Project Euclid and the ArXiv: Complimentary and Contrasting Elements for Sustainability

Abstract

New models of sustainability are evolving for the development and dissemination of scholarly information, but viable options are dependent on stable organizational foundations and sound managerial and financial models. My remarks today are not designed to provide an overarching vision for the future of scholarly publishing, but are intended to elucidate factors critical to the success of such visions. I am pleased to have this opportunity to review with you strategies presently being employed by the electronic publishing program of the Cornell University Library. I will focus on two particular research publishing endeavors, Euclid and the physics, mathematics, and computer science e-print arXiv. These two alternative publishing instances offer us a lens through which to analyze elements critical to sustainability. Their very different operational models illustrate differences in sustainability strategies, and yet there are important similarities between the two.