day, preprint servers d o n ’t seem h a lf bad, an d the in fo rm a tio n gets ou t rap idly. N o w o n d e r there is such enthusiasm fo r them. An evolving system It is o b v io u s that w e are in a p e r io d o f rapid change. W e are just learning to use the e le c ­ tronic e n v iro n m e n t e ffe c tiv e ly , and e x p e r i­ m en tation is im portant. T h e jou rn al-b ased astronom ical in form ation system serves us­ ers w e ll fo r n o w , but it w ill u n d o u b te d ly e v o lv e . Richard L u ce’s thoughtfu l article in this colu m n illustrates h o w preprint servers are w o rk in g to e v o lv e .6 H e notes a nu m ber o f v e ry im portant objectives, w h ic h are b e in g addressed b y the O p e n Archives Initiative: • Integrating the preprint system into the larger system o f scholarly in form ation has to b e don e. T h e ap p earan ce o f this g o a l o n their list is im portant and w e lc o m e . • Better search and retrieval capability, esp e c ia lly across disciplines, w ill b e a b o o n to the busy scholar. • D e v e lo p in g user frien d ly systems is im ­ p era tive fo r preprint servers (w h ic h o n e as­ tron om ica l user has d u b b e d “user b e llig e r ­ e n t”) and fo r the publishers, not m a n y o f w h o m put the n eed s o f their users a b o v e their o w n considerations. • In clu d in g the full range o f metadata, full-text, and citation data. T h is c o m p le t e range o f in form ation has b e e n part o f the astron om ical jou rn al-based system fo r fiv e years. T h e resulting usage statistics, as w e ll as abundant inform al feed b a ck , dem onstrate the im p ortan ce o f in clu din g all o f this in for­ m ation s o m e w h e r e w ith in a lin k ed c o lla b o ­ rative system. A ll o f this d o e s not h a ve to reside in o n e place. T h e c o n c e p t b e h in d the W e b is that distributed resources can w o r k as o n e sys­ tem . E ach c o n tr ib u t in g r e s o u r c e ca n b e te n d e d to b y the experts w h o can m ak e it C & R L N e w s ■ M a y 2 0 0 0 / 4 0 7 function best, and the w h o le com m u n ity o f users benefits. T h e scholarly inform ation c o m ­ m unity is o n ly b e g in n in g to m ake this a real­ ity. T h e k e y , as L u c e h a s s a i d , is interoperability. M y h o p e is that the political p ro b lem s can b e s o lv e d to m ake this a b road reality across the scholarly com m unity. T h e technical p ro b lem s p ale in com parison. In summary, w e publishers h a ve to admit that there is a role fo r preprint servers as veh icles fo r an n ou n cin g n e w results. Som e publishers have also re-en g in eered their p r o ­ cedures to incorporate n e w electron ic tools and redu ce costs. All o f this is g o o d for im ­ p ro v in g com m u nication. Som etim es it seem s as if progress is painfully slow ; but since w e are ex p erim en tin g w ith the v e ry fabric o f our scientific k n o w le d g e , it is g o o d to g o cau­ tiou sly. It w o u ld not d o to in a d v e rte n tly p lu n g e our system o f scholarly inform ation into chaos. M y fear is that b y the tim e the p rob lem s get w o r k e d out, the p ap er-based m o d e l o f the article, o r the m on o gra p h , as the funda­ m ental v e h ic le fo r scholarly com m u n ication w ill b e superseded. Perhaps in fiv e years w e w ill have a system o f electron ic “ k n o w le d g e clusters” m in ed b y a set o f “b ots” to p rod u ce, on the fly, a c o m p re h e n s iv e and up-to-date set o f distilled inform ation in resp on