Beginning this month, AAN will no longer publish the snail-mail, hard-copy edition of AAN News, the association’s board of directors decided at its Feb. 7 meeting in San Francisco.

Instead, AAN will place an increased emphasis on member communication via the aan.org Web site and its related e-mail newsletter.

Eliminating the mailed newsletter will save the organization approximately $28,000 a year. However, AAN Executive Director Richard Karpel says the board “reached this decision not in order to save money, but to eliminate a service that members found increasingly superfluous.”

“Although the association is experiencing significant budget difficulties, Board members voted not to cut member services at the present time because they are confident that actions presently being taken and the association’s reserve fund are sufficient to ensure AAN’s long-term financial stability,” Karpel says.

The printed newsletter had little unique editorial content, although a survey of members in 2002, conducted prior to the introduction of e-mail newsletters, showed it was well-read and highly rated.

Members interested in receiving the e-mail newsletter, sent either daily or weekly at the subscriber’s choice, may sign up on the aan.org home page.