TOWARDS A DIGITAL MATHEMATICS LIBRARY A FRENCH PEDESTRIAN OVERVIEW

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TOWARDS A DIGITAL MATHEMATICS LIBRARY? A FRENCH PEDESTRIAN OVERVIEW THIERRY BOUCHE ABSTRACT. After an overview of theworldwidemathematical journals ecosys- tem, we summarise some of the hopes and fears raised by the digital environ- ment. We then review the underlying principles and main features of some of the projects launched by Cellule MathDoc that aim at settling robust foun- dations and giving wider access to academic mathematical research journals. In turn, they could prefigure some building blocks of the digital mathematics library, which is still to come into being. INTRODUCTION We are living a period of transition as for the diffusion of knowledge and the results of research. Printed paper form has been the vector, and to a certain ex- tent the engine, of culture and scholarship during the past 500 years. This par- adigm today is largely challenged by new means of production, diffusion, and conservation of the texts. While it is impossible to predict the future of scien- tific publishing now, one must be aware that search for documentation is made from now on mainly on the Internet, and that the access to reference works in a click is an immense asset for their diffusion in the whole world. Surely, the predictions about the death of the Gutenberg galaxy were a little hasty, as there is no better device to disseminate consolidated knowledge today than printed and bound books.

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• publishing mathe- matics


• literature has


• annales de mathématiques pures


• while charging only


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• journal solely


• journals


• very large


• through electronic publishing

Sujets

• Royaume-Uni
• Berard
• Joseph Diaz Gergonne
• Aveiro
• Hachette
• Journals

Informations

• Publié par: pefav
• Nombre de lectures: 66
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

TOWARDSADIGITALMATHEMATICSLIBRARY? AFRENCHPEDESTRIANOVERVIEW THIERRYBOUCHE A BSTRACT .Afteranoverviewoftheworldwidemathematicaljournalsecosys- tem,wesummarisesomeofthehopesandfearsraisedbythedigitalenviron- ment.Wethenreviewtheunderlyingprinciplesandmainfeaturesofsome oftheprojectslaunchedbyCelluleMathDocthataimatsettlingrobustfoun- dationsandgivingwideraccesstoacademicmathematicalresearchjournals. Inturn,theycouldprefiguresomebuildingblocksofthedigitalmathematics library,whichisstilltocomeintobeing. I NTRODUCTION Wearelivingaperiodoftransitionasforthediffusionofknowledgeandthe resultsofresearch.Printedpaperformhasbeenthevector,andtoacertainex- tenttheengine,ofcultureandscholarshipduringthepast500years.Thispar- adigmtodayislargelychallengedbynewmeansofproduction,diffusion,and conservationofthetexts.Whileitisimpossibletopredictthefutureofscien- tificpublishingnow,onemustbeawarethatsearchfordocumentationismade fromnowonmainlyontheInternet,andthattheaccesstoreferenceworksin aclickisanimmenseassetfortheirdiffusioninthewholeworld.Surely,the predictionsaboutthedeathoftheGutenberggalaxywerealittlehasty,asthere isnobetterdevicetodisseminateconsolidatedknowledgetodaythanprinted andboundbooks.Nevertheless,onehastoadmitthatcontemporaryresearch isdoneprimarilythroughelectronicmeans(email,exchangeofpreprintsover thenetworks,onlinebibliographicsearches,accesstothearticlesthemselves throughelectronicpublishingservices).Inorderforthefundamentalheritage thatourforefathersleftusnottobesimplylostforgenerationstocomebecause ofthoseongoingchanges,itwasnecessarytoundertakeconversionfromthe existingpaperliteratureintoasufficientlyrichdigitalformattoallowwhatever usemightseemappropriatetoourdescendants.Moreover,itisessentialtothink globallyaboutthismove,thatis:letustrytoavoidtoospecificdesignsinourap- plicationssothattheycaneventuallymergetogetherwithincurrentborndigital environmentandwithfuturedevelopments.Weconsiderthatitisourgenera- tion’sresponsibilitytoinitiatethistaskbecauseitwillprobablybethelastone whichwillhavebeenfamiliaratthesametimewiththeoldmediumandthe newones. PreliminaryversionofanarticletoappearinCommunicatingmathematicsinthedigitalera, bookwrittenbytheparticipantsofsametitle’sconference,heldinAveiro,Portugal,August15-18, 2006.Secondrevisionwithupdatedinfo:February2008. 1