se to a user’s request. T h e lon g, linear, paper-based m o d e l o f to d a y ’s journal article o r preprint w o u ld h a ve n o p lace in such a system. But that’s a subject fo r another colum n. A n d . . . b y the w a y , I w o u ld p refer not to call the preprint servers “ archives” until w e are sure w e w ill b e able to read the material 50 years fro m n ow . Notes 1. Peter B. B oyce, “A Successful Electronic Scholarly Journal From a Small S ociety” (p r e ­ sented at ICSU P ress-U N E S C O Expert C o n ­ fe re n c e o n Electronic Publishing in Science, Paris, France, February 19-23, 1996), http:// w w w .aas.org/~p boyce/ep u b s/icsu -art.h tm l. 2. Peter B. B o y ce, “ B uilding a P e e r R e­ v ie w e d Scientific Journal o n the Internet,” C om p u ters in Physics 10, (1996): 216. 3. Peter B. B o y ce, “W h at D o e s the Future H old? Ask an A s tro n o m er” (p re s e n te d at NC Serials C on feren ce, C hapel Hill, M arch 16, 2000), http://w w w .aas.org/~pboyce/epubs/ NCSerials2000/NC2000.html. 4. M ichael J. Kurtz, et. al., “T h e N A S A A s ­ trophysics Data System: O v e r v ie w ” p. 41 and ( “F o r better o r f o r worse ” con t. f r o m p a g e 0 0 0 ) other articles in “T h e CDS and N A S A A D S Resources: N e w T o o ls fo r A stron om ical Re- (c o n t in u e d o n p a g e 4 1 4 ) http://www.aas.org/~pboyce/epubs/icsu-art.html http://www.aas.org/~pboyce/epubs/ 4 1 4 / C & R L N e w s ■ M a y 2 0 0 0 fo r the b en efit o f their readership. Janet Fisher, fro m M IT Press, s p o k e abou t the lack o f c o n ­ flict b e tw e e n E TD s and sch olarly journal p u b ­ lications d u e to the m a jor rew rites that ch a p ­ ters requ ire to b e c o m e journal articles and the im p ortan ce o f the a cad em ic journals’ p e e r re­ v ie w processes. W h e n q u estio n ed abou t the lik e lih o o d o f plagiarism w h e n research is available th rou gh the Internet, all three panelists o b je c te d to the notion. G a rfield p o in te d out that plagiarism is also easier to detect and L ew is a d d ed that those w h o are intent o n d o in g it w ill. Fisher said there is n o e v id e n c e that plagiarism has in­ creased w ith the availability o f journals online. T h e librarians p an el in clu d ed R o y Tennant, C alifornia D igital Library Project; Julia Blixrud, ARL; an d D a v id Balatti, N a tion al Library o f Canada. T en n an t fo c u s e d o n the p roblem s, reiterating s o m e o f G la d n e y ’s concerns, e s p e ­ cially that libraries are n ot fu n d ed fo r digital archiving. H e n o te d that ETD s are “a g o o d th in g ” an d that “barriers w ill fall in tim e .” B lixrud ad d ressed w h e th e r to a d o p t o ld strat­ eg ies to n e w m edia. Balatti shared b ack grou n d in form ation o n the Canadian T h eses Service. Hands-on networking opportunities T h e r e w e r e m a n y q u o t a b le m o m e n ts , o f course. Bruce C och ran e (U n iversity o f South Florida, E volu tion ary G en etics), fo r ex a m p le, to ld us abou t b e in g “d igita lly -a b led ” and the “qu ill p e n p r o b le m .” D a n iel Ferreras (W e s t V irgin ia U niversity, F o re ig n L a n g u a g es ) im ­ p lo r e d us to e m p o w e r students to s h o w us the w a y . “W e are p r e c e d in g h istory in the m a k in g.” C o n cu rren t p resen ta tio n s in c lu d e d case studies from m an y universities at varyin g stages o f E T D p ro jects. T h e s e in c lu d e d H arva rd , H u m b o ld t U n iversity (B e rlin ), M IT, M ich iga n State University, U