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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 Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) and the Member Advisory Board (MAB) 2015 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 fundraising effort, pursuing grants and collaborations. 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.
arXiv@25: Strategy and Timeline for Vision Setting and Fund Raising
November-December 2015
- Identify a number of areas to be considered for a vision setting process and create a survey instrument - COMPLETED
- Conduct a SAB/MAB survey to poll their opinions on future directions and priorities (Vision Setting Survey) - COMPLETED
- Start the user survey planning process - COMPLETED
- Hire a part-time person (or assign this role to an existing staff) to work with us in coordinating the planning activities - COMPLETED
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