Does the publication of a pre- or e-print on an open site where community review of the content is active and dynamic, in fact improve science?

 A directory of Institutional repositories is now available from the Open DOAR site. Notice in particular the countries of origin of the repositories, the content type which is predominantly articles, dissertations and books, and the subject areas where social science repositories exceed those in technology and engineering.

 Cornell University Library - for the site that started the online preprint initiative and is well worth a tour if you haven't seen it. In January 2004 an automated endorsement system was introduced due to the growth in number of submissions. Current members of arXiv scientific communities will have the opportunity to endorse new submitters. This process is intended to ensure that arXiv content is relevant to current research while controlling costs so that free and open Web access can continue for all.

 A new section of preprints in Quantitative Biology was announced in September 2003. It is most interesting to see the relative volume of preprint submissions here from the various quantitative sub-disciplines of biology.

 "The Santa Fe Convention of the Open Archives Initiative" - D-Lib Magazine (February 2000). For a thoroughgoing review of where preprint servers are and where the authors believe they are heading - technically and for the research communities.