The goal of the LIMES Project was to improve the facilities of the European Database in Mathematics with Zentralblatt as its core, to transform Zentralblatt within this framework to a distributed European enterprise, and to improve and widen the access of Zentralblatt to European countries by providing structures for a better distribution on the technical and on the economical level.
LIMES was a project cofunded by the European Commission in the Access to Research Infrastructures sector (Fifth Framework Programme).
The objective of this project was to upgrade the existing database Zentralblatt-MATH into a European based world class database for mathematics (pure and applied) by a process of technical improvement and wide Europeanisation.
Upgrading the existing database, improving the present system and developing a new, distributed system both for the input and output of the data were necessary to allow Zentralblatt MATH to use the latest developments and to anticipate on future developments of electronic technologies.
The goal was to make Zentralblatt MATH a world reference database, offering full coverage of the mathematics literature worldwide, including bibliographic data, peer reviews and/or abstracts, indexing, classification and search, with a European basis.
Improvements were made in 3 areas:
- Improvement of content and retrieval facilities through sophisticated further development of the current data sets and retrieval programs
- Broader and improved access to the database via national access nodes and new data distribution methods. In particular, improvement of access for isolated universities in regions in economic difficulties and in associated states of Central and Eastern Europe where a mathematical tradition of excellence is under economic threat. Stimulation of usage for all kinds of research as well as for funding organisations before decision making by initial support of two national test sides.
- Improved coverage and evaluation of European research literature via nationally distributed editorial units, development of technologies for efficient database production (exemplified by two further European member states)