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U.S. national library of medicine
Biochemical Education ELSEVIER
Biochemical Education 26 (1908) 298
Miscellaneous Bytes From G.R. Parslow and E.J. Wood PIi: S0307-4412(9811]11237-4 Doctor's Guide to the Internet http://www.pslgroup.com/docguide.htm This is a commendably convenient searchable resource of current issues in medicine based on references to primary data. Doctor's Guide was designed to help physicians harness the resources of the Intcrnct. As the site explains, few doctors can afford hours of fruitless browsing, and they are not the only ones. PI I: S03117-4412(98)00245-3 Translate text using SYSTRAN ht tp://babelfish.altavist a.digit al.eom/ Systran is a free online service to translate plain text in major world languagcs. Text can be inserted from thc clipboard and the software will translate up to 5K at one time. Translated text can then be pasted back into an application. As you may expect the automated translation is not perfect and will not replace h u m a n translators to create fluent tcxt. Intereonversions are supported between English, French, Spanish, Italian, German and Portugesc. A personal copy of the translation software can bc purchased for a modest Ice. PII: S0307-4412(98)1~0246-5 Jakob Nielsen's Website http://www.useit.com/ This site has a lot of common-sense advice on creating web sites, some of which is paraphrased below. The site is constantly revised so, for some of the gems, bc prepared to go back through the arehived material. Some of the advice follows. Web pages have to employ scannable text, using highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and colour are others). Use meaningful sub-headings (not 'clever' ones). Use bulleted lists. Express one idea per paragraph (users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph). To keep attention use the inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion. Aim fi~r half the word count (or less) of conventional writing. Download times rule the Web, and since most users have access speeds of the order of 28.8 khps, Web pages can be no more than 3 KB if they are to download in one second which is the required response time for hypertext navigation. Users do not keep their attention on the page if downloading exceeds 10 seconds. Keeping below these size limits rules out most graphics. PI I: S0307-4412(98)011247-7 Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine http://www-erm m.cbcu.cam.ac.uk/ This is a primary, information site from the Clinical and Biomedical Computing Unit of the University of Cambridgc School of Clinical Medicine. The site has a number of options including key word searching, new articles, glossary, review articles, animations, molecular models and discussion groups. As a new site under development through 1998 it had not built a large data base of reviews at the time of inspection. The articles available were in the area of genome research in disease. PIt: $113117-4412(98)00248-9 The CMS molecular biology resource http:t/www.sdsc.edu/ResTools/ This websitc is a compendium of tools and resources for molecular biology, Biochemistry, and biomolecular modeling. It is impressive in scope for primary information and numcrous links. The primary target is researchers wanting to apply analysis tools to sequences of proteins and genes which can be lined up against established data bases. This is
primarily the work of Christopher Smith of the Molecular Sciences Group University of California, San Diego. The section on Metabolism and Metabolic Pathways provided a number of links to teaching resources that are not commonly listed elsewhere. Pll: S03117-4412(98)1111249-0 Technical Advisory Service for Images (TASI) http://www.tasi.ac.uk/ TASI is a scrvicc to advise and support the digital creation, storage and delivery of image-related information. It is based within the University of Bristol. Its objectives are to share and promote technical expertise and standards within the academic and public sectors. Links provide information on where to find existing digital imaging resources and guidelines on copyright, conditions of use and other considerations. Several resources in medicine and science arc listed and the site will grow due to the organisers affiliation with the CTI initiative in the UK. PII: S(I307-4412(981002511-7 U.S. National Library of Medicine http://w~w.nlm.nih.gov/ This is a large site for access to text, images and tools useful in research and teaching. Service functions like employment are also included. It is difficult to summarise the many choices because you could make this a first point of call fl~r just about any biomedical search. PI I: S{I307-4412(9811111251-9 The Instructional Management System Initiative
http://www.imsproject.org/ Ever thought that one authoring protocol could or should come to dominate electronic teaching? A group of commercial and educational people have been working to this end since 1994 with cooperation between several parties in the US and UK. Despite the lead-time, the result of this collaboration is still at prototype stage. You will find the lofty aims described at the web site and a somewhat better description printed in L!I~" Sciences Educational C))mputing 9(2) 1215, 1998. The printed article uses a molecular biology teaching example that could not be located on the web at the time of writing. PII: S11307-4412(98)00252-0 BinQUEST Curriculum Consortium http://www.bioq ucst.org/ Bioqucst software products have been mentioned previously in Miscellaneous Bytes (Vol 25(4) p229). They merit another mention for their chatty newsletter called BioQuest Notes. The Bioquest newsletter describes teaching materials and more importantly how teachers perceive their roles. Notice is provided of regular workshops at Beloit College (US) which allow teachers to share their experiences. Newsletter subscription is free to educators and you can contact bioquest(~ beloit.edu or write to Bioquest, Beloit College, 7011 College Street, Beloit, WI 53511 PII: S0307-4412(98)00253-2 Swiss-Quiz from Geneva Bioinformatics (GeneBio) http://expasy.hcuge.ch/www/sw-q uiz.ht ml Answer 111 questions chosen randomly from a database of questions relating to molecular biology, biochemistry and genetics. For each question three possible answers arc given of which only one is correct. Once you have answered the questions and submitted the quiz, the program will display the correct answers along with your score. If you obtain a perfect score, you may bc the winner of some Swiss chocolate.
113117-4412/98/$19.1111 + (I.00 © 1998 I UBMB. Published by Elsevier Scicnce Ltd. All rights reserved.
