Germany Establishes Electronic Archive

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

>From Nature Dec. 14 2000 v.408, p.757

Germany sets up electronic archive 

by QUIRIN SCHIERMEIER 

[MUNICH] In response to complaints from researchers about the cost of
scientific journals, Germany's largest network of laboratories plans to
build a standardized desktop information system for all its scientists.
The Max Planck Society (MPS) has created a Centre for Information
Management in Garching, near Munich. Its role will be to enable scientists
at its 78 laboratories to publish their work in open-access electronic
repositories.

When the centre opens next month, its managers will decide whether the MPS
should operate its own server, or get involved in similar initiatives
elsewhere. These include E-BioSci, a publication server for the life
sciences managed by the European Molecular Biology Laboratory, and PubMed
Central, a similar project run by the US National Institutes of Health.
But the centre's main partner will initially be the Los Alamos National
Laboratory in the United States, whose e-print archives are the primary
means of electronic communication in areas such as high-energy physics,
maths and computer science. Richard Luce, head of Los Alamos' 'Library
Without Walls' project - which provides digital library resources - is
advising the new centre.

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