Developing a 21st Century Global Library for Mathematics Research

TL;DR

This paper proposes establishing a global digital mathematics library that combines machine learning and community input to enhance access, organization, and exploration of mathematical literature worldwide.

Contribution

It introduces a comprehensive plan for creating a 21st-century mathematical library leveraging community efforts and advanced technologies, building on existing initiatives like the World Digital Mathematical Library.

Findings

Proposes a organizational framework for a global mathematical library.

Suggests integrating machine learning with community curation.

Highlights the importance of partnerships with publishers.

Abstract

Developing a 21st Century Global Library for Mathematics Research discusses how information about what the mathematical literature contains can be formalized and made easier to express, encode, and explore. Many of the tools necessary to make this information system a reality will require much more than indexing and will instead depend on community input paired with machine learning, where mathematicians' expertise can fill the gaps of automatization. This report proposes the establishment of an organization; the development of a set of platforms, tools, and services; the deployment of an ongoing applied research program to complement the development work; and the mobilization and coordination of the mathematical community to take the first steps toward these capabilities. The report recommends building on the extensive work done by many dedicated individuals under the rubric of the World Digital Mathematical Library, as well as many other community initiatives. Developing a 21st Century Global Library for Mathematics envisions a combination of machine learning methods and community-based editorial effort that makes a significantly greater portion of the information and knowledge in the global mathematical corpus available to researchers as linked open data through a central organizational entity-referred to in the report as the Digital Mathematics Library. This report describes how such a library might operate - discussing development and research needs, role in facilitating discover and interaction, and establishing partnerships with publishers.