Biochemical Education 26 (1908) 298
Miscellaneous Bytes From G.R. Parslow and E.J. Wood PIi: S0307-4412(9811]11237-4 Doctor's Guide to the Internet http://www.pslgroup.com/docguide.htm This is a commendably convenient searchable resource of current issues in medicine based on references to primary data. Doctor's Guide was designed to help physicians harness the resources of the Intcrnct. As the site explains, few doctors can afford hours of fruitless browsing, and they are not the only ones. PI I: S03117-4412(98)00245-3 Translate text using SYSTRAN ht tp://babelfish.altavist a.digit al.eom/ Systran is a free online service to translate plain text in major world languagcs. Text can be inserted from thc clipboard and the software will translate up to 5K at one time. Translated text can then be pasted back into an application. As you may expect the automated translation is not perfect and will not replace h u m a n translators to create fluent tcxt. Intereonversions are supported between English, French, Spanish, Italian, German and Portugesc. A personal copy of the translation software can bc purchased for a modest Ice. PII: S0307-4412(98)1~0246-5 Jakob Nielsen's Website http://www.useit.com/ This site has a lot of common-sense advice on creating web sites, some of which is paraphrased below. The site is constantly revised so, for some of the gems, bc prepared to go back through the arehived material. Some of the advice follows. Web pages have to employ scannable text, using highlighted keywords (hypertext links serve as one form of highlighting; typeface variations and colour are others). Use meaningful sub-headings (not 'clever' ones). Use bulleted lists. Express one idea per paragraph (users will skip over any additional ideas if they are not caught by the first few words in the paragraph). To keep attention use the inverted pyramid style, starting with the conclusion. Aim fi~r half the word count (or less) of conventional writing. Download times rule the Web, and since most users have access speeds of the order of 28.8 khps, Web pages can be no more than 3 KB if they are to download in one second which is the required response time for hypertext navigation. Users do not keep their attention on the page if downloading exceeds 10 seconds. Keeping below these size limits rules out most graphics. PI I: S0307-4412(98)011247-7 Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine http://www-erm m.cbcu.cam.ac.uk/ This is a primary, information site from the Clinical and Biomedical Computing Unit of the University of Cambridgc School of Clinical Medicine. The site has a number of options including key word searching, new articles, glossary, review articles, animations, molecular models and discussion groups. As a new site under development through 1998 it had not built a large data base of reviews at the time of inspection. The articles available were in the area of genome research in disease. PIt: $113117-4412(98)00248-9 The CMS molecular biology resource http:t/www.sdsc.edu/ResTools/ This websitc is a compendium of tools and resources for molecular biology, Biochemistry, and biomolecular modeling. It is impressive in scope for primary information and numcrous links. The primary target is researchers wanting to apply analysis tools to sequences of proteins and genes which can be lined up against established data bases. This is
primarily the work of Christopher Smith of the Molecular Sciences Group University of California, San Diego. The section on Metabolism and Metabolic Pathways provided a number of links to teaching resources that are not commonly listed elsewhere. Pll: S03117-4412(98)1111249-0 Technical Advisory Service for Images (TASI) http://www.tasi.ac.uk/ TASI is a scrvicc to advise and support the digital creation, storage and delivery of image-related information. It is based within the University of Bristol. Its objectives are to share and promote technical expertise and standards within the academic and public sectors. Links provide information on where to find existing digital imaging resources and guidelines on copyright, conditions of use and other considerations. Several resources in medicine and science arc listed and the site will grow due to the organisers affiliation with the CTI initiative in the UK. PII: S(I307-4412(981002511-7 U.S. National Library of Medicine http://w~w.nlm.nih.gov/ This is a large site for access to text, images and tools useful in research and teaching. Service functions like employment are also included. It is difficult to summarise the many choices because you could make this a first point of call fl~r just about any biomedical search. PI I: S{I307-4412(9811111251-9 The Instructional Management System Initiative
http://www.imsproject.org/ Ever thought that one authoring protocol could or should come to dominate electronic teaching? A group of commercial and educational people have been working to this end since 1994 with cooperation between several parties in the US and UK. Despite the lead-time, the result of this collaboration is still at prototype stage. You will find the lofty aims described at the web site and a somewhat better description printed in L!I~" Sciences Educational C))mputing 9(2) 1215, 1998. The printed article uses a molecular biology teaching example that could not be located on the web at the time of writing. PII: S11307-4412(98)00252-0 BinQUEST Curriculum Consortium http://www.bioq ucst.org/ Bioqucst software products have been mentioned previously in Miscellaneous Bytes (Vol 25(4) p229). They merit another mention for their chatty newsletter called BioQuest Notes. The Bioquest newsletter describes teaching materials and more importantly how teachers perceive their roles. Notice is provided of regular workshops at Beloit College (US) which allow teachers to share their experiences. Newsletter subscription is free to educators and you can contact bioquest(~ beloit.edu or write to Bioquest, Beloit College, 7011 College Street, Beloit, WI 53511 PII: S0307-4412(98)00253-2 Swiss-Quiz from Geneva Bioinformatics (GeneBio) http://expasy.hcuge.ch/www/sw-q uiz.ht ml Answer 111 questions chosen randomly from a database of questions relating to molecular biology, biochemistry and genetics. For each question three possible answers arc given of which only one is correct. Once you have answered the questions and submitted the quiz, the program will display the correct answers along with your score. If you obtain a perfect score, you may bc the winner of some Swiss chocolate.
113117-4412/98/$19.1111 + (I.00 © 1998 I UBMB. Published by Elsevier Scicnce Ltd. All rights reserved.