Re: Web-available manuscript

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Jere Lipps wrote:
>I am not sure I am comfortable with Richard making his work available in
>advance of the whole book.  However, he has been careful in setting up the
>rules of use, so maybe it is okay. ...   But it will take
>until next fall to get the book manufactured, so it may be a service to the
>profession to get the ideas out so that replies or extensions of the
>concepts can be crafted sooner rather than later.  Since time does matter
>in the development of scientific thought, I'd go along with Richard's
>choice--hesitantly.

In other fields (e.g. physics) the distribution of preprints is routine.
The Max Planck Institution of Radioastronomy, for example, has a dedicated
pre-print server (http://babbage.sissa.it/). Doesn't this save a lot of
trees and money, and isn't this more democratic? Everybody can have
preprints from this server - not only people who are lucky to get the
expensive (and usually bad) copy on paper. I see disadvantages only when I
see the few WWW sites outside industrialised countries.

Publication times: Three years ago we submitted a synthesis paper for a
conference volume. I am getting tired with this publication. I know of
other important monographs that have been submitted recently and the
authors know already, it will take three years until these papers will be
available in printed form.
Two weeks ago I tried to publish an other paper. "If accepted, will be
published not before 1998" was the message I received from the editor. Do
we face the time when publishing will take longer than the research
project? It is a particular problem for young scientists who have to build
a reputation in their field.

Jere expressed it well:preprints are a service to the profession and
promote the development of scientific thoughts. Why not using the Web for
this purpose? I am sure this could even be additional advertisement for the
journals. I still remember Arthur et al. (1987) and Schlanger et al.
(1987), papers I cited in Hilbrecht & Hoefs (1986). These preprints
inspired a lot of people. However, if the Web had been available at that
time, I would have got a better copy of the figures. It's time to care for
my own WWW page. Even better would be a preprint page linked to Paleonet.

Heinz Hilbrecht




Address:

Heinz Hilbrecht
Geological Institute
ETH Zentrum
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Hilbrecht@erdw.ethz.ch