{"id":115,"date":"2015-04-22T15:54:55","date_gmt":"2015-04-22T20:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/beyondreviews\/?p=115"},"modified":"2015-04-28T13:58:25","modified_gmt":"2015-04-28T18:58:25","slug":"people-at-mathematical-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ams.org\/beyondreviews\/2015\/04\/22\/people-at-mathematical-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"People at Mathematical Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

Mathematical Reviews<\/em> is made by people. \u00a0A lot of people. \u00a0First of all, roughly 17,000 mathematicians are active reviewers. \u00a0These people are located all around the world. \u00a0From the very beginning, the reviewers, who are part of the mathematical community, \u00a0have been essential to the endeavor. \u00a0 At the MR offices\u00a0in Ann Arbor, 78 people perform a variety of tasks behind the scenes. \u00a0(And there are some\u00a0more people at the AMS headquarters in Providence who deal\u00a0with sales, marketing and promotion.) \u00a0To begin with, we have an Acquisitions Department (9 people) who make sure that we receive all the journals, conference proceedings and books that are covered. \u00a0This department works closely with the publishers to ensure that their needs are met. \u00a0The people in Acquisitions also start the cataloging process. \u00a0Since we cover roughly 120,000 items per year, it is\u00a0very<\/em> important that we get the cataloging right. \u00a0And just to be sure we do, we have an entire department of catalogers (13 people). \u00a0Cataloging at\u00a0Math Reviews<\/em> is different from cataloging at a library, since we work down to\u00a0the level of articles, whereas most libraries only go to the level of issues for journals. \u00a0The Cataloging Department also does the\u00a0author authority<\/em> work. \u00a0If you write a paper or book and you happen to have the same name as another mathematician, we work hard to keep track of your work and to keep it associated with\u00a0you. \u00a0Our catalogers might even send you an email, asking if you are the author of a particular paper or two (or more).<\/p>\n

I mentioned the 17,000 reviewers. \u00a0As an item makes its way through\u00a0Math Reviews<\/em>, at some point someone decides which reviewer to send it to. \u00a0 That is the role of the editors (officially known as the “Associate Editors”). \u00a0The 16 editors are mathematicians, each of whom has some set of areas (specified\u00a0by MSC<\/a>) to cover. \u00a0The editor assigns the item to a reviewer, then someone from Reviewer Data Services (RDS) takes care of getting the paper or the book to the reviewer. \u00a0RDS also takes care of sending a reminder (sometimes more than one). \u00a0When the review arrives, a copy editor will check it. \u00a0We have 18 copy editors(*), who are quite skilled at fine-tuning the written word and correcting the mathematical typesetting (TeX). \u00a0They also verify the references and create the reference links within the reviews. \u00a0The\u00a0review then goes to the editors for double checking that it makes good sense mathematically. \u00a0After a final check (“QC”) from the copy editors, the review is ready to be published in MathSciNet.<\/p>\n

Behind the scenes, there are two more\u00a0groups of people. \u00a0One is our excellent IT Department. \u00a0\u00a0Almost everything at\u00a0Math Reviews<\/em> relies on the database and various applications we have developed to access and to update the information in it. \u00a0We process roughly an item a minute every day. \u00a0That is only possible because IT has given us just the right tools to get the job done.\u00a0\u00a0 The other group is our Administration Department, whose job it is to make sure that\u00a0there is a building to work in, electricity to run everything, and, at the end of the week, a paycheck to bring home.<\/p>\n

Here is a picture of some of us from 2012:<\/p>\n

\"Mathematical<\/a>

Mathematical Reviews Staff (circa 2012)<\/p><\/div>\n

Here is a recent picture, taken today! [28-apr-2015]<\/p>\n

\"People<\/a>

People of Mathematical Reviews – April 2015<\/p><\/div>\n

(*) Note: One of our crack copy editors was so kind as to proofread this post for me!<\/p>\n

<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mathematical Reviews is made by people. \u00a0A lot of people. \u00a0First of all, roughly 17,000 mathematicians are active reviewers. \u00a0These people are located all around the world. \u00a0From the very beginning, the reviewers, who are part of the mathematical community, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

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