On demand printing...

[Ed Pirog]

        I'm not sure if this was previously discussed here. My apologies if it
was but the problem with electronic storage is the inherent requirement
of another machine to read the data. Loose that machine or the program
required to translate the data and the data is lost. Putting it in more
relative terms, statistically speaking, you are twice as likely to loose
the data via the electronic medium than the printed medium. I don't
think hard copy will ever be replaced nor do I think it should.
Ed Pirog
pirog at home.com
"Andrew K. Rindsberg" wrote:
>
> An example of a peer-reviewed on-line journal is Palaeontologia
> Electronica, at several mirror sites including:
>
> http://www.omnh.ou.edu/paleo/toc.htm
>
> Several issues have already been published, with a readership that probably
> exceeds that of any other paleontological journal. New taxa are not allowed
> at this time. The latest issue has an editorial that vividly describes the
> advantages of publishing on-line ('Let's reclaim our property' by Stefan
> Bengtson). I look forward to the day when scientific societies routinely
> support electronic publication  at no cost to the reader. It would cost
> less to support electronic journals through dues than through page charges
> and subscriptions.
>
> Change is inevitable, and we will enjoy many aspects of the new technology,
> e.g., increased readership and free peer-reviewed journals. But I agree
> that we had better safeguard taxonomy from the worst abuses. A requirement
> that one copy of each new taxonomic work be sent to a single location for
> registry in the Zoological Record or Index Kewensis would ensure that names
> do not lurk in the literature like hidden mines.
>
> Eventually, the paper requirement will be turned on its head. The Codes
> will require publishers of new taxa to make electronic copies available.
> That will be very convenient for researchers. But we have to survive the
> transition period first.
>
> Andrew K. Rindsberg
>
> Geological Survey of Alabama
> P.O. Box 869999
> Tuscaloosa, AL 35486-6999
> USA