APS E-print Server Running

The American Physical Society is developing a World-Wide-Web-based system for members and other physicists to post preprints, and to browse those which have been made publicly available. The service is similar to the 'e-print' archives run by Paul Ginsparg at Los Alamos since late 1991, but has some technical differences intended to make it more accessible and user-friendly, and other features that should help a larger fraction of the physics community get involved with this enabling technology.

The APS E-print service will also help in the exploration of new Internet-based technology for submitting, refereeing, editing and publishing papers in the Physical Review journals. A prototype version of the service will be available from July 1, 1996 through the APS home page under the 'New Services Available' listing for the journals, and during testing will be available directly.

Physicists are invited to try the APS E-Print prototype and send comments to the administrators of the service at the e-mail address: eprint-adm@aps.org. Members can also contribute over the next few months to the setting of priorities for the service (such as what word processor formats to support) by answering the questionnaire available on the web.