Abstract
Among our geologic colleagues, paleontologists seem to have the undeserved reputation of being somewhat stodgy and reluctant to accept change; I guess this comes with our (also undeserved) “stamp collector” image. How then to explain The Paleontological Society Council's bold decision at our Incoming Council meeting in Reno last November? Perhaps it was from being surrounded by all those gamblers, but Council voted unanimously to take our publications online beginning in 2001. I thank the editors of the Journal of Paleontology for providing me the opportunity to explain on behalf of Council how we arrived at our decision, the benefits and risks involved, and how Paleontological Society members can begin to take advantage of our online journals. I emphasize that the decision was reached after extensive research by the PS journal editors (including conversations with other societies and multiple vendors and development of detailed budget projections), careful articulation of the options (particularly by Paleobiology co-editor Scott Wing), and hours of debate within Council. Despite a certain degree of risk to the Society's finances (as Treasurer Tom Kammer, always mindful of the bottom line, was careful to point out), we decided that now was the time to move forward. We knew that electronic publishing was going to become necessary eventually—the question was how soon and how wholeheartedly should The Paleontological Society go online? Should we be pioneers in this …
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