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The timely distribution of mathematical work (articles, preprints, books, scripts etc.) is indispensable for mathematical research. It is of equal importance to guarantee quality, authenticity, longevity and retrievability. It is apparent that, at present, there is a transition from paper publication to publication in electronic form. New electronic journals appear and more and more preprint servers are set up. This development is not without problems.
How can papers be found efficiently in electronic archives ? What is the actual state of an E-script (which may change throughout its life) ? Who guarantees for its quality and authenticity ? Has an electronic article been published in traditional form and where ? Is the electronic version one has identical with the one somebody else references ? Will the paper be archived and where ? What happens with an electronic article if its "digital home" ceases to exist ?
To address these and related issues, the Executive Committee of the International Mathematical Union sets up a Publishing Committee. Its task is to write a report to the Executive Committee making suggestions how IMU could help in solving the issues mentioned above. The report is expected by April 1997.
IMU suggests addressing questions that can be answered in the very near future by the collaborative effort of mathematical societies, leading mathematical institutes, publishers and libraries with as little bureaucracy as possible. Among such questions are :
- Is it feasible to introduce an identification number for electronic mathematical articles (such as an ISBN number for a book) ?
- Can a international automatic registration system for new articles (preprints and papers published in journals) be set up ?
- Could there be a central or distributed archive (or a world wide directory system) for electronic preprints in mathematics ?
- What are the chances of defining and agreeing on a standard "first page", more precisely, on some kind of meta information, for every electronic article ? This should be structured in such a way that information about the paper and its location can be retrieved easily.
- If this is possible, how can links to the reviewing journals and from the reviewing journals to the articles be made ?
- How can the way of a paper from its preprint to its final journal publication form be tracked ?
- Which versions of an article should libraries archive and which not ?
IMU would not only like to see suggestions of possible solutions, IMU expects proposals for the implementation of solutions. IMU also asks the committee to consider the costs involved.
IMU is aware of the fact that, in several countries of the world, digital library projects are set up or in progress and that more and more publishers are entering the electronic publishing arena. The Committee is asked to investigate these plans and use the findings for its proposal. The suggestions for electronic publishing in mathematics should also take the developments in other scientific fields into account.