Publication in refereed journals remains the primary means of communicating the results of research to current and future members of the scientific and engineering community. In recent years Internet and the World Wide Web have brought about a tremendous change in the capability to communicate quickly and effectively, which is leading to fundamental changes in the publishing industry. As publishers, professional societies such as the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) have the opportunity to play a pivotal role in this revolution. As the landscape changes, however, it is important that key features of the existing system, such as careful refereeing and long-term preservation are maintained.
Since 1986 I have served on the Editorial Board of the ACM Transactions on Mathematical Software (TOMS), assuming the position of Editor-in-Chief in 1993 (this year I was reappointed for a second 3-year term). My interests in the Web and in promoting the communication of research results in math software prompted me to develop a Web site for TOMS in 1994. This was the first comprehensive Web site for any of ACM's journals, providing access to the journal's Charter, Information for Authors, Editorial Board, Tables of Contents, and a list of upcoming papers.
ACM selected TOMS to be a model for developing a Web presence for all of its journals. In the summer of 1995 I was asked to join the ACM Publications Board with the title of Information Director, with the task of helping to coordinate the work of ACM volunteers in moving ACM toward electronic publishing. I accomplished the following since then.