The very nature of eprints, that they are somewhere between informal and formal publication, makes them difficult to classify. Once eprints are formally published, it would be simply a matter of updating the database record to include place of publication and even a link to the full text. Several publishers, mainly professional societies, have started including links in their electronic journal articles from eprint citations to the full text at the LANL server. Guidelines for Withdrawal and Revision of Eprints Eprints are by nature, documents submitted for review. They often change before the final version or formal publication.
Journals often publish errata for errors in articles.
The electronic journal and eprints have the capability to fix errors without having to go through the errata process. The major eprint servers exist at sites dependent on government funding. Both LANL and SLAC are U.S. Department of Energy Laboratories. The future of the US DOE is frequently debated in Congress. The fact that eprints are freely available now does not mean that they always will be.