The arXiv roadmap is a living document and communication tool to accommodate continuous prioritization throughout the year. Items are listed in approximate priority order, subject to change based upon consideration of input from arXiv stakeholders, assessment of new opportunities and initiatives as they arise, and progress on next generation arXiv development.
Technical
Moderator Web UI: Implement enhancements to the existing moderation Web UI to improve the proposal system based on moderator feedback. Also, enable moderators to take multiple actions and commit them together as a set of actions. Develop a new alternate moderator user experience to offer an efficient way for moderators to work on multiple submissions on a single responsive web page. The alternate moderator user experience will provide new paradigm for category management, improved proposal features, and an improved notification scheme to decrease email volume for moderators.
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Status: in progress; scheduled for launch with one subcategory on Tuesday, 26 Sept 2017.
Reference extraction and linking (promoted from Special Projects): Automatically extract references from papers, link, and make visible to users.
Status Status: in progress. Advanced implementation stage. (user-6ff8e update later)
Search (promoted from special projects): Combined metadata and full-text search using Elasticsearch and Python/Flask as a standalone application.
Status Status: in progress.
Browse: Redeveloping abstract page and subject listing display (home page). Initial focus on abstract pages; to be implemented in Python/Flask.
Status Status: in progress.
User Support & Moderation
Author curated links: Based on the findings of the the arXiv user study , improving support for linking research data, code, slides and other materials associated with papers emerged as an important service to expand.
Status: in progress; to be implemented in Python/Flask.
Publish physics category descriptions: Finalize input from moderators and publish the descriptions on arXiv.org. This work started in 2016 and we hope to complete early 2017.
Status: in progress; awaitng review.
Overlap policy: Implement the SAB Sept 2014 decision that cases of self-overlap get bounced to users before publishing.
Status: not started.
Update Help pages: Assess which section of the Help pages to update in 2017 (submission, moderation, reading/downloading, etc). Rewrite those sections. Identify straggling pages and pages that could be slated for removal.
Status: ongoing.
Systematize arXiv's individual archive pages: The "home" pages for individual archives within arXiv have grown organically over time and are inconsistent with each other and in some cases outdated.
Status: Deferred for more systematic site map review and development process.
Process Improvement
Stakeholder communication improvements:
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- Improve process of communicating with stakeholders to ensure that the loop is closed on each request and that the submitter receives updates on status and closure.
Status: ongoing.
Continuous prioritization of development priorities:
- Modify the planning process so that the Roadmap becomes living document that can incorporate changes on a quarterly basis. Evolve development team tactical process to manage backlog and support tickets effectively and enable continuous evaluation of priorities and resources to maximize impact.
Status: ongoing.
- Coordinate the communication between the SAB, the arXiv development and admin teams to ensure a transparent process that engages key stakeholders in a new prioritization process.
Status: ongoing.
arXiv Workflow and Moderation analysis: Embark on a fresh analysis of workflows for moderators, appellate moderators, and Chairs. Identify and implement process improvements. This will inform both classic arXiv and arXiv-NG. Improve communication to moderators regarding system updates, process improvement, guidelines for moderation, and recruitment. Expand documentation on roles, relationships, and workflows between moderators, appellate moderators, committees, and Chairs.
Status: in progress; specific plans in place for fall 2017.
Business Model, Governance, and Partnership
Recruit a Scientific Director: In 2014, we created the Scientific Director position to provide intellectual leadership for arXiv and appointed Dr. Chris Myers as the interim Scientific Director to test and refine the role. After Chris Myers's departure in April 2016, we have started to revise the job description with the goal of filling the position in 2017. The Scientific Director (.5 FTE) will collaborate with the arXiv staff and the arXiv's Scientific Advisory Board in providing intellectual leadership for arXiv's operations.
Status:
AfterAfter Chris Myers’ departure in April 2016 as the interim Scientific Director, we took a few months to review the original job description and expectations and Chris’s assessment of how the position played out in reality. Accordingly, a revised job description was developed and and announced. We are pleased to announce that Professor Steinn Sigurdsson accepted the position and will start in September, working remotely from Penn State.
CoordinatedCoordinated by Oya Rieger, the search committee included Dave Morrison (SAB), Carol Hoover (MAB/SAB liaison), and Eberhard Bodenchatz.
Continue the membership drive & identify new funding sources: Ensuring a broad international network of supporters requires an ongoing effort in order to develop new outreach strategies and revenue sources. We will continue our efforts in increasing awareness about sustainability issues and the arXiv business plan. Also, we will raise additional revenue streams through online fund raising campaigns and the promotion of the new sponsorship program.
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Based on the conclusions of ten months of planning activities during 2016, the arXiv team successfully secured a $450,000 grant from the Sloan Foundation to initiate the next-generation arXiv (arXiv-NG) initiative. The 18-month project will enable us to plan and begin to improve the architecture of this critical scientific infrastructure. We anticipate that a multi-phase design and development of a next-generation arXiv (arXiv-NG) will require approximately 3 years with an additional $2+ million budget, including requirements specification, evaluation of alternate strategies and partnerships, design of a new system architecture, assessment, and deployment. As we are developing arXiv-NG, during the next three years we will continue to rely on the existing system (Classic arXiv) and are committed to continue its robust services. Additional Additional information: Next Generation arXiv
Another source of funding in support of arXiv-NG came from the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI2). An initial gift of $200,000 for 2017 will support a collaboration between the Cornell University Library and the Cornell Computing and Information Science (CIS). This donation will allow us to hire a Research & Innovation Fellow to collaborate with the arXiv team in designing and integrating a series of updated, research-oriented features for arXiv. The ultimate goal is to integrate tools that emerge from research into the production system to improve user and moderator experience.
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