Alas, NCBI no longer offers Field Guide classes, so it appears that the 2008 class will have been the last. It was great while it lasted.
The University of Maryland Workgroup for Teaching and Learning in Bioinformatics and Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology sponsor a National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) two-day course "A Field Guide to GenBank and NCBI Molecular Biology Resources" each year around the time of the lunar new year. NCBI staff will provide a three hour lecture 9 am - 12 pm on the first day of the workshop. This will be followed by a two-hour hands-on computer workshop either that afternoon or on the second day. The course will give an overview of the NCBI resources available for genetic analysis and molecular modeling. No experience is required, and the workshop can be useful for users at all levels of experience. Many people attend the workshop every year as a way of keeping up with ongoing changes to the NCBI site. To help keep the level of instruction appropriate, students in the hands-on workshop will be grouped on the basis of their prior experience with NCBI. In addition to the course material, the instructors will also be available for individualized consultation with faculty and students who have specific research questions. The course is free, but advanced registration is required.
For more information on the course, see: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Class/FieldGuide/
This course is intended for those who are interested in learning what is available from NCBI and how to use the free tools they provide for sequence and genome analysis, molecular biology, and molecular modeling. It is open to all, and faculty, students, and staff at the University of Maryland - College Park, as well as those from other regional institutions, are encouraged to attend. Enrollment is on a first-come, first served basis. Some participants may be assigned to a workshop that is not their first choice. Information on location and suggested background reading will be sent to registrants via email in mid-January.
Registration: Registration is open.
Lecture: Thursday January 17 - 9:00 am - 12:00 pm (3 hours), 1101 Biosciences Research Building.
Workshops: Th. January 17 or F. January 18 (2 hours), 1121 Plant Sciences 1/17 - 1pm - 3pm, 1/18 - 9am - 11am, or 11:15-1:15
New 1.4.08: If you would like to prepare for the class in advance, lecture materials will be available via FTP at ftp://ftp.ncbi.nih.gov/pub/FieldGuide/Slides/Current/Maryland.01.17.08 a few days before the class.
For addtional information contact:
Charles Delwiche - delwiche -at- umd.edu
Thomas Harrod - tharrod -at- umd.edu
Sabeth Scarbrough - sabeth-at- umd.edu
