Tragic Loss or Good Riddance

via anonymous ftp, along with Harnad1] and other related papers, from prince-ton.edu, in directory pub/harnad/Harnad.) (Available via gopher or ftp together with other related papers from anywhere near what print journals cost, and so might be provided by the authors' institutions. If that happens, electronic journals can also be distributed freely. If such assistance is not provided, then subscription fees will have to be imposed, together with access restrictions to the information. However, to compete successfully with free preprint distribution and free journals, any subscription journals will have to keep their fees low. In any event, I expect that publishers will have to shrink. Paper journals will have to convert to electronic publication or disappear. The role of paper is likely to be limited to temporary uses, and archival storage will be electronic. Review papers are likely to play an increasingly important role, but they are written by scholars and can be published in regular electronic journals. On the other hand, short bibliographic reviews, such as are common in Math. Rev. and Zentralblatt, might be replaced by computerized searches, since the entire literature will be available on each scholar's workstation. This might mean the demise of Math. Rev. and Zentralblatt. However, I suspect that they will do well, although they will have to change. They are inexpensive enough that they do not need to ooer much extra service to justify their price. There will always be need for classifying papers, ensuring that all signiicant ones are reviewed, and keeping track of all the changes in the databases. Review journals are positioned to provide these services. Still, they will have to change. They will need to be accessible electronically, and will most likely be paid for by a site license fee, giving unlimited access to the database to all scholars aaliated with the customer institution. They will provide much more current information than is true today, since there will be no publications delays. The formats of reviews might vary from those used today. The main distinction from today is likely to be the presence of hypertext links from reviews to the papers and the commentaries associated to those papers. Combined with easy electronic access to the primary materials, review journals will then provide all the functions of a specialized library. What about libraries? They will also have to shrink and change their role. The transition to the new system is likely …