n iversity o f A rizo n a , U n i­ versity o f G eorgia , U n iversity o f Io w a , U n iv er­ sity o f W a terloo, Virginia C o m m o n w e a lth U n i­ versity, W est V irgin ia U niversity, as w e ll as V irginia Tech . Australian an d G erm a n national p ro je c ts w e r e a ls o d e s c r ib e d . T h e r e w e r e hands-on opp ortu n ities to learn abou t a vari­ ety o f topics including H TM L, PDF, SGML, XML, XSL/T, and metadata. T h e c o n fe re n c e w a s also an o p p o rtu n ity to n e tw o rk inform ally, esp ecia lly d u rin g Friday e v e n in g ’s recep tio n w h ic h w a s a c c o m p a n ie d b y m u s ic p e r f o r m e d b y W e s t V i r g i n i a U n iversity’s John H a g e n (E TD s/Library) and D an iel Ferreras (facu lty/ F oreign Lan gu ages). T h e D ali M u seu m w a s o p e n e d to us fo r an e v e n i n g r e c e p t io n a n d s e lf- g u id e d tou rs. Lunches also a ffo r d e d c o n fe re n c e -g o e rs the o p p o rtu n ity to e n jo y the ou tdoors, e sp ecia lly the p a lm trees and the bay. O n the d a y b e fo r e the c o n feren c e, the N e t­ w o r k e d D igita l Library o f T h e s e s an d D isser­ tations ( N D L T D ) S teerin g C o m m itte e m et to discuss a c c o m p lis h m en ts an d to fo c u s o n fu ­ ture d irection s. T h r e e s u b co m m itte es w e r e esta b lish ed , w ith m e m b e r s h ip later d ra w n fr o m v o lu n te e rs a m o n g the c o n fe r e n c e at­ ten d ees. In a d d itio n to p la n n in g n e x t y e a r ’s c o n fe r e n c e , th e to p ics are train in g gra d u ate students and standards and preservation. Each c o m m itte e h e ld initial m e e tin g s at the c o n ­ clu sion o f T h u rs d a y ’s c o n fe r e n c e lunch, but n e w m e m b e rs are w e lc o m e . P ro gress reports w ill b e p r e p a r e d fo r the n ex t S teerin g C o m ­ m ittee m e e tin g in W a sh in g to n , D.C. o n S ep ­ te m b e r 29, 2000. N D L T D is a lo o s e fed era tio n o f 78 m e m ­ bers fro m universities th rou gh ou t the w o rld , m o re than d o u b le the m em b ersh ip at this tim e last y e a r w h e n the c o n fe r e n c e w a s h eld in Blacksburg at Virginia Tech . A t that time, tw o universities re q u ire d that gra du ate students d ep o sit ETDs. Fou r universities n o w requ ire E TD s an d there are m o re than 7,500 ETD s available fro m the m e m b e r institutions. N e x t y ea r the 4th International S ym p osiu m o n E lec­ tron ic T h e s e s an d D issertation s w ill b e h e ld at Cal T e c h in P a sa d en a o n M arch 22-24, 2 0 0 1 . Note 1. S ee sites fr o m the c o n fe r e n c e w ra p -u p s e s s i o n at h t t p : / / s c h o l a r . l i b . v t . e d u / p resen tation s/ E T D s2 0 0 0 / w rap u p .p d f. ■ ( “F o r better . . . ” c o n tin u e d fro m p a g e 4 0 7 ) sea rch ,” a S pecial Issue o f A s tro n o m y a n d As­ trophysics, Supplem ent Series, 143, no. 1 (A p ril 2 0 0 0 ), h t t p : / / w w w .e d p s c ie n c e s - u s a . o r g / articles/astro/abs/2000/07/contents/contents. htm l N A S A A stro p h ysics D ata System. 5. T h e N A S A A stro p h ysics D ata System is lo c a te d at h ttp :/ / a d sw w w .h a rv a rd .ed u . 6. R ich a rd E. Lu ce, “T h e O p e n A r c h iv e s In itia tive: F o r g in g a Path T o w a r d In te r - o p e r ­ a b le A u th o r S e lf-A r c h iv in g S ystem s,” C&RL News 61 (M a rc h 2000): 184-186, 202. ■ http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ http://www.edpsciences-usa.org/ http://adswww.harvard.edu