William W. Armstrong
notwwa@lsu.edu

The Physics Roundtable at SLA in Los Angeles will take place on Monday, June 10, 11:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. I am looking forward to the opportunity to moderate this discussion and to get to know each of you as we discuss issues of concern to the physics community.

The current agenda includes a mix of speakers and discussion topics, which I will iterate below. However, few things are set in stone, so I am still greatly interested in any thoughts our membership may have concerning topics you would like to discuss, if such are not included in the list that is to follow.

Also, I would like to request the aid of a couple of volunteers to take notes for this session. This will help ensure adequate coverage of the discussions that will take place, and enable me to be sure that members unable to attend this session can nevertheless keep abreast via the PAM Bulletin in August. If you would be interested in helping out with the note taking, please contact me at the above address.

As it stands, then, the Physics RT agenda is as follows:

1. Introduction of participants and audience members
2. Institute of Physics representative will speak briefly about new developments of importance to physics readership.
3. American Institute of Physics representative will also address issues/developments from AIP of importance to our readership.
4. Bob Michaelson will give a brief summary of the physics translation project for the benefit of those unable to attend the PAMwide RT, where this will also be discussed.
5. Topic for open discussion: Where are our physicists getting their information? What sources are they using? What should they be using, or is there even a consensus? Are they, in many instances, relying exclusively on ArXives, pre-print servers? Is this adequate? What long-term effects might such reliance on arXiv.org have on physics libraries, e.g. subscription to source materials as well as provision of indexes for locating such? Are we indeed cancelling journals due to electronic access to sources such as lanl.arXiv.org? What of more traditional sources of bibliographic info., e.g. INSPEC? Should we be promoting this more? What are institutions doing that can't afford INSPEC?
6. Topic for open discussion: Landolt-Börnstein -- In recent years, many libraries have had to cancel this series because of high costs and probably low usage. With the advent of the online version, is it time for physics libraries to revisit this issue? How well is the new online version working? Will the convenience and ease of access and retrieval of information through the online version make this a more attractive resource? Or is the locating and retrieval of information via the online version efficient and easy enough?
7. Topic for open discussion: Permanence (or lack thereof) and preservation of electronic archives of physics documents (or electronic documents in general). Related to topic 5 -- This is an issue of particular importance to physics as it is likely a large percentage of our physicists are relying on electronic documents from pre-print servers. As more and more access becomes strictly electronic, how do we guarantee survival of the electronic data? It is not just the storage and retrieval formats which are at issue, but the very nature of electronic data itself. Are we in a "golden age" of information which may be as short-lived as a few decades, only to be followed by a dark age, marked by ever growing gaps in information? What is being done or can be suggested to help ensure electronic document (file) integrity and endurance?

I look forward to seeing you all at the Physics RT in Los Angeles!