New NIH director Dr. Francis Collins packed probably a week’s worth of work into his first day on the job Aug. 17. Following a short informal swearing-in at 8 a.m., he briefly assembled senior Office of the Director staff and then held an all-hands town hall meeting in Natcher auditorium. By early afternoon, he was addressing members of the media for the first time as head of the nation’s largest medical research agency. Throughout the day, Collins emphasized two things: the community spirit at NIH is a treasure and he will make communication a top priority.

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If NIH and Wikipedia end up producing hundreds or even thousands of offspring, then the date of their conception might be recorded as July 16, 2009. That’s the day the two “parents” officially joined forces in Wilson Hall for a Wikipedia Academy, the first ever held in the U.S. The event was also the first time the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization that runs the online encyclopedia, has collaborated with a federal agency.

About a dozen foundation staff and volunteers joined a hundred or so scientists, science educators and writers as well as other communication professionals around laptop-equipped tables to encourage the agency to become contributors to what is now “the world’s largest encyclopedia.”