ArXiV FAQ
ArXiv is a public preprint server (partly funded by the NSF) which in the past decade has become the dominant method for distributing new papers in the physics community, and more recently in substantial parts of math and CS. It has been called the "physics model" for "open access" publication. Recently ArXiv has established an information theory category. In October 2004, the IT Board of Governors unanimously voted to encourage IT authors to post all of their preprints (both journal and conference) on ArXiv, to encourage rapid dissemination of new research.