A couple of different facts coalesced in the mid-70s that forced us to try to come up with a manageable scheme for handling preprints. First, as librarians at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, we were charged with tracking papers by NRAO staff and by visitors using Nrao telescopes to provide an annual listing of staff and visitor publications and to aid in compiling statistics on telescope use.

Second, staff and visitors kept asking for preprints — by series and/or by author, subject, or cover color — and the number of preprint series being received had increased to the point where we could no longer always pull that information off the tops of our heads. So, after consulting with colleagues who had similar concerns, we put together a database in 1978, modestly based on the highly successful Preprint/Antipreprint lists produced by the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. We decided to produce a biweekly list of new papers received and an as-needed list of recently published papers. The scientific staff were very enthusiastic from the beginning, seeing that our efforts would make their efforts to keep up with the literature that much easier.