Conferences are where ideas are often first presented and begin their development. The resulting proceedings are frequently referred to and highly cited in subsequent research papers. They are published in both book and journal formats. "Conference proceedings published in books are known to be a popular vehicle for scholarly communication in the physical sciences, particularly engineering." They are an especially valuable indicator of impact in fields such as engineering, computer science and physics. Times cited counts now provide a more complete assessment of an article's influence. This is even more important with ERA looming.