Research
http://webcat.library.wisc.edu:3100/
The AgNIC (Agriculture Network Information Center) Dairy Information Center -- "a guide to quality information on the Internet" -- is a new open-access Web portal from the University of Wisconsin's Steenbock Library. The site is intended for "researchers in the field of dairy science, for farmers and others who raise dairy cattle, and for students of all ages interested in dairy." Users may easily browse the guide by navigating the website's nested categories, or simply search the entire site by keyword. Main sections cover livestock and dairy product information, business and marketing resources, reference sources such as online databases and journals, and contact information for extension services, listservs, and so on. [RS]
NINDS GENSAT BAC Transgenic Project
http://www.gensat.org/index.html
Study Reveals Patterns of Gene Activity in the Mouse Nervous System
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/news_and_events/pressrelease_gensat_102903.htm
The first website from Rockefeller University in New York contains "a gene expression atlas of the central nervous system of the mouse based on bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs)." GENSAT, or the Gene Expression Nervous System Atlas, contains brain slice images of BAC transgenic mice at the embryonic, postnatal (7 days old), and adult stages, stained to show areas of gene activity. The website comes with a detailed and helpful tutorial that recreates GENSAT's user interface and demonstrates how to manipulate search results. The second website contains a press release detailing the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) study that produced the data for GENSAT -- a project that "may lead to new ways of preventing or treating disorders such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, psychiatric disorders, and drug addiction." [RS]
http://sciweb.nybg.org/science2/
In "combining modern technologies with a century of field and laboratory research," the New York Botanical Garden's International Plant Science Center "is one of the few institutions worldwide with the resources, collections, and expertise to develop the information needed to understand and manage plant diversity." This website grants considerable access to resources from the Center, including numerous plant databases, digitized rare botanical books, online access to the herbarium collections, and much, much more. Botanists doing fieldwork may be especially interested in dowloading Virtual Herbarium Express -- an "electronic fieldbook" that eliminates the tedious process of transcribing field notes into a database. [RS]
The Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia present an improved, second version of GenePath, a "web-enabled intelligent assistant for the analysis of genetic data and for discovery of genetic networks." GenePath automates the complex process of determining gene interrelationships and users may download existing projects or start new ones from scratch. The website also provides a very detailed, nicely-designed guide to running GenePath, available as a separate downloadable document. [RS]
http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/system/page.asp?frame=institute/whatsnew.htm
This website is the homepage of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), "an international research institute with a mandate to advance the conservation and use of genetic diversity for the well-being of present and future generations." The site is packed with informative resources on agricultural biodiversity, including IPGRI breaking news, downloadable publications, links to online databases, and much more. The publications library is quite a find, with a number of downloadable IPGRI reports available free of charge. The most recent publication is a 55-page report on the conservation and use of "underutilized and neglected crops." Visitors will also find training materials (such as an introduction to plant collecting and conducting ecogeographic surveys) available in a number of different languages. [RS]
http://www.urbanhabitats.org/index.html
Urban Habitats, published by the Center for Urban Restoration Ecology (CURE), is "a peer-reviewed, fully indexed scientific journal written and edited for a wide audience of researchers, restoration ecologists, park and preserve managers, government officials, and naturalists." The premier issue of this e-journal (focused on urban flora worldwide) is available online, and researchers are encouraged to submit articles and multimedia resources for future issues (detailed submission guidelines provided). CURE is a joint project of Rutgers University and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. [RS]
The Center for Watershed Protection (CWP) "provides local governments, activists, and watershed organizations around the country with the technical tools for protecting some of the nation's most precious natural resources: our streams, lakes, and rivers." The CWP website offers a number of online, open-access resources, including technical reports, case studies and watershed assessment protocols. Users will find detailed guidelines for measuring watershed vulnerability, assessing stream quality, and performing a stormwater retrofit inventory. Methods for identifying critical natural areas as part of watershed protection will be available in the future. Other resources and much more information about CWP projects are also provided -- anyone involved in watershed protection should definitely check out this site. [RS]
