In a previous post I wrote about how great new web tools are making it easier for scientists to collaborate, find information, and share information. This light-hearted introduction was rather popular, so heres’s a tongue-in-cheek video version.
Tom, Dick, and Harry are collaborating on a paper. Tom, being the PhD student, does all the work and then writes the paper. Tom then sends a copy to Dick and Harry who edit it with their opinions. Unfortunately Dick completely removes the second paragraph of the discussion, while Harry expands it. Both then send their edited copies back to Tom.
In my opinion, great coding skills, a thorough knowledge of statistics, and Shakespearian writing ability do not make a great bioinformatician. They help, but the most important things are a relevant scientific question and a good understanding of the literature. If you’re like me, the path to scientific enlightenment begins with typing keywords into PubMed until you get the results you were after - the same way you use Google. However the are other options besides PubMed, here are six other options you might not have heard of, worth a look perhaps?
Neil Saunders has posted a great tip on using the new iGoogle page to synchronise your internet paraphernalia across computers. I definitely agree with his points. Having to “mark as read” the blog posts you read at home, in your work RSS reader, is a bit of a pain. Online tools, as opposed to installed, are where things are going, and iGoogle is an example of this.
One cool thing that google also offers is a new personalised search. Search results tailored to what you’re interested in, based on previous searches. Does this work with google scholar? It would be cool if you could upload your bibliographic database to google and it weighted your searches based on your article interests.
Heard about how the internet is revolutionising science and bioinformatics? The semantic web is giving meaning to your data, life, as well as writing grant proposals for you? Well, not quite. The party may just be getting started, but there are already some great sites for taking advantage of the web science buzz.
The social bookmarking site del.icio.us is excellent for managing your own bookmarks, and searching those of others. Here’s a tutorial using delicious to find links on topics you’re interested in.