The Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences occupies a unique position in the scientific literature. Soon after its founding in 1817 the New York Academy of Sciences began publishing the series that became and remains one of the most highly regarded among all scientific publications.

Each of the approximately 30 volumes published each year constitutes a sharply focused picture of a field of research at a critical point in its development. Each Annals volume contains edited, reviewed papers based on presentations made at prestigious symposia, conferences, and workshops held around the world. The subjects covered by Annals volumes range across many scientific fields, with a concentration in fast-moving research areas of biomedical interest. Annals volumes assemble the ideas of key contributors to a field of investigation at a time when emerging developments offer the promise of new insights.

Current Contents has described Annals volumes as "book-length reviews of a subject, combining both original research and review articles from researchers working in a variety of disciplines. The Annals volumes serve as a baseline source of information for years to come and generally also contain transcribed discussions of papers and overviews of the subject that attempt to place the individual studies within a wider context."

The ANNALS ONLINE contains the full content of each volume of the publication, including all figures and tables, beginning with Volume 837 (December 1997). The full text is searchable by keyword, and the cited references include hyperlinks to Medline and to the online full text of many other frequently-cited journals. PDF files are available beginning with Volume 837; abstracts are available beginning with Volume 240 (January 1975); and Tables of Contents are online beginning with Volume 114/2 (April 1964). ISSN: 0077-8923 (print version). Publication and access-control information/FAQ can be found in a tabular form here: http://highwire.stanford.edu/cgi/journalinfo?qNum=all&journal_set=anny&sendit=Submit

Each volume will be placed online approximately on the date it is mailed to subscribers; therefore the online site will be available prior to receipt of your paper copy. Online readers may want to sign up for the eTOC (electronic Table of Contents) service, which will deliver each new volume's table of contents via email. The web site also provides access to information about, library subscriptions, ANNALS ONLINE Subject Collections, how to purchase Annals volumes in print, how to join the Academy, as well as access to the Academy's web site.

A free trial period for access to the ANNALS ONLINE will be available until June 30, 2002. Full text HTML articles will be free until the end of the free trial period. PDFs remain available only to NYAS Members and subscribing institutions or through pay-per-view, or pay-for-access:

• Access to one article for 24 hours $5
• Access to whole site for 24 hours $30