From users' perspective, arXiv continues to be a successful, prominent subject repository system serving the needs of many scientists around the world. However, under the hood, the service is facing significant pressures. The conclusion of the recent SAB and MAB annual meetings was that, in addition to the current business model with a focus on maintenance, the arXiv team needs to embark on a significant fund raising effort, pursuing grants and collaborations. After the meeting, Chris and Simeon met with a group of NSF program officers and Oya visited the Sloan Foundation to discuss the current state of arXiv, pressure points, possible development, and funding sources. Based on the ideas and recommendations gathered, we've concluded that we We need to first create a compelling and coherent vision to be able to persuasively articulate our fund raising goals beyond the current sustainability plan that aims to support the baseline operation. We’d like to use the approaching 25th anniversary of arXiv as an important milestone to engage us in a series of vision-setting exercises, and would deeply appreciate the insights of both the SAB and MAB in helping us to articulate a vision for arXiv moving forward.

Strategy and Timeline for Vision Setting and Fund Raising

...