Open Access

In this paper, the concepts and design for an efficient information service for mathematical software and further mathematical research data are presented. The publication-based approach and the Web-based approach are the main building blocks of the service and will be discussed. Heuristic methods are used for identification, extraction, and ranking of information about software and other mathematical research data. The methods provide not only information about the research data but also link software and mathematical research data to the scientific context.

The growing importance of mathematical software in everyday life—in applications such as internet communication, traffic, and artificial intelligence—necessitates advances in software documentation services to raise awareness of existing packages and their usage. Such information helps potential software developers and users make informed choices about packages that could advance their work in modeling, simulation, and analysis. At the same time, software presents novel challenges to information services that require the development of new methods and means of processing. swMATH provides users with an overview of a broad range of mathematical software and extends documentation services for publications related to such software. It acts as a counterpart to the established abstracting and reviewing services for mathematical publications and has nearly 30,000 entries, making it one of the most comprehensive documentation services in mathematics.

"The system is broken'' is how Keith Dennis, professor at Cornell University and the new editor-in-chief of the Mathematical Reviews characterizes the traditional ways and means of publication in mathematics. What are the reasons? The main reasons are the extreme growth in the mathematical literature, the long delays between preparation and publication of an article, the high number of rejected papers due to page limitations (not lack of quality) as well as drastic price increases for journals and books with library budgets being reduced at the same time.

The Internet and the new electronic means of information and communication are transforming scientific communication fundamentally. In particular, mathematicians, physicists and other natural scientists intensify, accelerate and extend their communication by the use of the Internet and its tools, from electronic mail up to the World Wide Web. In doing so, they also exchange scientific results of a new kind and quality yet unknown to traditional information providers such as publishers, libraries, and database suppliers (e.g. in the form of current research software, scientific data collections, observations and experimental data, visualizations, animations etc.). They, on the other hand, perceive the new ways, which are passing their own field of activity, as breakdowns of traditional publishing, as it was termed by the Association of Computing Machinery. In addition, scientific libraries find themselves caught in a structural crisis -- not only because of budget restraints. The {\it Deutsche Mathematiker-Vereinigung} (DMV), however, sees the new electronic means as an opportunity to master a crisis of this kind rather than a threat. By discussing concrete models, which may be - in a certain technical sense -- realizable already today, the article gives an introduction into the subject of a {\it Distributed Information- and Communication System for Mathematics}, a project prepared and planned by the DMV for the years 1996 to 1998. In the context of possible realization variants it also deals with questions of costs, resulting load of network connections, and -- showing the beginnings -- the (absolutely essential) solution of problems related to quality, authenticity, archival and intellectual property rights, which arise with the employment of electronic means. Obviously (even if not discussed explicitly) also computing centers, whose tasks and position are also affected by the electronic revolution, have the chance to find a new and forward-looking role in this field - in particular by new forms of cooperation with scientific libraries.