To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the discovery of AIDS, the National Institutes of Health announced on June 4 the launch of a new Web site chronicling the history of AIDS research. "In Their Own Words: NIH Researchers Recall the Early Years of AIDS" (http:// aidshistory.nih.gov) highlights five main periods in AIDS research: initial encounters with the disease, the AIDS epidemic, early research efforts, the discovery of HIV, and the search for effective treatments. Each section includes a short essay along with graphics and photos. The site also features document and image archives and a timeline of the key events in AIDS history between 1981 and 1988. According to Victoria Harden, NIH historian, "In Their Own Words" grew out of an oral history project that has been going on for 13 years. "Our main goal was to put a human face on the government's early response to AIDS," explains Harden. "These people working [at NIH] were working as hard as anybody could work." Each section of the site includes audio clips from interviews, conducted by Harden, with many of the NIH doctors and administrators involved with AIDS research. The site targets a broad audience: journalists, historians, educators, and the general public. Future updates may include extending the timeline and inserting information from other government agencies. "This is the story that has not been told," said Harden. The American public, who funded this research, needs to know that their money was well spent."
The Sciences Becomes Extinct
Citing a need to reallocate resources, the New York Academy of Sciences announced the termination of its quarterly magazine The Sciences on June 1. Known for its abstract-art-adorned science articles, the magazine had a circulation of 46,000 subscribers, 26,000 of which received the publication free along with their NYAS membership. Many of the subscribers were scientists, according to Fred Moreno, NYAS spokesperson and director of communications. "One of the concerns is that it did not reflect the work of the academy," remarks Moreno, adding that the NYAS plans to improve its non-general interest publications that do cover the work of the academy, such as its series of Annals science review books. A statement released by the academy's board of governors calls the move "one of a series of changes aimed at refocusing Academy goals and programs,"; in 1999, they approved a new mission focused on "quickening pace of electronic communication, the crisscrossing of disciplines, a rising commitment to science education, and the busy intersections of technology in a global society." According to Moreno, the NYAS shopped the publication around to other publishers but had no takers. Moreno says that losing NYAS members as a result of the magazine's demise is a concern, and probably will happen, but that "most people join the academy because they want to be associated with a prestigious organization that does good work." According to NYAS surveys, he says, less than one percent of NYAS members who canceled their subscriptions continued to subscribe to The Sciences.
