Abstract:
ODP is committed to serving the scientific community electronically, through CD-ROM and World Wide Web publications. There is nothing more comfortable, convenient, portable, or aesthetically pleasing than a printed book. Scholars do not need to publish on paper--they need to be read by peers and they need journals that disseminate information. Within the publication world science journals are considered the most difficult (i.e., expensive) to produce in traditional formats. This is due, in part, to the specialized terminology, detailed mathematics, complex artwork, and tabular data that are typical of science journals. The alternative to the traditional format of a printed journal is an electronic journal, composed of glass and electrical impulses instead of ink and paper. The world of hyper-publishing is a natural media for scientific publications because it allows: - Rapid proofing and publication of accepted articles, - Searchable, and retrievable electronic archive, - Accessibility of related information through live links, - Capability of downloading or accessing data, (5) Rapid, interactive, peer commentary, and (6) A universally accessible source. ODP has begun exploring the fluid nature of electronic publishing by producing the Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Program and other reports on CD-ROM and on the WWW. ODP documents are available at: http://www-odp.tamu.edu.