Technical
Items are listed in approximate priority order.
Improve tools and interfaces to support moderators - Work with the SAB and moderators to define and develop better tools that allow moderators to interact more directly and efficiently with the arXiv system and administrators. The overarching aim is to make best use of available moderator effort by making the work of moderators as quick and convenient as possible, consistent with achieving the quality goals and following policies set out by the SAB. In progress 2014-09
Add support for ORCID and other author identifiers associated with authors - We would like to support ORCID identifiers for better interoperability with other repositories implementing authority control and also as a route toward providing institutional statistics for member organizations (because ORCID is implementing storage of affiliation in the profile data).
User Support and Moderation
Define and implement new tools and interfaces for moderators - Work with existing moderators and IT to define and implement new tools and interfaces to support the work of moderators. See "Improve tools and interfaces to support moderators" in Technical section above.
Evaluate administrative processes - Work with Scientific Director to evaluate arXiv administration processes and staffing, especially in light of evolving moderation tools.
Business Model & Governance
Test and refine the operation of the new governance model -The arXiv principles aim to clarify the authority, responsibilities, and constraints of CUL, MAB, and SAB. Ironing out problems and developing a working system will require some time to test and observe the inner operation of the governance model. We will continue our engagements with the advisory boards and experiment with different communication strategies to share our vision, priorities, and challenges and to seek their input. work-in-progress
Further refine the benefits of being a member for participating institutions - During the governance planning meetings, several ideas emerged as potential free services for members; however, implementing these features may require significant staff time. Therefore these services need to be considered in the context of arXiv’s current maintenance and development priorities. We will engage the MAB and SAB in discussing possible ideas and assess their potential value and requirements from the arXiv team. work-in-progress - discussion item for SAB/MAB meetings
Continue the membership drive - We are very encouraged with the five-year pledges received so far. We want to increase the number of arXiv member institutions to create a large and international network of supporters. We recently formed two SAB subcommittees. The first one aims to assess and revise our tier model to consider other classes of member categories such as scientific societies (to be implemented during the next 5-year plan). The second group will focus on fund raising policies & strategies such as the potential addition of a 'Give' button to arXiv homepage to encourage donations. work-in-progress - discussion item for MAB meeting
New Partnerships & Communication
Continue the dialogue with publishers/societies - Continue information exchange with publishers/societies represented in arXiv, especially in exploring the evolving public policies and open access mandates. One of the ideas we are considering is implementing a pilot with the IOP for facilitating deposit of author version of articles to arXiv after they are published. work-in-progress (IOP pilot delayed due to the publisher's current focus on CHORUS)
Define and communicate measures of success - Over the next several months, we want to create an assessment model to help CUL continue to fine-tune the sustainability model. Working with SAB and MAB, we will draft desired outcomes and success measures (for instance, dynamics of the governance model, level of financial support, enhancements to arXiv, improvements to moderation system, etc.). work-in-progress