A brief exchange about level of support took place. For the reader, the discussion here emphasizes that the problems with enacting such a large-scale vision are not technical but social. Nobel Prize Winner Joshua Lederberg, looking to the practical uses of more and better information that the scientist can use, introduces the idea of institutional rather than discipline-based archives. Discourse by a leader from the American Chemical Society, one of today's largest and most electronically seasoned publishers, takes the discussion to a new level and adds specific detail of costs and economics to the conversation. Whether electronic publishing will be cheaper or more expensive than print on paper, at least in the near term, is an important underlying question.
Several scientists contribute.
One is a long-time editor of a substantive electronic newsletter for computer scientists and shares his economic perspectives. Another volunteers to promote the Harnad proposal. Another, a creator of the World Wide Web, comments and offers encouragement for the future. Yet another sees a role for the European Community. Striking is the consensus of the proposal's proponents that practical actions can take precedence for the time being over broader considerations.