2THIERRYBOUCHE 1.A GLANCEATTHEMATHEMATICSLIBRARY “Butthenumberoftheperiodicalrepositoriesofmathematicalliteraturehasbecome sogreat,thatpapersconsignedtothem,althoughpreserved,aswemayhope,forall time,areinimminentdangerofpassingoutofsightwithinafewyearsaftertheir firstappearance.Theyarepreservedfromdestruction,butnotfromoblivion;they sharethefateofmanuscriptshiddeninthearchivesofsomegreatlibraryfromwhich itisinitselfaworkofresearchtodisinterthem.” HenryJohnStephenSmith,1882. 1.1.Lookingback.Mathematicsarespecialamongsciencesinthatthereisno experiment:themainactivitiesofmathematiciansarereading,thinking,dis- cussing,andwriting.However,theirwritingsaremeanttobeapieceinacollec- tiveefforttobuildalogicallycoherentelaborationfromaxiomaticfoundations torathersophisticatedstatements.Whileanyhumanoutputistightlyrelated topreviousworksinthesamefield,typicallyinadialecticfashion,mathemat- icsmightbetheonlydomainwherecitationisalmostneveratoolforcontra- diction.Thisiswhymathematiciansusuallyseemathematicalliteratureasa whole,andwouldnotfeelcomfortableifsomelargepartsofitgotlost,orhidden behindstrongbarriers.Ofcourse,permanentandimmediatefullaccesstoall mathematicalliteratureisnotrequiredbecausenicepeoplesummarisetopics inbooks,butrandomaccesstotheactualsourceishighlyappreciated,because itisoftenilluminating.Readingtheinventionofaconceptintheauthor’sown wordsyieldsamuchbetterunderstandingofthecontextandintentionsbehind thediscovery.Moreover,ashasbeenalreadystressed,seee.g.G.Michler[12],it mighthappenthattheproofofanimportanttheorembesomuchuntractable thatitneverendsupinatextbook,sothatresortingtotheoriginalarticleis sometimesmandatory. Anotherimportantaspectofmathematicalliteratureisthatmathematicsare thecommonidiomofscience,sothatvirtuallyanyscientist’sworkrelieson somepartofthemathematicalcorpus,butinanasynchronousfashion:while mostofcurrentscienceandtechnologyusewell-establishedmathematicsfrom the20thcentury,specificschoolsofthepastarerediscoveredandareanim- pulsefornewtrendsinsomedisciplines—itcanalsobesaidthatmanyphysi- cistsusemathematicaltheoriesthathavenotyetbeensortedoutbymathemati- ciansthemselves... Inthesequelwewillfocusoncumulativeandcreativemathematicalliter- aturewherecurrentadvanceshavebeenappearingforthreecenturies:schol- arlyjournals.Francehasalongtraditioninproducingandpublishingmathe- matics:whilethefirstscholarlyjournalsappearedroughlyatthesametimein GreatBritainandFranceattheendofthe17thcentury,thefirstjournalsolely devotedtomathematicsappearedinsouthernFranceintheearly19thcentury (Annalesdemathématiquespuresetappliquées,publishedinNîmesbyJoseph Gergonne).ItwassoonfollowedupbyCrelle’sandLiouville’sjournals,bothof themhadpreviouslypublishedinGergonne’s.Sincethattime,manyscientific journalswerepublishedbyacademicinstitutionssuchasacademies,biginstitu- tionssuchasPolytechniqueinParis,hencemultidisciplinary;butsomeofthem, publishedbysmallergroupsofpeople(scientificdepartment,learnedsocieties whichbegantoformaliseduringthe19thcentury...)weremorespecialised.It isinterestingtonoticethatthefirstjournalwaslaunchedbyJosephGergonne,